Comparison of telecommunications technologies

This paper defines and illustrates a methodology to compare specific telecommunications technologies (such as dedicated non-switched lines, circuit switching, packet switching, frame relay, cell relay, and Switched Multimegabit Data Service) that can be employed to support data, voice and video information transfers among geographically dispersed sites. The methodology yields a high level comparison of telecommunications technologies whereby it is possible to establish the potential ability of each technology to support specific traffic types and communications modes. An example, using specific traffic profiles and telecommunications technologies, is shown to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology. The paper concludes by recommending additional actions that need to be undertaken in order to ultimately select one or more telecommunications technologies that can support the specific requirements of a communications system