Strategies for Optimizing Bandwidth Efficiency

摘要

To optimize bandwidth efficiency, the natural limitations of each network-supported data type must be overcome or mitigated. This paper discusses issues affecting bandwidth efficiency through the U.S. Navy's bandwidth- constrained wide-area network (WAN). The paper details the prevalent data types found in the naval environment and describes the characteristics associated with each data type. Commercial, standards-based link layer protocols that have widespread application in Navy networks also are described. Finally, forward error correction and issues surrounding bandwidth efficiency are discussed. As with all aspects of an engineered solution, engineers must chose the best tools to confront each aspect of the link design. Because of the economics and maturity of the technology, Ethernet is a clear choice in the local area networks, but falls short in the wide area. Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is a good choice if all of the applications supported by the network are Internet Protocol-based, but PPP falls short for a general-purpose network that supports various data types. With the technology currently available, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is the only technology discussed that can support a truly converged network supporting voice, video, data, and legacy applications. Figure 4 shows the dynamic bandwidth allocation achieved using ATM for the WAN.