← My collections
Engineering and Architecture · TelecommunicationsAlso in: Electricidad y Electrónica
It's copied to your library with every feature (audio, generate more, ask the teacher) without spending AI again on flashcards/quizzes. "Add the whole unit" also brings in the other topics in this category.
Telecommunications
University
Introduction to Telecommunications Engineering. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
40 flashcards24 quiz questions19 summary sections
Sign up to open «Telecommunications»
Browsing the syllabus and its units is open to all. Opening the full topic — summary, quiz, flashcards and audio — is free but requires an account, so we can save your progress and keep this sustainable for everyone.
Summary by section
Scored quiz
Review flashcards
Audio
What you need to know
Read the full theory →Definition, evolution, and history of telecommunications
- Definition: Transmission and reception of signals over a distance.
- Discipline: Study, design, and operation of communication systems.
- Engineering: Solving technical problems within the discipline.
- Technologies included: Radio, TV, mobile telephony, networks, Internet, GPS, and telemetry.
- Current trend: Convergence with computing, electronics, and telematics.
- Origin of the term: Édouard Estaunié in 1904 (tele- + communicare).
- First academic use: Official School of Telegraphy in Madrid in 1907.
- International consolidation: Madrid Conference of 1932 (ITU).
- Academic basis: Information theory (mid-20th century).
- Oldest method: Use of messengers in ancient civilizations.
Historical evolution of telecommunications
- Early communications: visual signals (smoke, fire) and acoustic signals (drums, horns)
- Hydraulic telegraph (4th century BC): use of water basins and tablets to transmit messages
- Postal mail: the predominant method of communication for most of history
- Optical telegraph: the first modern telecommunications system (encoding of non-prefixed messages)
- Optical telegraph design: Robert Hooke (1684)
- Effective implementation: French Revolution by Claude Chappe
- Chappe's infrastructure: 556 telegraphs for nearly 5,000 km of distance
- First optical telegraph line: 1792 (Paris-Lille), 230 km in length
- European variants: Murray (Great Britain), Breguet, Betancourt, and Mathé (Spain)
- Discovery of electrical transmission: Stephen Gray (1729)
- Voltaic pile: Alessandro Volta (direct current generation)
- Electrochemical telegraph: Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (1809)
- Basis of the electrochemical telegraph: design by Francisco Salvá Campillo (1804)
- Operation of the electrochemical telegraph: electrical signals via metal wires that electrolyzed acid to create hydrogen bubbles
History and evolution of the electric telegraph
- Pavel Schilling (1832): Electromagnetic telegraph with 6 galvanometers
- Gauss and Weber (1833): Telegraph line with 5-bit code
- Cooke and Wheatstone (1837): First patent; system of 5 conductors and 20 letters
- Commercial operation (1839): 21 km line with positive and negative pulse code
- Electric Telegraph Company (1846): Precursor of British Telecom; 6,500 km of lines in England in 1852
- Morse and Vail (1837): Operational prototype based on electromagnets
- Washington-Baltimore Line (1845): Funded with $30,000
- Western Union (1866): More than 2,250 offices and 120,000 km of lines
- David Edward Hughes (1855): 45 words per minute system with a letter wheel
- Émile Baudot (1874): Time-division multiplexing
- Thomas Edison (1874): Quadruplex system (4 simultaneous telegrams)
- International Telegraph Union (1865): Established the Morse system as the international standard
- London Conference (1903): Recommended the Hughes system (high activity) and Baudot (>500 telegrams/day)
History and development of the telephone and the Bell Telephone Company
- 1796: G. Huth uses the term 'telephone' for the first time.**
- 1856: Antonio Meucci installs the 'teletrófono'.**
- 1862: Philipp Reis presents the first device called a 'telephone'.**
- 1864: Innocenzo Manzetti invents the 'speaking telegraph'.**
- 1876: Alexander Graham Bell obtains the first patent for a telephone system.**
- 1876: Bell wins more than 600 lawsuits over the authorship of the telephone.**
- March 10, 1876: Date of receipt of patent 174 465 by Bell.**
- 1877: Establishment of the Bell Telephone Company.
- 1879: Supreme Court rules in favor of Bell against Western Union.**
- 1984: Division of the company into Baby Bells due to antitrust actions.**
- Tivadar Puskás: Inventor of manual switching.**
History and development of submarine cables
- Waterproofing method: gutta-percha (1847)
- First cable (1850): English Channel, destroyed by a fisherman
- 1851 cable: 4 copper strands (1.65 mm), hemp, and 10 iron wires (7 mm)
- England-India link: 1860
- First transatlantic attempt (1857): 3,200 km of cable, failed at 3,600 m depth
- Transatlantic success (1858): 2,340 km of cable between Ireland and Newfoundland
- 1858 cable failure: September 3 due to tension overload
- Great Eastern expedition (1865): 3,700 km of cable (3 times thicker)
- Final success: 1866 (laying and recovery of previous cable)
- Current traffic: 90% via submarine cables, 10% via satellites
Historical context and scientific advances of the Belle Époque
- Context: Belle Époque (late 19th century) marked by positivism and scientism
- Social change: The emergence of the bourgeoisie and middle classes into political power
- Labor movement: Growth of the labor struggle and the achievement of small victories
- Dissemination of progress: Use of world's fairs, railways, submarine cables, and the telegraph
- Cinema: Projection of the first film by the Lumière brothers in 1895
- Medicine: Ronald Ross discovers the transmission of malaria
- Physics: Discovery of the radioactivity of uranium and radium (Becquerel and the Curies)
- Nobel Prize: Awarded to the Curies in 1903 for their discoveries
- Aviation: Birth in the United States at the hands of the Wright brothers
History and evolution of radio communication and telecommunications
- Hertz: demonstrated the properties of electromagnetic waves in the 1880s.
- Wireless telegraphy: a system superior to the telegraph based on Hertzian waves.
- Branly: discovered the coherer in 1891.
- Tesla: worked on electrical energy transmission in the 5.1 MHz band (1891-1893).
- Lodge: patented the radio tuning system in May 1897 (patent 11 575).
- Popov: considered the inventor of radio communication in Russia (demonstration in 1896).
- Marconi: began experiments in 1895; achieved 7 km (land) and 14 km (water) in 1896.
- Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company Limited: founded by Marconi in 1896.
- Telefunken: company resulting from the union of Siemens & Halske and AEG in 1903.
- Radio Regulations: approved in 1906.
- Teletype: uses the Baudot code for text transmission and reception.
- Modem: a device for data transmission between computers.
- 1960s: use of communication satellites and packet switching.
- 1970s: creation of LAN, the OSI model, and standardization by the CCITT.
- 1980s: boom of digital networks and personal computers.
- Late 20th century: expansion of the Internet via fiber optics.
Theoretical bases and fundamentals of telecommunications
- Mathematics: Provide formal models (algebra, calculus, statistics) and tools such as the Fourier and Laplace Transforms.
- Physics: Studies the propagation medium; based on the electromagnetism of James Clerk Maxwell (1873).
- Information Theory: Evaluates channel capacity based on bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio (Claude Shannon, 1948).
- Systems Theory: Models the individual contribution of each element within the system.
- Control Theory: Models the temporal evolution (automatic) of systems.
- Queueing Theory: Models quality of service.
- Computer Science: Enables the programming and simulation of protocols.
- Electronics: Implements analog and digital circuits using integrated circuits.
- Objective: Efficient transmission of information (sound, image, data) while minimizing resources and interference.
- Compression: A technique to reduce information volume without affecting the content.
- Digitization: Conversion of analog signals to digital signals through sampling, quantization, and encoding.
- Nyquist-Shannon Criterion: The sampling frequency must be twice the frequency of the signal (e.g., 4 kHz voice -> 8000 samples/sec).
- Communication Protocol: A common language and technical rules between the transmitter and the receiver.
- Communication System: Includes the physical medium (network) and the control/routing elements.
Components and characteristics of transmission systems
- Transmitters: encode and emit the message
- Receivers: receive and extract information
- Transmission Medium: physical (guided) or non-physical (unguided) support
- Repeaters: amplify the signal for long distances
- Switches: route network frames
- Routers: choose the optimal path in TCP/IP networks
- Filters: allow specific frequencies to pass (demultiplexing)
- Modeling: systems theory, control theory, and queueing theory
- Delivery Requirement: transmit to the correct destination and ensure exclusivity
- Accuracy Requirement: delivery without alterations (use of error-correcting codes)
- Timeliness Requirement: delivery within the expected interval (critical in real-time)
- Degradation factors: impulsive noise, thermal noise (Johnson-Nyquist), propagation time, non-linear channel, micro-cuts, bandwidth, and echo
- Guided media: solid channel that directs the signal
- Unguided media: support that does not direct the signal along a specific path
Guided and unguided transmission media
- Twisted pair: two twisted copper wires to cancel interference
- Twisted pair variants: STP (shielded), UTP (unshielded), and FTP (foiled)
- Coaxial cable: internal conductor, metal mesh, and plastic insulation
- Fiber optics: transmits light pulses instead of electrical signals
- Multimode fiber: core diameter of 50 µm (multiple paths)
- Single-mode fiber: core diameter < 5 µm (single path)
- Unguided media: use variations of the electromagnetic field (radio waves)
- Antenna: device that transforms voltage into electromagnetic waves and vice versa
- Microwaves: range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz
- Use of microwaves: Wi-Fi (standard 802.11) and remote transmissions
- Wireless range: can exceed millions of kilometers (e.g., 100 au)
- Satellites: long-distance retransmission since 1962 (Telstar 1)
Fundamentals of Telecommunications Networks: Techniques and Classifications
- Circuit switching: manual physical connection between lines.
- Packet switching: each node/router chooses the optimal path for the data.
- Modulation: introduces information into a carrier wave to reduce distortion and antenna size.
- Time Division Multiplexing (TDM): assigns time slots to message segments (e.g., GSM).
- Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM): divides the spectrum into different frequencies using electronic filters (e.g., FM).
- Access network: connection point for user terminals.
- Transit/core network: manages nodes, links, and prevents information loss.
- Telecommunications service: services received by the user over the network.
Communication systems, telephony networks, data, and broadband services
- Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN): public circuit-switched network with a fixed and exclusive channel
- Voice digitization: 8 bits at 8 kHz
- Access network: telephones connected via local loop to local exchanges
- Network core: hierarchical interconnection of distribution exchanges
- LAN: local area network for sharing resources (e.g., Ethernet, Token Ring)
- WAN: wide area network (country-wide) managed by companies or ISPs
- Broadcast network: simultaneous and synchronous delivery of identical information to multiple points
- Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM): technique for sending different messages through the atmosphere (Radio/TV)
- Code Division Multiplexing (CDM): technique used in cable TV and IPTV
- Broadband: commercial term for various technologies (xDSL, fiber, 3G, WiMAX)
- Triple Play: IP bundle of voice (VoIP), TV (IPTV), and broadband
- Quadruple Play: Triple Play plus services in mobile networks
- Technological convergence: integration of services into similar systems for next-generation networks
Telematic services, networks, and the historical influence of telecommunications
- Telematic services: use computer and telecommunications systems on networks.
- Internet: a decentralized and voluntary network of interconnected networks.
- IP Protocol: routing traffic via IP addresses.
- TCP Protocol: managing reliable transmission without loss.
- Differentiation: the Internet is the network; the Web is a hypertext service running over said network.
- Specific services: SMTP (email), FTP/P2P (files), IRC (chat), VoIP/IPTV (multimedia), SSH/Telnet (remote access).
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs): companies that connect home users to the network.
- Private/Specific networks: Intranets, academic networks (GÉANT, RedCLARA), and professional networks (police, fire departments).
- Political influence: a tool for the centralization of power and bureaucratic/military control.
- National security: telecommunications networks are considered vital infrastructure for sovereignty.
- Mass media: a link of communication and control between rulers and the citizenry.
Historical evolution and the role of telecommunications in war and peace
- Key military objectives: unity of action and speed of movement
- First modern system: Chappe optical telegraph (revolutionary France)
- First application of electric telegraphy: Crimean War (1853–1856)
- Decisive use of the telegraph: Indian Mutiny (1857), Italian unification (1859), and Civil War (1861-1865)
- World War I: generalization of telegraph, telephone, wireless telegraphy, and radio lines
- World War II: the birth of broadcasting as a psychological weapon
- Modern warfare: guided missiles, unmanned vehicles, and electronic/cyber warfare
- Molink (Red Phone): teletype system for direct communication between the USA and the USSR during the Cold War
Economic and social influence of telecommunications
- Information as power: the capacity to alter economic behavior through early news.
- Economic impact: reduction of interaction costs and expansion of markets.
- Industrial dependency: just-in-time (JIT) production requires ubiquitous communication networks.
- OECD Growth (1970-1990): fixed-line networks contributed one-third of production growth.
- Mobile Penetration (1996-2003): Sweden reached 64 per 100 inhabitants; Canada reached 26 per 100.
- Impact on Canada's GDP: growth was nearly 1% higher due to the doubling of mobile penetration.
- Post-industrial society: based on knowledge, information, and creativity as raw materials.
- Language Revolution: coordination of common work.
- Writing Revolution: administration, economic records, and knowledge transmission.
- Printing Press Revolution: standardization of processes and mass education.
- Telecommunications Revolution: globalization and universal instantaneous dialogue.
- Global Village (McLuhan): a society with tribal behavior, networks of dependence, and solidarity.
- Globalization: global scale effects resulting from local events (butterfly effect/chaos theory).
International cooperation and telecommunications regulation
- First international agreement: Prussia and Austria (October 3, 1849)
- Austro-German Telegraph Union: created in 1850
- 1851 milestones: border connection without translators, preference for Morse telegraph, and division into Convention and Regulation
- Western European Telegraph Union: formed between 1851 and 1854
- 1852 Agreement: precursor to the secrecy of telecommunications
- First International Telegraph Convention: signed in Paris in 1865
- Economic evolution: from state monopoly to regulated competition
- International obligation: standardize pricing and interconnection
- Resource management: electromagnetic waves are considered a scarce resource due to the risk of interference
- Administrative control: use of licenses, fees, and division of the air into frequency windows or slots
- Technical limitation: antenna power control
- Regulator's role: transmission management and mediation between operators and customers
The market and standardization in telecommunications
- Market: Evolution from a state-owned model to a regulated free market
- Exception: In the USA, the sector is privately initiated with legal monopolies
- Networks: Transport infrastructures
- Services: Network offerings
- Terminals: Interaction equipment
- Applications: User interface
- Content: Information, multimedia, and storage
- Facilitators: Regulations, standards, and rules
- Standardization: Rules to ensure compatibility, quality, and security
- Standardization objective: Defining the 'language' of communication between systems
- Standardization effect: Accelerates obsolescence and lowers manufacturing costs
Standardization bodies and the effects of telecommunications on health
- ITU: founded in 1934, joined the UN in 1947
- ITU Sectors: ITU-R (Radiocommunications), ITU-T (Standardization), ITU-D (Development)
- ISO: founded in 1948, issues general industrial standards
- IEEE: standardizes electrical engineering and computing (e.g., 802.x)
- RFC: chronologically numbered technical reports that generate protocol standards (IP, UDP)
- Guided media: cables, low risk (only due to material toxicity)
- Unguided media: open environment, higher potential risk
- Non-ionizing radiation: key factors are power and distance
- Field reduction: distance reduces the effect quadratically (n²)
- Regulation in Spain: Power in the CNAF and distance in RD 1066/2001
Bibliography and external links on telecommunications
- Fondevila Gascón (2009): Study on triple play and television in Spain and Europe
- Torres (2007): Text on telecommunications and telematics
- Huidobro Moya (2006): Works on networks and services and technologies of telecommunications
- Herrera Pérez (2004): Introduction to modern telecommunications
- Definition resource: RAE Dictionary
- News resource: Wikinoticias
- Institutional resource: International Telecommunication Union
- Technical tool: Multilingual search engine of the International Telecommunication Union
Flashcard preview (6 of 40)
- 01
Technical definition of telecommunication:
Transmission and reception of signals of any nature that contain information over a certain distance.
- 02
Etymology of "telecommunication": what does the Greek prefix "tele-" mean?
Distance.
- 03
In the context of engineering, what does telecommunications engineering solve?
The technical problems associated with the discipline of telecommunications.
- 04
At the 1932 Madrid Conference, what organization was established to consolidate the term internationally?
International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
- 05
What is the oldest recorded telecommunications method in civilizations such as the Sumerian or Roman?
Messengers (people who traveled long distances).
- 06
In antiquity, what types of signals did the first telecommunication technologies use?
Visual (beacons, smoke) and acoustic (drums, horns, wooden clappers).
+ 34 more flashcards, 24 quiz questions and audio when you sign up (free).