http://www.ceragon.com/solutions/service-providers/broadcasting

Packet broadcasting is a method of transferring data across a network quickly and easily.

Like packet switching, which uses point-to-point signals in order to communicate messages easily, an all-packet

broadcast uses a radio frequency to transport packets of data across a network.

In fact, all-packet broadcasting involves taking some of the

principles of packet switching, and combining them with the broadcast

network channels used for data communication.

This makes data transfer easier and faster, and while there may be

some complications in this system, it is still one of the best ways to handle a large amount of data.

The principle of all-packet broadcast technology involves the operator having a number of customers, all using their mobiles or networks to transmit small pieces of data at the same time. If the

network attempted to carry each of those small packets separately, the communication would be much slower, and the

system would also have to work much harder to transfer that data.

The time between data packets passing from each user would also be much slower than the speed of the network, meaning that there will be some lag while the system waits for each user to

transmit their data.

Instead of handling the network in this way, all-network broadcast technology allows operators to combine the

packets so that the whole system is much faster. This speeds up the time for data delivery to the backbone network,

meaning that operators and customers both benefit.

The system works by ensuring that each customer broadcasts their packets using

the same network channel. All of the packets are pushed through the same

frequency, and all line up along the same 'route' towards the relay node.

The problems with this system only arise when there are too many customers

broadcasting along the same channel. In this case, there may be a loss of data,

known as 'data overlap', where information is lost because it was broadcast at the same

time as another data packet from a different user. This means that there are

some significant losses as more customers use the same network.

The all-packet broadcast system therefore has to collect all of the lost packets of data which have been overlapped.

There are several ways in which technology can be used to help recover the packets, including a feedback system which checks packets

and instructs the network to acknowledge those packets arriving. This allows the system to check for lost packets. When lost packets do occur, recovery tools are needed which involves the use of coding to recognize those packets and retrieve them. This works in most cases, and the data transmission carries on as though the packets had not

been lost.