Technology - Infrastructure - Key Concepts

Synopsis

The basic principles of analogue audio/video and digital communication systems are discussed. Modulation systems, data compression, radio frequency propagation and communications and software operation using the 7 layer OSI protocol stack and the 5 layer Internet protocol model are introduced. The trends in communication technologies and the importance of the Internet are discussed in order to provide a basis for understanding the many communication and computing technologies.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Communication, signals and data
  • 2.1 Light and sound
  • 2.2 Analogue electronics
  • 2.3 Digital conversion
    • 2.3.1 Frequency limits
  • 2.4 Binary numbers
    • 2.4.1 Hexadecimal and dotted quad representations
  • 2.5 ASCII text
    • 2.5.1 Unicode character sets
    • 2.5.2 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
  • 2.6 Data storage and compression
• 3. The pace of electronic technology development
• 4. Types of communication system
  • 4.1 Basic communication principles
  • 4.2 Basic characteristics of communication technologies
  • 4.3 Analogue and digital
    • 4.3.1 GSM example
    • 4.3.2 PC example
  • 4.4 Analogue versus digital
• 5. The OSI layered model of networks and applications
  • 5.1 Distributed information system
  • 5.2 Purpose of OSI
  • 5.3 Functions and examples
  • 5.4 How the model works
• 6. The 5 Layer Internet Protocol Model
  • 6.1 Physical Layer 1
  • 6.2 Data Link Layer 2
  • 6.3 Network Layer 3
  • 6.4 Transport Layer 4
  • 6.5 Application Layer 5
• 7. The increasing importance of the Internet
  • 7.1 From smoke signals to Internet
  • 7.2 New foundation for future systems
    • 7.2.1 Simplicity of the network
    • 7.2.2 Multicasting and QoS add complexity to the network
  • 7.3 The importance of the Internet
• 8. Related reports

• Exhibit 1 – OSI layered model: a web-browsing example