T175A Networked Living: Exploring Information & Communication Technologies

By Dina Tbaishat

Course aims

T175 is a course divided into two distinct parts; part A (which is the one you’ll be introduced to this semester) and part B. The aims of this course are:  Introducing the networked world we live in   Understand the technologies that drive these networks Examining how these technologies are applied in practice   How Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) enable communication and information sharing Introducing the gradual development of ICTs These lecture notes and the ones provided for the following weeks are for T175A which includes Block 1, Block 2 and parts 1-2 from Block 3. 24/04/2020 2

Week One

   This lecture covers part 1 along with the first study session of part 2, from the first block of the text book for this module. This session should be able to let you reflect on how ICT systems are involved in your own lives It will also enable you to explore ICT systems in a bit more detail 24/04/2020 3

What are ICTs ?

  The technologies used in the conveying, manipulation and storage of data by electronic means.

But what is data ? Can anyone tell me the difference between data and information ?

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

Data

that it can be conveyed and manipulated or stored, is the representation of information so while information is the meaning that people give to data in particular contexts. Data  Information  knowledge  wisdom !  Example of ICTs: landline telephone system, mobile phone systems, broadcast radio and the internet. 24/04/2020 5

ICTs impacts

    There is a relationship between ICTs and societies Major technological developments have been taking place since the end of the 20 th century ICTs started to affect many people and organizations including government’s vision An interesting debate: technology affects societies, how can societies affect technology ???

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ICT systems.. part of our life

    ICT systems have become part of our life and daily experiences Can you list different ways in which you communicate using technology ?

ICT systems and devices do not work in isolation but need to be within a communication system, linked to other devices able to exchange data Following are aspects where ICTs have impact on our daily lives: 24/04/2020 7

 Finance: credit card use in shops, ATMs.

implications  enhanced security, disappearance of some businesses and  creation of others.

The internet, which lead to new ways of: communication  security is a concern Information sharing and regulation  content authority  Entertainment: TV, digital cameras, computer gaming, etc…  Public services: government services, passenger information, learning online !

Exercise: think about ICTs that have changed your life, do you like the change and impact they caused ?

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ICTs at home

    The development of new technologies caused problems in coordinating and controlling Smart home is a possible solution The idea of smart home is to integrate the control of these systems Look at the example in your book to learn about interpreting surveys. Look at the article for full information about the smart home.

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Introducing ICT systems (1)

     Taking a “systems” view of ICT systems can help us understand them Systems are all around us, nervous system, education system, registration system Think about systems around you, in your house and outside the house Connectedness is a common factor between all systems, where all components are connected to perform a function Not necessarily connected physically, components can be ideas or activities 24/04/2020 10

Introducing ICT systems (2)

    Representing a system in a system map is one way of explaining and analyzing it in a graphical form The system boundary defines which components are part of the system and which are not An important aspect of systems is that each component can be considered as a subsystem A system map help us focus on the particular systems and subsystems we are interested in 24/04/2020 11

Introducing ICT systems (3)

   Deciding where to place the system boundary isn’t an easy task Exercise: Draw a system map for an email communication system, which includes the sender, the recipient, the sender’s computer, the recipient’s computer and the internet.

You may draw system boundary in different places at different times 24/04/2020 12

Communication systems

   Humans communicate in everyday life, they convey information to each other. List ways of conveying a message to a friend, which of them are considered ICT systems ?

Communication systems can be represented using block diagrams: sender, means of conveying a message, and receiver Each block represents something in the real world and labels tell you what these things are 24/04/2020 13

Components of “means of conveying a message”

 Transmitter: receives a message from user 1, manipulates it into data that can be sent into the network. Can also store or retrieve data related to the message.

  Network: which is the communication channel that conveys data from the transmitter to the receiver. It may also store, retrieve and manipulate data.

Receiver: receives data from the network and manipulates it into a message to send to user 2. It may also retrieve or store data.

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Communication links (1)

 Physical: like cables, which provide path for conveying data between two points.

 Wireless: such as radio links and infrared.

- radio links such as mobile phones, Bluetooth and WiFi - Infrared, for computers and printers, and for the TV remote control Communication links has capacity, the ability of conveying data is measured by a quantity known as “bandwidth” 24/04/2020 15

Communication links (2)

     Data is conveyed in communication links as a series of pulses, which is sent from one end of a communication link to another.

Pulses can be represented by bits (1s and 0s). Bits is the abbreviation of binary digit.

Data rate or bit rate is the rate at which the 1s and 0s are conveyed.

Every communication link has a maximum data rate it can support, and this is the bandwidth.

Data rates and bandwidth are measured as a number of bits per second (bps).

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Communication links (3)

 Having a prefix makes bits numbers manageable, for example; you can use kilo to represent 1000 bits, mega for a million bits, and giga for a billion bits (that’s one thousand million), so 56kbps means 56000 bits per second. 24/04/2020 17

Summary

You’ve been introduced to:    networks in everyday life ICT systems, what they are ICT systems components, and types of communication links See you next week !

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