Telecommunications network

A telecommunications network is a of links and nodes arranged so that messages may be passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links and through various nodes.

Telecommunications network links (including their endpoints or "nodes") may in turn be built out of hierarchical .

Examples of telecommunications networks are:

• the
• the
• the global network
• the aeronautical network

Structure

In general, every telecommunications network conceptually consists of three planes (so called because they can be thought of as being, and often are, separate ):

• The Control Plane is the part of the network that carries control information (also known as ).
• The Data Plane or User Plane is the part of the network that carries its users' traffic.
• The Management Plane is the part of the network that carries the operations and administration traffic required for .