Knowledge Base

Epoch & Unix Timestamp Conversion Tools

Open Networking has created new opportunities and new challenges for Data Center designers and implementers. Many customers are used to deploying monolithic solutions from a single integrator. When implementing Open Networking solutions from multiple providers, a few key questions arise: Will it all work? Are there common interfaces I can use to monitoring and control the hardware? How do Data Center designers and implementers ensure that the components they’ve chosen will be interoperable? Will the Open Networking Solution work as well as or better than a traditional monolithic solution?

Tutorial generated by the IEEE EFM task force.

From the back cover: "Digital Subscriber Line technology heralds the age of digital communication, providing a faster, more efficient method of transmitting data over regular telephone lines. The widespread adoption of DSL technology increases the demand for subject-specific, in-depth knowledge of this breakthrough in digital communication. DSL: Simulation Techniques and Standards Development for Digital Subscriber Line Systems arms the communications and networking engineer with the quintessential information for implementing DSL systems . . . "

From back cover: "Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs) have transformed millions of ordinary phone lines into broadband arteries that link homes and businesses to the Internet at megabit speeds. DSL Advances brings together the state-of-the-art in DSL technology and architecture for every technical professional and manager. The authors of the classic Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology review the key challenges service providers and equipment manufacturers face now, preview tomorrow's most important standards and technical enhancements, and offer new insights into today's regulatory and business environment."

From the preface: "The third edition of Digital Communications has undergone a major reorganization. Compared with with the second edition, which had eight chapters, the third edition contains fifteen. Chapter 1 (Introduction) and Chapter 15 (Multiuser Communications) are new. Other new material that has been added includes a treatment of run-length-limited codes, Nakagami fading statistics, trellis codeing for fading channels, multicarrier modulation, and an expanded treatment of blind equalization. Since this is an introductory-level text, the treatment fo these topics is limited in scope. Some topics that were in the second edition have been deleted, including echo cancellation and suppression of narrowband interference in spread spectrum signals."

Fibre Channel, which is used for high-speed data transfers, supports several higher layer protocols including Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and Internet Protocol (IP). Until now, SCSI has been the only widely used protocol over Fibre Channel. IP over Fibre Channel had not been successful mainly due to inadequate specification in the standards. Currently IP specifications have reached a stage where interoperable implementations are possible. Although some support does exist for SCSI on Linux, there is no support for IP on Linux. This thesis aims at designing, developing, testing and evaluating a Fibre Channel driver for IP on Linux.

iFCP is one form of storage over TCP/IP that allows hosts and Fibre Channel storage devices to communicate directly. It is an encapsulation protocol that dictates the means by which Fibre Channel frames become the payload in an iFCP message. In addition, iFCP introduces a few new types of messages for purposes of control. This thesis is comprised of the design and implementation of iFCP end devices. The initiator has been implemented as a software module that behaves like a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter with an attached encapsulator. The target has been implemented as a stand-alone software program that acts both as an encapsulator and as a Fibre Channel switch that is attached through a generator to a Fibre Channel disk.

The Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) has been used to transmit data between applications (Initiators) and storage devices (Targets). One of the major limitations of SCSI has been the length of the SCSI bus. With the evolution of Storage Area Networks (SANs), several protocols have been proposed to extend the length of the SCSI bus e.g., Fibre Channel, SCSI Encapsulation Protocol (SEP), and Internet SCSI (iSCSI). The evaluation of these technologies requires the use of an Initiator and a Target that implement the said protocols. A large portion of what such Initiators or Targets need to do from a SCSI perspective can be isolated into a logical code unit referred to as a mid-level. While there exists in the Linux kernel a generic SCSI Initiator mid-level that drivers written for various Initiators can interface with, no corresponding facility exists for the Target side. This thesis involves the development of a Generic SCSI Target midlevel for Linux along with implementing front-end drivers for Fibre Channel, SEP and iSCSI that can utilize the said Target mid-level. Other uses for the Target Emulator are as a bridge between two protocols and as an interface for SAN Management.

Now that the Internet has blossomed into the "Information Superhighway" with its traffic and drivers becoming increasingly diverse, security has emerged as a primary concern. This book offers the reader a global, integrated approach to providing internet security at the network layer. The author gives a detailed presentation of the revolutionary IPsec technology used today to create Virtual Private Networks and, in the near future, to protect the infrastructure of the Internet itself. The book addresses IPsec's major aspects and components to help the reader evaluate and compare features of different implementations. It provides a detailed understanding of this cutting-edge technology from the inside, which enables the reader to more effectively troubleshoot problems with specific products. Based on standards documents, discussion list archives, and practitioners' lore, this resource collects all the current knowledge of IPsec and describes it in a literate, clear manner.

Describes the upcoming IEEE standards related to Per-priority PAUSE, Enhanced Transmission Selection, DCB Exchange and Congestion Notification.

The chaotic nature of the radio frequency medium of 802.11 wireless networks makes it problematic to obtain accurate and precise repetition of performance tests and measurements. Environmental variables that deeply influence link performance must be addressed before throughput testing can be accurately measured across various devices. An RF shielded room with anechoic foam provides the most ideal environment for throughput tests compared to either an RF shielded room without foam or an open air laboratory. Location within the RF shielded room with anechoic foam was shown to have a negligible effect on performance, but using an RF absorbing rubber mat under a device was shown to reduce reflections, producing an optimal environment for throughput testing.

A comparison of the baseline versus the IEEE standard versions of Data Center Bridging Capabilities Exchange.

Terms used when discussing PTP

1000BASE-T PMA overview (location in the OSI stack, interface with PCS, interface with Auto-Negotiation, PAM-5 Encoding Scheme, PMA Sublayers Functionality and Functions, and PMA Electrical Specifications).

A brief tutorial that covers the basics behind the Clause 40 Automatic MDI/MDI-X Configuration.

An introduction to the Clause 37 Auto-Negotiation Process.

View this for a basic introduction to Copper and Fiber Ethernet Auto-Negotiation.

A brief tutorial the covers the basics behind Clause 28:Auto-Negotiation.

A brief introduction to auto-negotiation created by the UNH-IOL.

An overview of the 100BASE-TX PCS created by the UNH-IOL.

Browse through some of the technologies and functions used in high-performance data acquisition systems for high-energy physics experiments.

Please join Lincoln Lavoie, UNH-IOL, and Mike Talbert, Verizon, as they review the upcoming release of Broadband Forum’s TR-398 Issue 2 testing, the latest release in wireless performance testing. TR-398i2 encompasses a set of performance metrics in different scenarios and focuses on Wi-Fi router performance to help benefit broadband gateway vendors and service providers by lowering costs and improving customer satisfaction.

This webinar covers:

• A recap of Wi-Fi pain points in broadband deployments
• A review of the TR-398 Issue 2 test coverage
• Deep dive of how the UNH-IOL implements repeatable TR-398 Issue 2 testing
• A sneak peak of the first results coming out of TR-398 Issue 2 testing

Broadband Forum is an international industry consortium of nearly 200 leading service providers, equipment manufacturers and other interested parties, focused on developing the full potential of broadband DSL to meet the needs of the mass market.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of Bit Error Ratio testing, and will explain, using a minimum amount of math, the answer to the fairly common question: "How many bits do I need to send in order to verify that a devices exceeds a given BER?"