Explain LAN, MAN & WAN in mobile computing.
LAN (Local Area Network):
It is privately-owned networks within a single building or campus of up to a few kilometers in size.
They are widely used to connect personal computers and workstations in company offices and factories to share resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information.
LANs are easy to design and troubleshoot.
In LAN, all the machines are connected to a single cable.
Different types of topologies such as Bus, Ring, Star, and Tree are used.
The data rates for LAN range from 4 to 16 Mbps.
They transfer data at high speeds (higher bandwidth).
They exist in a limited geographical area.
Connectivity and resources, especially the transmission media, usually are managed by the company which running the LAN.
Fig. Local Area Network
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network):
A metropolitan area network, or MAN, covers a city. The best-known example of a MAN is the cable television network available in many cities.
A MAN is basically a bigger version of a LAN and normally uses similar technology.
At first, the companies began jumping into the business, getting contracts from city governments to wire up an entire city.
The next step was television programming and even entire channels designed for cable only. Often these channels were highly specialized, such as all news, all sports, all cooking, and so on.
Fig. Metropolitan Area Network
WAN (Wide Area Network):
WAN, spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent.
It contains a collection of machines intended for running user (i.e., application) programs. We will follow traditional usage and call these machines hosts.
The hosts are connected by a communication subnet, or just subnet for short.
In most wide area networks, the subnet consists of two distinct components: transmission lines and switching elements. Transmission lines move bits between machines.
The communication between different users of WAN is established using leased telephone lines or satellite links and similar channels.
Fig. Wide Area Network
Follow Us