Chapter

Introducing
Telecommunications
I can still recall sitting in my first class on telecommunications as an
undergrad—the teacher going off into a world of technical detail and I in my chair
wondering, “What is this stuff called communications and telecommunications?” So,
first, some simple definitions and examples—the big picture.

1.1 Communication Systems

1.1.1 Definition
A communication system is, simply, any system in which information is transmitted
from one physical location—let’s call it A—to a second physical location, which we’ll
call B. I’ve shown this in Figure 1.1. A simple example of a communication system is
one person talking to another person at lunch. Another simple example is one person
talking to a second person over the telephone.

Figure 1.1 A communication system

2 ◆ Chapter One

1.1.2 The Parts of a Communication System

Any communication system is made up of three parts, shown in Figure 1.2. First is the
transmitter, the part of the communication system that sits at point A. It includes two
items: the source of the information, and the technology that sends the information out
over the channel. Next is the channel. The channel is the medium (the stuff) that the
information travels through in going from point A to point B. An example of a channel
is copper wire, or the atmosphere. Finally, there’s the receiver, the part of the commu-
nication system that sits at point B and gets all the information that the transmitter
sends over the channel.
We’ll spend the rest of this book talking about these three parts and how they work.

TRANSMITTER RECEIVER

CHANNEL

A B
Figure 1.2 Parts of a communication system

1.1.3 An Example of a Communication System

Now, let’s run through a simple but very important example of a communication
system. We’ll consider the example of Gretchen talking to Carl about where to go for
lunch, as shown in Figure 1.3.

Channel (the air)

Windpipe
Figure 1.3 Vocal cords
Gretchen talking to Carl at lunch
 Introducing Telecommunications ◆ 3

The Transmitter
The transmitter, in this case, is made up of parts of Gretchen, namely her vocal cords,
windpipe, and mouth. When Gretchen wants to talk, her brain tells her vocal cords
(found in her windpipe) to vibrate at between 100 Hz and 10,000 Hz, depending on the
sound she’s trying to make. (Isn’t it cool that, ever y time you talk, a part of you is
shaking at between 100 and 10,000 times per second?) Once Gretchen’s vocal cords
begin to vibrate, here are the three things that happen next:
(1) the vibrations of her vocal cords cause vibrations in the air in her windpipe;
(2) these vibrations in the air move up her windpipe to her mouth; and
(3) as the vibrating air moves out through Gretchen’s mouth, the shape of her
mouth and lips, and the position of her tongue, work together to create the
intended sound.

The Channel
In our example, the channel is simply the air between Gretchen and Carl. The shaped
vibrations that leave Gretchen’s mouth cause vibrations in the air, and these vibrations
move through the air from Gretchen to Carl.

The Receiver
The receiver in this case is Carl’s eardrum and brain. The vibrations in the air hit
Carl’s eardrum, causing it to vibrate in the same way. Carl’s shaking eardrum sends
electrical signals to his brain, which interprets the shaking as spoken sound.
The human eardrum can actually pick up vibrations between 50 Hz and 16,500
Hz, allowing us to hear sounds beyond the range of what we can speak, including a
variety of musical sounds.

1.2 Telecommunication Systems

1.2.1 Definition
A telecommunication system is two things: (1) a communication system—that is, a
system in which information is transmitted from one physical location, A, to a second
physical location, B; and (2) a system which allows this information to be sent beyond
the range of usual vocal or visual communications. Gretchen and Carl’s lunchtime chat
would not qualify as a telecommunication system, but the telephone system which
they used later for an afternoon talk does qualify.
4 ◆ Chapter One

1.2.2 Four Examples and an Erratic History Lesson

Here are four examples of telecommunication systems, ordered chronologically to
create what we’ll optimistically call “a brief histor y of telecommunications.”
Smoking Up In the B.C.’s, smoke signals were sent out using fire and some smoke
signal equipment (such as a blanket). The smoke, carried upward by the air, was seen
by people far (but not too far) away, who then interpreted this smoke to have some
meaning. It is said that a fellow named Polybius (a Greek historian) came up with a
system of alphabetical smoke signals in the 100s B.C., but there are no known re-
corded codes.
Wild Horses Until the 1850s in the U.S., the fastest way to send a message from one’s
home to someone else’s home was by Pony Express. Here, you wrote what you wanted
to say (the transmitter), gave the writing to a Pony Express man, who then hopped on
his horse and rode to the destination (the channel), where the message would be read
by the intended person (the receiver).
Telegraph In 1844, a fellow named Samuel Morse built a device he called the tele-
graph, the beginning of the end of the Pony Express. The transmitter consisted of a
person and a sending key, which when pressed by the person, created a flow of elec-
tricity. This key had three states: “Off” which meant the key was not pressed; “Dot,”
which meant the key was pressed for a short time and then released; and “Dash,”
which meant the key was pressed for a longer time and then released. Each letter of
the alphabet was represented by a particular sequence of dots and dashes. To keep the
time to send a message short, the most commonly used letters in the alphabet were
represented by the fewest possible dots or dashes; for example, the commonly used “t”
was represented by a single dash, and the much- loved “e” was represented by a single
dot. This system of representing letters is the well-known Morse code. The channel
was an iron wire. The electricity created by the person and the sending key (the
transmitter) was sent along this wire to the receiver, which consisted of an audio-
speaker and a person. When the electricity entered the audio-speaker from the iron
wire, it made a beeping sound. A “Dot” sounded like a short beep, and a “Dash”
sounded like a longer beep. The person, upon hearing these beeps, would then decode
the letters that had been sent. The overall system could send about two letters a
second, or 120 letters a minute. The first words sent over the telegraph, by inventor
Morse himself, were “What has God wrought!” (I have since wondered what Morse,
who basically invented a simple dot-dash sending system, would have said about, oh,
say, a nuclear bomb.)
The Telephone The telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell,
whose first words on the phone were, “Mr. Watson, come at once, I need you.” Alex
had just spilled batter y acid down his pants and, as you can imagine, was in quite
urgent need of his assistant’s help. Figure 1.4 shows an illustration of two people, who
 Introducing Telecommunications ◆ 5

we’ll call Carl and Monica, using the telephone. What follows is a wordy description of
how the telephone works. Refer to Figure 1.4 to help you with the terms.
The transmitter consists of Monica (who is talking) and the transmitting (bottom)
end of the telephone. Monica speaks, and her vocal cords vibrate. This causes vibra-
tions in the air, which travel through and out her mouth, and then travel to the
bottom end of the telephone. Inside the bottom end of the telephone is a diaphragm.
When the vibrations of the air arrive at this diaphragm, it, like an eardrum, begins to
vibrate. Directly behind the diaphragm are a bunch of carbon granules. These gran-
ules are part of an electrical circuit, which consists of a 4-V source, copper wire, and
the carbon granules. The carbon granules act as a resistor (with variable resistance) in
the circuit. When the diaphragm is pushed back by the vibrating air, it causes the
carbon granules (right behind it) to mush together. In this case, the granules
act like a low-resistance resistor in the circuit. Hence, the current flowing though the
electric circuit is high (using the well-known V = R ⋅ I rule). When the diaphragm is
popped out by the vibrating air, it causes the carbon granules (right behind it) to
separate out. In this case, those carbon granules are acting like a high-resistance
resistor in the electrical circuit. Hence, the current flowing though the circuit is low.
Overall, vibrations in the diaphragm (its “pushing back” and “popping out”) cause the
same vibrations (frequencies) to appear in the current of the electrical circuit (via
those carbon granules).
The channel is a copper wire. The vibrating current generated by the transmitter
is carried along this wire to the receiver.

Channel (copper wire)

eardrum

electromagnet

4v power supply
Windpipe
Vocal carbon granules
cords diaphragm

Monica Carl

TRANSMITTER RECEIVER

Figure 1.4
Monica and Carl talking on a telephone
6 ◆ Chapter One

The receiver consists of two parts: the receiving (top) part of the telephone, and
Carl’s ear. The current, sent along the copper wire, arrives at the top end of the tele-
phone. Inside this top end is a device called an electromagnet and right next to that is
a diaphragm. The current, containing all of Monica’s talking frequencies, enters into
the electromagnet. This electromagnet causes the diaphragm to vibrate with all of
Monica’s talking frequencies. The vibrating diaphragm causes vibrations in the air, and
these vibrations travel to Carl’s ear. His eardrum vibrates, and these vibrations cause
electrical signals to be sent to his brain, which interprets this as Monica’s sound.

1.3 Analog and Digital Communication Systems

The last part of this chapter is dedicated to explaining what is meant by analog and
digital communication systems, and then explaining why digital communication
systems are the way of the future.

1.3.1 Some Introductory Definitions

An analog signal is a signal that can take on any amplitude and is well-defined at ever y
time. Figure 1.5(a) shows an example of this. A discrete-time signal is a signal that can
take on any amplitude but is defined only at a set of discrete times. Figure 1.5(b)
shows an example. Finally, a digital signal is a signal whose amplitude can take on only
a finite set of values, normally two, and is defined only at a discrete set of times. To
help clarify, an example is shown in Figure 1.5(c).

x(t) x(t) x(t)

t t 0 t
T 2T 3T 4T ... T 2T 3T 4T ...

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.5 (a) An analog signal; (b) a discrete time signal; and (c) a digital signal
 Introducing Telecommunications ◆ 7

1.3.2 Definitions
An analog communication system is a communication system where the information
signal sent from point A to point B can only be described as an analog signal. An
example of this is Monica speaking to Carl over the telephone, as described in Section
1.2.2.
A digital communication system is a communication system where the information
signal sent from A to B can be fully described as a digital signal. For example, con-
sider Figure 1.6. Here, data is sent from one computer to another over a wire. The
computer at point A is sending 0s or 1s to the computer at point B; a 0 is being repre-
sented by –5 V for a duration of time T and a 1 is being represented by a +5 V for the
same duration T. As I show in that figure, that sent signal can be fully described using
a digital signal.

A B
s(t) Signal sent is:

+5v
0 t
-5v

Can be represented by:

1
0 t
1 0 1 0

Figure 1.6 A computer sending information to another computer

8 ◆ Chapter One

1.3.3 And Digital Became the Favorite

Digital communication systems are becoming, and in many ways have already be-
come, the communication system of choice among us telecommunication folks.
Certainly, one of the reasons for this is the rapid availability and low cost of digital
components. But this reason is far from the full stor y. To explain the full benefits of a
digital communication system, we’ll use Figures 1.7 and 1.8 to help.
Let’s first consider an analog communication system, using Figure 1.7. Let’s
pretend the transmitter sends out the analog signal of Figure 1.7(a) from point A to
point B. This signal travels across the channel, which adds some noise (an unwanted
signal). The signal that arrives at the receiver now looks like Figure 1.7(b). Let’s now
consider a digital communication system with the help of Figure 1.8. Let’s imagine that
the transmitter sends out the signal of Figure 1.8(a). This signal travels across the
channel, which adds a noise. The signal that arrives at the receiver is found in Figure
1.8 (b).

s(t) r(t) Noise

t t
(a) (b)

Figure 1.7 (a) Transmitted analog signal; (b) Received analog signal

Noise
s(t) s(t)

1 0 1
+5v +5v

0 t 0 t

-5v -5v

(a) (b)
Figure 1.8 (a) Transmitted digital signal; (b) Received digital signal
 Introducing Telecommunications ◆ 9

Here’s the key idea. In the digital communication system, even after noise is
added, a 1 (sent as +5 V) still looks like a 1 (+5 V), and a 0 (–5 V) still looks like a 0 (–5
V). So, the receiver can determine that the information transmitted was a 1 0 1. Since it
can decide this, it’s as if the channel added no noise. In the analog communication
system, the receiver is stuck with the noisy signal and there is no way it can recover
exactly what was sent. (If you can think of a way, please do let me know.) So, in a
digital communication system, the effects of channel noise can be much, much less
than in an analog communication system.

1.3.4 Making It Digital

A number of naturally occurring signals, such as Monica’s speech signal, are analog
signals. We want to send these signals from one point, A, to another point, B. Because
digital communication systems are so much better than analog ones, we want to use a
digital system. To do this, the analog signal must be turned into a digital signal. The
devices which turn analog signals into digital ones are called source coders, and we’ll
spend all of Chapter 4 exploring them. In this section, we’ll just take a brief peek at a
simple source coder, one that will turn Monica’s speech signal (and anyone else’s for
that matter) into a digital signal. The source coder is shown in Figure 1.9.
It all begins when Monica talks into the telephone, and her vibrations are turned
into an electrical signal by the bottom end of the telephone talked about earlier. This
electrical signal is the input signal in Figure 1.9. We will assume, as the telephone
company does, that all of Monica’s speech lies in the frequency range of 100 Hz to
4000 Hz.
The electrical version of Monica’s speech signal enters a device called a sampler.
The sampler is, in essence, a switch which closes for a brief period of time and then
opens, closing and opening many times a second. When the switch is closed, the
electrical speech signal passes through; when the switch is open, nothing gets
through. Hence, the output of the sampler consists of samples (pieces) of the electrical
input.

Monica's speech signal

Quantizer Symbol-to-bit
Sampler Mapper

Figure 1.9 A simple source coder

10 ◆ Chapter One

As some of you may know (and if you don’t, we’ll review it in Chapter 4, so have
no worries), we want the switch to open and close at a rate of at least two times the
maximum frequency of the input signal. In the case at hand, this means that we want
the switch to open and close 2 × 4000 = 8000 times a second; in fancy words, we want a
sampling rate of 8000 Hz.
After the switch, the signal goes through a device called a quantizer. The quan-
tizer does a simple thing. It makes the amplitude of each sample go to one of 256
possible levels. For example, the quantizer may be rounding each sample of the
incoming signal to the nearest value in the set {0, 0.01, 0.02, ..., 2.54, 2.55}.
Now, here’s something interesting. There is a loss of information at the quantizer.
For example, in rounding a sample of amplitude 2.123 to the amplitude 2.12, informa-
tion is lost. That information is gone forever. Why would we put in a device that
intentionally lost information? Easy. Because that’s the only way we know to turn an
analog signal into a digital one (and hence gain the benefits of a digital communication
system). The good news here is engineers (like you and me) build the quantizer, and
we can build it in a way that minimizes the loss introduced by the quantizer. (We’ll talk
at length about that in Chapter 4.)
After the quantizer, the signal enters into a symbol-to-bit mapper. This device
maps each sample, whose amplitude takes on one of 256 levels, into a sequence of 8
bits. For example, 0.0 may be represented by 00000000, and 2.55 by 11111111. We’ve
now created a digital signal from our starting analog signal.

1.4 Congrats and Conclusion

Congratulations—you made it through the first chapter. Just to recap (and I’ll be brief),
in this chapter we defined the words communication and telecommunication system.
Next, I presented a whole gang of examples, to give you a feel for a few key communi-
cation and telecommunication systems. Finally, we talked about analog and digital
communications, discovering that most telecommunication engineers dream in digital.
Meet you in Chapter 2!
 Introducing Telecommunications ◆ 11

Problems

1. Briefly describe the following:

(a) telecommunication system
(b) communication system
(c) the difference between a communication system and a
telecommunication system.
(d) digital communications
(e) analog communications
(f) the main reason why digital communications is preferred
(to analog communications).

2. Describe the function of the following:

(a) source coder
(b) quantizer
(c) sampler
(d) symbol-to-bit mapper.