Talk:Linear network coding

The Butterfly network is directly analogous to the connection of two telephones. The telephones have 4 wire networks (transmit and receive pairs). These are linked by a 2 wire network (a single pair) which carries the signals from both ends. Each telephone has a hybrid circuit or using another name a 2 to 4 wire converter to make the required conversions.

The use of 2 wire transmission to save on switching and transmission pairs seems to be the same reason that coding is attractive in conserving router bandwidth.

Is network coding a digital version of 2 wire (2W) transmission in telephony? It would seem to be clear that it is at a surface level. 2W wire transmission is well over a century old in telpehony.

Note that the 2 to 4W conversion analogy in eh case of network coding and wireless networks.

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