ctns – Telecommunications Training Blog

CTNS Study Guide – Hardcover and Softcover Now available!

The CTNS Study Guide corresponds exactly to the CTNS courses, with detailed notes plus knowledge objectives and summaries for every lesson.

Now available in a beautiful high-quality hardcover edition, a pleasure to hold, plus the traditional more compact softcover format.

Softcover is in stock and ships right away.

Note: Hardcovers are printed one at a time, just for you, adding 15 days to delivery time. The quality of the cover and binding is worth the wait!

Of course the eBook version is also available through our online partners.

Free Preview – Course 2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks

Carrier Packet Networks • Technologies • MPLS • MPLS VPNs • SLAs • CoS • Integration & Aggregation

MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive training course designed to build a solid understanding of carrier packet networks and services, the terminology, technologies, configuration, operation and most importantly, the underlying ideas… in plain English.

We’ll cut through the buzzwords and marketing to demystify carrier packet networks and services, explaining Service Level Agreements, traffic profiles, virtual circuits, QoS, Class of Service, Differentiated Services, integration, convergence and aggregation, MPLS and other network technologies, and how they relate to TCP/IP, without bogging down on details.

Course Lessons
1. Introduction
2. Carrier Packet Network Basics
3. Service Level Agreements
4. Virtual Circuits
5. QoS Requirement for Voice over IP
6. MPLS
7. TCP/IP over MPLS
8. Differentiated Classes of Service using MPLS
9. Integration and Convergence using MPLS
10. Managing Aggregates of Traffic with MPLS Label Stacking
11. MPLS Services vs. Internet Service

Click or tap to watch the lesson in full quality

Based on Teracom’s famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of over 25 years of instructor-led training, you will gain career- and productivity-enhancing knowledge of the structure, components and operation of carrier packet networks and services, how they are implemented, packaged and marketed by carriers and how they are used by government, business… and other carriers.

Live Online Oct 18-22

Course 101, Course 130 and Boot Camp coming to you Live Online Oct 18-22.

This is your opportunity to not only receive great live instructor-led training, but also receive access to the corresponding self-study online courses and certifications at no additional cost!

Still working from home? No problem. We’ll ship the workbooks directly to your door.

The best part: BOOT CAMP has been totally updated for the 2020s, with 5G, Cloud Computing, Data Centers, Smart Cities & more!

This is the most up-to-date telecom-for-non-engineers training that can be found anywhere… and truly career-enhancing knowledge.

TCO CTNS Certification: Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist

The core knowledge needed in telecom today, with eight courses covering all major topics – plus TCO Certification to prove it!

The internationally-recognized TCO CTNS Certification is the core telecommunications network knowledge required by everyone serious in the telecom world today.

Bust the buzzwords, demystify the jargon, understand the fundamental concepts, technologies and standard practices … and most importantly, the underlying ideas, and how it all fits together.

The eight full-length courses in the CTNS Certification Package cover all major areas of telecom, datacom and networking.

You will start by getting up to speed on all major topics with the new 2021 course Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom plus fully up-to-date courses on Cellular and Wi-Fi, VoIP and SIP, the PSTN, OSI Layers, LANs and Optical Ethernet, IP and MPLS.

For an individual, this knowledge and preparation makes you an ideal candidate to hire or promote to a task, as you will be able to build on your knowledge base to quickly get up to speed and work on a particular project – then have the versatility to work on subsequent projects.

For an employer, CTNS is an extremely cost-effective way of getting team members and new hires up to a common speed with a common vocabulary and reference. The myTeracom Learning Management System can generate team progress reports. A discount of 40% is available for 5 seats or more.

This investment will be repaid many times over in the future in terms of lowered buzzword frustration and higher accuracy and productivity. Get started today!

The coursework for CTNS is a set of eight high-quality online multimedia courses. The content outline for each course is below. Click on the course name or scroll down for detailed descriptions, what you will learn, and free lessons.

Course 2241: Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom
• Specifically designed for non-engineers
• Introduction and first pass through all aspects of today’s telecom
• Convergence • Broadband • Network Core and Edge • Protocols
• Last Mile Copper, Fiber and Wireless • Network Equipment
• Residential, Business and Wholesale Services • Carrier Connections

Course 2206: Wireless Telecommunications
• Mobile network, radio and cellular fundamentals
• Phone calls and mobile Internet over cellular
• 4G LTE, OFDMA, 5G new spectrum, new applications
• Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi security, and satellite communications

Course 2221: Fundamentals of Voice over IP
• The Big Picture. VoIP Phones and Terminals
• Voice in IP Packets. Soft Switches / SIP Servers / Call Managers
• Media Servers, Gateways, LAN and WAN, SIP Trunking, Standards
• Where All of This is Headed: Broadband IP Dial Tone

Course 2201: The PSTN
• Required knowledge while there remains a large installed base
• Loops and trunks, analog, the voiceband
• LECs, CLECs and IXCs. POTS and SS7

Course 2212: OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
• Protocols and standards. The OSI Model
• Layers: Layer 2 vs. Layer 3. Examples
• Protocol stacks. How protocol stacks work

Course 2211: LANs, VLANs, Wireless and Optical Ethernet
• LAN fundamentals. Ethernet and 802 standards
• MAC addresses and MAC frames
• LAN switches, broadcast domains and VLANs
• Ethernet on twisted pair (Cat 5e/6 cables), radio (Wi-Fi) and fiber (Optical Ethernet)

Course 2213: IP Networks, Routers and Addresses
• Packet network fundamentals. Routers
• IP packets and IP addresses
• Static & dynamic, public & private addresses
• Network Address Translation (NAT). IPv6.

Course 2214: MPLS and Carrier Networks
• Carrier network basics. Customer Edge (CE) device
• Service Level Agreements and CoS
• MPLS for traffic management, VPNs, integrated access
• MPLS Services vs. Internet service

Invest in yourself with the CTNS Certification Package!

Eight CTNS courses plus TCO Certification, giving you a solid foundation in telecom, datacom and networking, from modern IP telecom, wireless, VoIP and PSTN to Ethernet, IP networking and MPLS.

Plus, get your Telecommunications Certification Organization (TCO) Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) Certification to prove it!

Upgrade your skills – and your résumé – with this training and certification today!

The CTNS Certification Package Unlimited Plan includes the eight CTNS Courses and CTNS Certification Exam, both with unlimited repeats – which means guaranteed to pass if you’re willing to do the work, and refresh your knowledge anytime.

Optional printed or eBook study guide available.

Tutorial – What Modems Do: Carrier Frequencies, Phase Shifts and QAM

Modulation means producing energy that is vibrating at a single pure frequency, called a carrier frequency or subcarrier, and changing aspects of it in discrete steps to represent bits.

The device that performs this function is called a modulator. A demodulator is required at the far end to interpret the carrier frequency and decide what bits it is representing at any given time. Clearly, we want devices to do both functions to implement two-way communications, so they are called modulator/demodulators or modems for short.

One aspect of the carrier than can be changed to represent bits is the volume or amplitude of the carrier: changing the amplitude of the carrier in discrete steps makes changes that represent bits.

Another aspect is the phase of the carrier: when the peak of the cycle is happening, in time, with respect to other carriers. Changing the time of the peak so it happens a bit earlier than others, or making it happen a bit later is making changes to the phase of the carrier that can represent bits (Figure 29).

Combinations of phase and amplitude shifting is called Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). QAM-64 means 64 possible different combinations of 8 different phases and 8 different amplitudes.

Each combination, also called a symbol or signal, is assigned a number. Binary numbers 6 bits long are required to give binary numbers to each of the 64 combinations.

7.3.2 Communicating Six Bits: Sending One of 64 QAM Signals

To communicate six bits in one fell swoop on a carrier, the transmitter generates electricity vibrating at the carrier frequency with the phase and amplitude corresponding to the combination indicated by the six-bit number.

The electricity is communicated on coaxial cables to Cable modems, on twisted pair to DSL modems, turned into radio by antennas for communication through space, or turned into light for communication in tubes of glass in very high capacity fiber transmission systems.

When the receiver detects energy at that single pure carrier frequency, it measures the phase and amplitude, and once it has decided, spits out the six-bit number of the combination it is hearing, and Bob’s your uncle.

7.3.3 Baud Rate

To get many bits per second, the procedure has to be repeated often!

Repeating it once per second yields 6 bits per second; the combination of phase and amplitude of the carrier is maintained for one second then changed to a different combination representing the next six bits.

The rate at which the procedure is repeated is called the baud rate, signaling rate and symbol rate.

The baud rate, how often a new combination can be applied to the carrier to communicate another 6 bits, is limited by interference called harmonics, where energy gets spread into adjacent frequencies, and interferes with communications on other carriers.

7.3.4 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

When there are multiple carriers (called subcarriers) each running a modem, and the baud rate is the same as the subcarrier spacing, the harmonics from all subcarriers cancel out.

Eliminating this source of interference allows successful data transmission in parallel on closely spaced subcarriers.

This is a prime design characteristic of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), used on LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, cable modems and DSL, and is the sweet spot for baud rate in terms of efficiency.

Source: CTNS Study Guide 2021, Course 2206, Section 7.3

New CTNS Study Guide

The new edition of the CTNS Study Guide is now available!

Available in Hardcover, Softcover and eBook

Incorporating all of the recent major updates to CTNS courses, the Study Guide includes all of the text and the main graphic from every lesson in every CTNS course.

7″ x 10″ • 406 pages
published May 2021
ISBN 9781894887625 (softcover)
ISBN 9781894887656 (hardcover)
ISBN 9781894887632 (eBook)

With a detailed table of contents, full notes, and a summary checklist of important topics for every lesson, many people find their learning experience greatly enhanced with the printed study guide.

The book will also serve as an invaluable day-to-day reference and handbook going forward.

Eight in one!

The CTNS Study Guide is the textbook for:
2241 Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom
2206 Wireless Telecommunications
2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP
2201 The PSTN
2212 OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
2211 LANs, VLANs, Wireless and Optical Ethernet
2213 IP Addresses, Packets and Routers
2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks

Get your CTNS Study Guide Today!

The internationally-recognized TCO CTNS Certification represents the core telecommunications network knowledge required by everyone serious in the telecom world today.

Learn more about CTNS

$100 off CTNS or CTSME

$100 off CTNS Limited-Time Offer:
Click to add CTNS to your cart, use coupon 1337 at checkout to get $100 off.
Hurry! Offer expires June 17, 2021.

$100 off CTSME Limited-Time Offer:
Follow the instructions here to add CTNS, CTA, CVA and CWA to your cart, then use coupon 1338 at checkout to get CTSME for $1495, $100 off list price.
Hurry! Offer expires June 17, 2021.

Existing CTNS and CTA customers: No-Charge Update

Course L2241 Broadband Converged IP Telecommunications, and
Course L2221 Introduction to Voice over IP have been added to CTNS.

If you purchased CTNS before April 12, 2021, you can add the two new courses to CTNS on your dashboard at no charge by following these instructions.

This offer also applies to CTA and any Certification package bundles which included CTNS or CTA including CTSME.

Enjoy the training!

Course 2212 The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks – Free Preview

Enjoy this free sample from CNTS – Certified Network Telecommunications Specialist
Course 2212 The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
Lesson 3 – Protocols and Standards
Click the image below to view the lesson.

Protocols & Standards • OSI Model • Layers • Protocol Stacks • FedEx Analogy

This course begins the “IP courses” in the Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) certification package.

The OSI 7-Layer Reference Model is used to sort out the many functions that need to be performed, to be able to discuss separate issues separately. The functions are organized into groups called layers, which are stacked one on top of the other. This allows us to relate different pieces of the puzzle in subsequent lessons.

The course starts with the big picture, then one lesson for each layer, then protocol stacks.

Course Lessons
1. Introduction
2. Open Systems
3. Protocols and Standards
4. ISO OSI 7-Layer Reference Model
5. The Physical Layer
6. Data Link Layer
7. Network Layer
8. Transport Layer
9. Session Layer
10. Presentation Layer
11. Application Layer
12. Protocol Stacks
13. Protocol Headers
14. Standards Organizations

Based on Teracom’s famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of more than 25 years of instructor-led training. You’ll learn what a layer is, what the layers are, what each one does and examples of where things like TCP fit into the model …and how it all works together… in plain English.

TCO CTNS Certification:
Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist
The core knowledge needed in telecom today, six courses covering all major topics – plus TCO Certification to prove it!
CTNS Unlimited Plan $495

CTNS Upgrade Coming: Buy Now to Get Two Courses Free!

New Course 2241 Introduction to Broadband Telecommunications along with existing Course 2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP will be added to the CTNS Certification Package before year-end.

The price of the CTNS package will increase when the number of courses increases from six to eight. Since all existing customers will automatically get the two new courses at no additional charge, you can beat the price increase by purchasing CTNS before the upgrade and get the two new courses, when they are released, for free!