Jeroen van der Ham wrote:
Figure 1 shows several terms: - *connection point* is any point that can make a connection (the circles in the figures) - *network connection* is the terminated connection from A to B. - *link connection* is a direct connection between two connection points. - *subnetwork connection* is a connection between two connection points that you can not or do not want to describe the details of. - *tandem connection* is a concatenation of link connections
Figure 2 shows a multi-layer network connection between X and Y. If we start from X, we first encounter an *adaptation* to a lower layer. Then we go through another link connection. At that connection point we use *multiplexing* to adapt to a lower layer to connection point A. Then we use the same network connection as in figure 1 to go to B, where we go through *multiplexing*, a *link connection*, and an *adaptation* to arrive at Y. Note that the multiplexed connection can also be viewed as a link connection on a higher layer. The same goes for the connection between X and Y, which is a link connection at the highest layer. And because the connection is therminated there, it is also a network connection.
Both a network and a link connection seem to be 'connections between two points'. You say that in one case it's terminated and in one case it's not. Is 'terminated' a property of the link or is it a property of the connection point (or the node the connection point is attached to, depending on one's definition of connection point)? What differentiates a link whose contents gets demux'd to an higher layer vs. a link whose contents get routed at the same layer? A subnetwork connection is a link or network connection that you view as opaque, correct? I.e. I've got a connection between these two points, i either don't know or don't care how it's constructed. If so, would "opaque connection" be a more clear description? A tandem connection is a network or link connection that spans multiple connections? How does it differ from a network connection which in figure 1 also spans multiple connections? Cheers, Aaron