1.5 Network Topology, Types of Networks, IoT Technologies

Node

A "node" is a basic unit used in computer science. Nodes are devices or data points on a larger network. Devices such as a personal computer, cell phone, or printer are nodes. When defining nodes on the internet, a node is anything that has an IP address.

MAC address

A Media Access Control address is a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node on a network.

Modem

A device that allows computers to communicate over telephone lines, converting digital signals from the computer into audio tones for transmission over voice quality telephone lines, and vice versa.

Checksum

A method of error checking that determines if the contents of an arriving data unit match the contents of the data unit sent by the source.

802.11

A series of network standards that specifies how two wireless devices communicate over the air with each other.

Z-Wave

A short-range low-power network technology used for the Internet of Things. Hub and Devices.

Ant+

ANT is a proven ultra-low power (ULP) wireless protocol that is responsible for sending information wirelessly from one device to another device, in a robust and flexible manner. 2.4 GHz

Bluetooth

Audio Streaming

CAN

Controller Area Network. A standard that allows microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other without a host computer.

IR

Controls nearby electrical appliances

Mesh

Each of the network nodes are interconnected with one another. Every node not only sends its own signals but also relays data from other nodes.

HTTP

HTTP means HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.

Bus

Has each of the devices connected directly to a main communications line, called a bus, along which signals are sent.

LAN

Local Area Network

MAN

Metropolitan Area Network

NFC

Near Field Communication - contactless payment

PAN

Personal Area Network

Tunnelling

Process by which packets are placed inside an outer packet that only members of the VPN can read

SAN

Storage Area Network

TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Protocol that connects computers to the Internet. Tells computers how to exchange information over the Internet.

Packet header

Vital part of an internet package that contains the package ID A packet header is the portion of an IP (Internet protocol) packet that precedes its body and contains addressing and other data that is required for it to reach its intended destination.

WAN

Wide Area Network

WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network

Packet

a small block of data that is transmitted from one computer to another

IP address

a unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.

Hierarchical

also known as tree topology, which is divided into different levels. This type of topology is arranged in the form of a tree structure in which top level contains parent node (root node), which is connected with the child nodes in the second level of hierarchy with point-to-point link. The second level nodes are connected to the third level nodes, which in turn are connected to the fourth level nodes and so on. Except the top-level nodes, each level node has a parent node.

Star

has all the network devices connected to one central computer ("hub" or "nexus") which is often used as the file server and has separate connections to each computer or terminal

Ring

has each of the devices on the network connected to a ring (or loop) line around which signals are sent

domian name

name for the apparent location, or site, of a resource on the internet. Each location has a unique domain name. Domain names are human-friendly e.g www.bcs.org

Packet switching

packets can be switched to different parts of a network in order to reach the final destination in the fastest time

RFID

radio frequency identification, similar to barcodes

network topology

the layout of the computers and devices in a communications network