Telecommunications and Networking

1. Telecommunications and Networking MIS 503 - Management Information Systems MBA Program

2. A Significant Underestimation “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. the device is inherently of no value to us.” Western Union internal memo, 1876.

3. Telecommunications: The Technology

4. What is communication? • The Romans used the Latin word communicare when they meant "to make common, to share, or to impart.” • Communication is the sharing of information or messages between two or more entities.

5. Elements of a Communication System • Source - the originator of the message, whether it is a person or machine. • Transmitter - the equipment that modifies the message (either data or voice) into the form required for transmission. • Communications channel - the means of carrying the signal from the source to the destination.

6. Elements of a Communication System • Transmission media - may be physical, like a copper wire or fiber optic cable, or atmospheric, like radio waves. • Receiver - is the device that captures the message from the communications channel and converts it into a form that the person or machine at the destination can understand. • Destination - the person or machine to whom the message is directed

7. Elements of a Communication System

8. Types of Signals • Analog signal- a continuous fluctuation over time between high and low voltage. • Digital signal- discrete voltage state - either high or low.

9. Mesh Topologies

10. Microwave and Satellite Transmission • A communications satelliteis a microwave station placed in outer space. • Satellites don’t “bounce” the microwave signal; rather, the signal is received and then rebroadcast at a different frequency. • Satellites can broadcast over long distances.

11. A Classic Case of MiscalculationIridium • Iridium communications • Launched November 1, 1998 • Went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 13, 1999 • Why? • Miscalculated competition from cellular • Development costs were high • Prices were too high • Technology was awkward and limited • The project was mismanaged • Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_%28satellite%29#Quotes for more informaiton

12. Other Transmission Options • Cellular transmission– Well, you know about this one…

13. Mobile Phone Infrastructure

14. Mobile Phone Generations • 1G: The first generation of wireless technology • used analog communication • designed for voice communication • 2G: The second generation of digital wireless technology • Uses digital circuit switched transmission protocols • Capable of providing voice/data/fax transfers, albeit at low data rates • SMS was introduced in 1994 and became a popular tool associated with GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)

15. Mobile Phone Generations (cont.) • 2.5G: Interim wireless technology that has greater bandwidth • CDMA2000 1x (Code Division Multiple Access) and GPRS (general packet radio service) • Uses packet switching, which offers high data transfer rates (e.g., up to 307 kbit/s) compared to the circuit switching of GSM and other 2G networks

16. Mobile Commerce Generations (cont.) • 3G: The third generation of digital wireless technology • For example, UMTS and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO • High data transfer rates (2.4Mbit/s) • It has the potential to support rich media such as video and graphics

17. Mobile Phone Generations (cont.) • 4G: The next generation of wireless technology • Very high data transfer rates (20 Mbps) • In the context of mobile phones, it is expected to be available by 2010 • 4G also refers to the integration of mobile phones, Wi/Fi networks, and other components of a pervasive network

18. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) • A version of time division multiple access (TDMA) technology, because it divides frequency bands into channels and assigns signals time slots within each channel. • Makes more efficient use of limited bandwidth than the IS-136 TDMA standard common in the United States. • Makes use of silences in a phone call to increase its signal compression, leaving more open time slots in the channel.

19. Emerging Third Generation (3G) Technologies • The promise of these technologies is that a user can access all her telecommunication services from one mobile phone. • CDMA2000 - a packet switched version of CDMA. • Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) - based on technology developed by Ericson, is also packet-based and its maximum throughput is also 2.4 Mbps.

20. WLAN Architecture

21. Wireless Networking Standards • 802.11 - IEEE’s Radio Frequency Wireless networking standard committee. • 802.11b - uses direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) signaling. Also used the 2.4 - 2.4835 GHz frequency range and separates it into 14 overlapping 22-MHz channels. • 802.11g - designed to be just as affordable as 802.11b while increasing its maximum capacity from 11 Mbps through different encoding techniques. • 802.11a - uses multiple frequency bands in the 5 GHZ range. Like 802.11g, 802.11a provides a maximum throughput of 54 Mbps.

22. Bluetooth • A mobile wireless networking standard that uses direct sequence spread spectrum (DSS) signaling in the 2.4 GHz band to achieve a maximum throughput of less than 1 Mbps. • Designed to be used on small networks composed of personal communications devices, also known as personal area networks.

23. Major Telecommunications Laws • Graham Act, 1921 • Exempted telephone companies from antitrust laws • Communications Act of 1934 • legislation which created the Federal Communications Commission • AT&T Consent Decree of 1956 • AT&T and the US Justice department agree on a consent decree to end an antitrust suit against AT&T in 1949 • Carterfone Decision of 1968 • allowed other businesses to attach telephones, equipment and business switchboards to the Bell network • MCI Decision • FCC decree in 1969 that granted MCI Communications Inc., as well as any other company, the right to offer long distance service to customers and to connect to AT&T's network • Modified Final Judgment and Divestiture, 1984 • Split up the Bell Network • The Telecommunications Act of 1996

24. IP Economics

25. Power Supply Residence Tap O/RF Converter Head End Fiber Coax Drop Amplifier CLEC CLEC Switch ILEC DLC X-Box Residence ILEC Switch Fiber Drop Copper Cable Competitive LEC Facilities Based Carrier

26. Implications for Consumers Which scenario represents your firm?

27. Data Voice Video Services Technology Convergence

28. Voice Over IP (VoIP) • The use of packet-switched networks and the TCP/IP protocol suite to transmit voice conversations. • Reasons for implementing VoIP may include: • To improve business efficiency and competitiveness • To supply new or enhanced features and applications • To centralize voice and data network management • To improve employee productivity • To save money

29. VoIP and IP Telephones • Popular features unique to IP telephones include: • Screens on IP telephones can act as Web browsers, allowing a user to open HTTP-encoded pages and, for example, click a telephone number link to complete a call to that number. • IP telephones may connect to a user’s personal digital assistant (PDA) through an infrared port, enabling the user to, for example, view his phone directory and touch a number on the IP telephone’s LCD screen to call that number. • If a line is busy, an IP telephone can offer the caller the option to leave an instant message on the called party’s IP telephone screen.

30. VoIP and Softphones

31. Virtual Organizations

32. The Anything, Anyplace, Anytime Workplace • 5 Web effects shaping the future • The Walmart Effect - Commodization • The Intel Effect - Chip Power Doubles every 18 Months; services are productized and follow this pattern • The New York Effect - 1% of a Big Pie is Big Money; an explosion of niches • The Bombay Effect - Services can be Exported • The Domino’s Effect - The Strong get Stronger; leverage what you got… Michael Saylor, Fast Company

33. Communication Technology Audio Communication Video Conferencing Synchronous Chat Project Management E-mail Personal Information Management Group Support Systems Data Warehouses Internet Search Engines Spreadsheet Analysis Tools OLAP Decision Support Technology Information Access Technology Technologies for Virtual Teams

34. Collaboration-Enabling Tools:Groupware • Groupware: Software products that support collaboration, over networks, among groups of people who share a common task or goal • Provide a way for groups to share resources and opinions

35. Collaboration-Enabling Tools: Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) • Virtual meetings:Online meetings whose members are in different locations, frequently in different countries • Group decision support system (GDSS): An interactive computer-based system that facilitates the solution of semistructured and unstructured problems by a group of decision makers

36. Collaboration-Enabling Tools: GDSS (cont.) • Major characteristics of a GDSS • Its goal is to support the process of group decision makers by providing automation of subprocesses using information technology tools • It is a specially designed information system • It encourages generation of ideas, resolution of conflicts, and freedom of expression

37. Collaboration-Enabling Tools: GDSS (cont.) • GDSSs improve the decision-making process by: • providing structure to the planning process • support parallel processing of information and idea generation • make larger meetings possible

38. Collaboration-Enabling Tools:Teleconferencing • Teleconferencing:The use of electronic communication that allows two or more people at different locations to have a simultaneous conference • Video teleconference:Virtual meeting in which participants in one location can see participants at other locations on a large screen or a desktop computer

39. Collaboration-Enabling Tools:Teleconferencing • Data conferencing: Virtual meeting in which geographically dispersed groups work on documents together and to exchange computer files during videoconferences • Web conferencing is conducted on the Internet • few as two and as many as thousands of people • allows users to simultaneously view something • interaction takes place via messaging or a simultaneous phone teleconference • is much cheaper than videoconferencing because it runs on the Internet

40. SharePoint • An integrated portfolio of collaboration and communication services designed to connect people, information, processes, and systems both within and beyond the organizational firewall. (MS Website) • A virtual desktop • A collaboration space • Shared workspace • Communication portal for teams

41. Unique Opportunities “That is the essence of virtualization: rather than simply re-creating in digital form the physical thing we know as a letter, e-mail reinvents and vastly enhances letter-writing. Unbound by barriers of time and space and endowed with new powers, the electronic letter does something new altogether. The same sort of thing happens when business, the arts, or government are reborn in digital form.” John Verity, Business Week, 1994

42. Looking into the Future “Computers are getting smaller and smaller. You can expect to have on your wrist tomorrow what you have on your desk today, what filled a room yesterday.” Nicholas Negroponte , Being Digital Today’s average consumers wear more computing power on their wrists than existed in the entire world before 1961. Anonymous