TOPIC 15

BASIC ELEMENTS OF TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEM

PART 2

Objectives:
 The students are able to create a conversation regarding the basic
elements of telecommunication system.
 The students are able to answer the questions based on the passage given.
 The students are able to write letters.
 The students are able to answer the questions regarding the Word
Families (Root Word).

1. Listening and Speaking Section

Practice the following conversation and create your own conversation regarding
the basic elements of telecommunication system.
Robert : What are the basic elements of a telecommunication system?
Roberta : Transmitter, transmission medium, receiver, wired
communication, and wireless communication.
Robert : What is transmitter?
Roberta : Transmitter takes information and converts it to a signal for
Transmission.
Robert : What is a radio transmitter?
Roberta : Radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of
an antenna, produces radio waves.
Robert : Are transmitters necessary component parts of many electronic
devices communicated by radio.
Roberta : Yes, they are.
Robert : What is a transmission medium?
Roberta :Transmission medium is a medium over which the signal is
transmitted.
Robert : What is the example of the transmission medium for sounds?
Roberta : The transmission medium for sounds is usually air, but solids and
liquids may also act as transmission media for sound.
Robert : Are many transmission media used as communications channel?
Roberta : Yes, they are.
Robert : What is one of the most common physical media used in
networking?
Roberta : Copper wire. It is used to carry signals to long distances using
relatively low amounts of power.
Robert : What is another example of a physical medium?
Roberta : Optical fibre It is used as transmission medium for long-distance
communications. Optical fibre is a thin strand of glass that guides
light along its length.
Robert : What is receiver?
Roberta : Receiver receives and converts the signal back into required
information.
Robert : What is a radio receiver?
Roberta : A radio receiver is an electronic device that receives 
radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a
usable form. It is used with an antenna. The information produced
by the receiver may be in the form of sound (an audio signal),
images (a video signal) or digital data.

2. Reading Section: Basic Elements of Telecommunication System 2

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_engineering)
Read the passage and answer the questions.
Transmitter, transmission medium, receiver, wired communication and
wireless communication are the basic elements of a telecommunication system.
Transmitter takes information and converts it to a signal for transmission.
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is
an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. In
addition to their use in broadcasting, transmitters are necessary component parts
of many electronic devices that communicate by radio, such as cell phones.
Transmission medium over which the signal is transmitted. For example,
the transmission medium for sounds is usually air, but solids and liquids may also
act as transmission media for sound. Many transmission media are used
as communications channel. One of the most common physical media used in
networking is copper wire. Copper wire is used to carry signals to long distances
using relatively low amounts of power. Another example of a physical medium
is optical fibre, which has emerged as the most commonly used transmission
medium for long-distance communications. Optical fibre is a thin strand of glass
that guides light along its length. The absence of a material medium
in vacuum may also constitute a transmission medium for electromagnetic
waves such as light and radio waves.
Receiver receives and converts the signal back into required information.
In radio communications, a radio receiver is an electronic device that
receives radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a usable
form. It is used with an antenna. The information produced by the receiver may be
in the form of sound (an audio signal), images (a video signal) or digital data.
Wired communications make use of underground communications cables
(less often, overhead lines), electronic signal amplifiers (repeaters) inserted into
connecting cables at specified points, and terminal apparatus of various types,
depending on the type of wired communications used.
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a
distance without help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical
conductors. Wireless operations permit services, such as long-range
communications, that are impossible or impractical to implement with the use of
wires. The term is commonly used in the telecommunications industry to refer to
telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers, remote controls
etc.) which use some form of energy (e.g. radio waves, acoustic energy, etc.) to
transfer information without the use of wires. Information is transferred in this
manner over both short and long distances.
 The following are jobs and responsibilities of people in telecommunication
engineering area.
A telecom equipment engineer is an electronic engineer that designs
equipment such as routers, switches, multiplexers, and other specialized
computer/electronics equipment designed to be used in the telecommunication
network infrastructure.
A network engineer is a computer engineer who is in charge of designing,
deploying and maintaining computer networks. In addition, they oversee network
operations from a network operations center, designs backbone infrastructure, or
supervises interconnections in a data center.
A central-office engineer is responsible for designing and overseeing the
implementation of telecommunications equipment in a central office (CO for
short), also referred to as a wire center or telephone exchange. A CO engineer is
responsible for integrating new technology into the existing network, assigning
the equipment's location in the wire center, and providing power, clocking (for
digital equipment), and alarm monitoring facilities for the new equipment. The
CO engineer is also responsible for providing more power, clocking, and alarm
monitoring facilities if there are currently not enough available to support the new
equipment being installed. Finally, the CO engineer is responsible for designing
how the massive amounts of cable will be distributed to various equipment and
wiring frames throughout the wire center and overseeing the installation and turn
up of all new equipment.
As structural engineers, CO engineers are responsible for the structural
design and placement of racking and bays for the equipment to be installed in as
well as for the plant to be placed on.
As electrical engineers, CO engineers are responsible for the resistance,
capacitance, and inductance (RCL) design of all new plant to ensure telephone
service is clear and crisp and data service is clean as well as reliable. Attenuation
or gradual loss in intensity and loop loss calculations are required to determine
cable length and size required to provide the service called for. In addition, power
requirements have to be calculated and provided to power any electronic
equipment being placed in the wire center.
Overall, CO engineers have seen new challenges emerging in the CO
environment. With the advent of Data Centers, Internet Protocol (IP) facilities,
cellular radio sites, and other emerging-technology equipment environments
within telecommunication networks, it is important that a consistent set of
established practices or requirements be implemented.
Installation suppliers or their sub-contractors are expected to provide
requirements with their products, features, or services. These services might be
associated with the installation of new or expanded equipment, as well as the
removal of existing equipment.
Outside plant (OSP) engineers are also often called field engineers because
they frequently spend much time in the field taking notes about the civil
environment, aerial, above ground, and below ground. OSP engineers are
responsible for taking plant (copper, fiber, etc.) from a wire center to a
distribution point or destination point directly. If a distribution point design is
used, then a cross-connect box is placed in a strategic location to feed a
determined distribution area.
The cross-connect box, also known as a serving area interface, is then
installed to allow connections to be made more easily from the wire center to the
destination point and ties up fewer facilities by not having dedication facilities
from the wire center to every destination point. The plant is then taken directly to
its destination point or to another small closure called a terminal, where access
can also be gained to the plant if necessary. These access points are preferred as
they allow faster repair times for customers and save telephone operating
companies large amounts of money.
The plant facilities can be delivered via underground facilities, either
direct buried or through conduit or in some cases laid under water, via aerial
facilities such as telephone or power poles, or via microwave radio signals for
long distances where either of the other two methods is too costly.
 As structural engineers, OSP engineers are responsible for the structural
design and placement of cellular towers and telephone poles as well as calculating
pole capabilities of existing telephone or power poles onto which new plant is
being added. Structural calculations are required when boring under heavy traffic
areas such as highways or when attaching to other structures such as bridges.
Shoring also has to be taken into consideration for larger trenches or pits. Conduit
structures often include encasements of slurry that needs to be designed to support
the structure and withstand the environment around it (soil type, high traffic areas,
etc.).
As electrical engineers, OSP engineers are responsible for the resistance,
capacitance, and inductance (RCL) design of all new plant to ensure telephone
service is clear and crisp and data service is clean as well as reliable. Attenuation
or gradual loss in intensity and loop loss calculations are required to determine
cable length and size required to provide the service called for. In addition, power
requirements have to be calculated and provided to power any electronic
equipment being placed in the field. Ground potential has to be taken into
consideration when placing equipment, facilities, and plant in the field to account
for lightning strikes, high voltage intercept from improperly grounded or broken
power company facilities, and from various sources of electromagnetic
interference.
As civil engineers, OSP engineers are responsible for drafting plans, either
by hand or using Computer-aided design (CAD) software, for how telecom plant
facilities will be placed. Often when working with municipalities trenching or
boring permits are required and drawings must be made for these. Often these
drawings include about 70% or so of the detailed information required to pave a
road or add a turn lane to an existing street. Structural calculations are required
when boring under heavy traffic areas such as highways or when attaching to
other structures such as bridges. As civil engineers, telecom engineers provide the
modern communications backbone for all technological communications
distributed throughout civilizations today.
 Unique to telecom engineering is the use of air-core cable which requires
an extensive network of air handling equipment such as compressors, manifolds,
regulators and hundreds of miles of air pipe per system that connects to
pressurized splice cases all designed to pressurize this special form of copper
cable to keep moisture out and provide a clean signal to the customer.
As political and social ambassador, the OSP engineer is a telephone
operating company's face and voice to the local authorities and other utilities. OSP
engineers often meet with municipalities, construction companies and other utility
companies to address their concerns and educate them about how the telephone
utility works and operates. Additionally, the OSP engineer has to secure real
estate in which to place outside facilities, such as an easement to place a cross-
connect box.
QUESTIONS:
1. What are the basic elements of a telecommunication system?
2. What is transmitter?
3. What is a radio transmitter?
4. Are transmitters necessary component parts of many electronic devices
communicated by radio?
5. What is a transmission medium?
6. What is the example of the transmission medium for sounds?
7. Are many transmission media used as communications channel?
8. What is one of the most common physical media used in networking?
9. What is another example of a physical medium?
10. What is receiver?
11. What is a radio receiver?
12. What is wired communication?
13. What is wireless communication?
14. What is a telecom equipment engineer?
15. What is a network engineer?
16. What is a central-office engineer?
17. What is the responsibility of central-office engineer as a structural one?
 18. What is the responsibility of central-office engineer as an electrical one?
19. What is outside plant (OSP) engineer?
20. What is the responsibility of an outside plant engineer as a structural one?
21. What is the responsibility of an outside plant engineer as an electrical one?
22. What is the responsibility of an outside plant engineer as a civil one?
23. What is the responsibility of an outside plant engineer as a political and
social ambassador?

II. Writing Section: Letter writing

The TOEIC will generally always have one letter on the test. The
important information is generally contained in the body of the letter—the part
between the greeting (Dear………….) and the closing (Sincerely yours).

EXERCISE:
1) Questions 1-3 refer to the following letter. Choose the one best answer to each
question.
EUTECH, s.r.o
Zborovska 23, 150 00 Praha 5
Czech Republic
Tel: (02) 513.2343 Fax: (02) 513.2334

December 3, 20—

Post Comptoir
43 Griffith Road
Dinsdale, Hamilton
North Island, New Zealand

Dear Sir or Madam:

We are interested in becoming distributors for your software products in the

 Czech Republic. Would you please send us your latest catalogues, descriptive
brochures, and terms?

We are a hardware company hat would like to add software to our sales
offerings. Our annual report is enclosed.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely yours,
Peter Zavel
Peter Zavel
Chairman

1. Which items were NOT requested?

a. Catalogues b. Brochures
c. Samples d. Pricing Information
2. What does EUTECH
a. Software b. Computers
c. Financial reports d. Printing services
3. EUTECH wants to
a. Distribute software b. Manufacture computers
c. Purchase hardware d. Receive an annual report
2). Write your own letter and make questions based on the letter.

III. Structure and Grammar Section: Word Families (Root Word)

(TOEIC Barron’s, 7th Edition, page 136-137)
Word families are created by adding endings to a word. These endings
will change the word into a noun, adjective, or adverb.
Common Word Endings
noun verb adjective adverb
-ance -en -able -ly
-ancy -ify -ible -ward
-ence -ize -al -wise
-ation -ful
-ian -ish
-ism -ive
-ist -ous
-ment
-ness
-ship
-or
-er

Common Word Families

Noun verb adjective adverb
thing person
application applicant apply applicable
competition competitor compete competitive competitively
criticism critic criticize critical critically
decision decide decisive decisively
economy economist economize economical economically
finale finalist finalize final finally
interpretation interpreter interpret interpretive
maintenance maintainer maintain maintainable
management manager manage managerial
mechanism mechanic mechanize mechanical mechanically
nation nationalist nationalize national nationally
negotiation negotiator negotiate negotiable
politics politician politicize political politically
production producer produce productive productively
prosperity prosper prosperous prosperously
 repetition repeater repeat repetitious repetitively
simplification simplify simple simply
theory theoretician theorize theoretical theoretically
Examples:
 She is a careful manager.
 She read the report carefully.
Careful is an adjective. In the example above, it describes the word manager. It
tells us what kind of manager she is.
Carefully is an adverb. In the example above, it modifies the verb read. It tells us
how she read the report.
 Mr. Kim applied for a job at our company.
 His application contains a lot of information about his background.
Applied is a past tense verb. In the example above, it tells us what Mr. Kim did.
Application is a noun. In the example above, it is the subject of the sentence.

EXERCISE:
Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence.
1. The director of purchasing can………………the best price.
a. Negotiable b. negotiate
c. negotiator d. negotiation
2. The first day that we advertised the job on our website, there were over
700………………for the position.
a. Applies b. applicants
c. appliances d. applications
3. The ability to act……………in moments of crisis is the mark of a strong
leader.
a. Decide b. decision
c. decisive d. decisively