Final Exam Flashcards
What is vertical integration?
Company may manage multiple stages of the business (ex. hardware, software, and/or distribution)
What is horizontal integration?
Specialize in one thing in a business and try to be the only option
-Dominate in one stage ex. distribution with Amazon
What is rate of return regulation?
Giving a company subsidies or this monopoly and in exchange, you can’t make more than a certain percentage of profit
What is a common carrier universal service?
Telephone industry: A company must serve customers in public interest without discrimination
What is universal access?
Having the ability to access the internet anywhere
What is licensing?
- Determines who is allowed to provide service
- Protects corporations from competition
What is retransmission consent?
- Local stations could charge cable companies for access to signals
- The cable company could refuse to carry the signal
What is must carry?
Requires cable service to carry local station no compensation
What is the last mile?
The twisted pair that goes through your house (central office from the node to your home)
Explain a bundling service
When cable, phone, internet is supplied from the same company.
What is passband?
The range of frequencies a channel can carry
What is bandwidth?
The width of the passband- the amount of data a channel can carry
Define Subsides
A sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive
The constitution and new technology
- Amendments protect citizens from government - not corporations
- 1st Amendment: Freedom of speech
- 4th Amendment - Protects from searches and seizures and how it applies to the internet
What is the Communication Act of 1934?
Broadcasters should serve in the public interest. Wanted to prevent vertical integration and ensure competition, localism and diversity. Company couldn’t be both distributor and producer.
What is the 1996 Telecommunications Act?
Goal was to promote competition and reduce regulation to get better prices. Led to convergence and monopolies. Merges between phone and cable companies.
Network Neutrality
- Organizational infrastructure of different industries
- History of corporations and ownership influence marketplace.
- Only the cable company pushed for net neutrality
What is infrastructure?
the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or other area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function
What are the parts of the Umbrella Perspective of Technology
- Enabling factors - make technology possible
- Limiting factors - restrict or prevent technology
- Motivating factors - make people want to adopt technology
- Inhibiting factors - opposite of motivating
Umbrella Perspective - List the levels of the enabling factors
- Hardware level (capability to send digital signals)
- Political level (policymakers allocate spectrum)
Umbrella Perspective - List the levels of the limiting factors
- Hardware level - no available service connects to device
- Organizational/political level - laws of policies prevent use
Umbrella Perspective - List the Motivating factors
- Pool of rich users motivates corporations to provide service
- Content motivates people to pay for service/adopt technology
Umbrella Perspective - List the inhibiting factors
- Social norms
- Ethics
- Perceived appropriateness
- Cost
What is the theory of planned behavior?
Behavior intentions are predicted by attitudes toward the innovation and the innovators
What is the principle of relative Constancy
Says people spend a constant fraction of their disposable income on mass media. In order for new technology to be adopted it must be compelling enough for adopter to give something else up.
What is the goal of diffusion of innovation theory?
Tries to explain how an innovation is communicated over time through different channels to members of society.
What are the five groups that make up the Diffusion of Innovation Theory?
- Innovators
- Early Adopters
- Early Majority
- Late Majority
- Laggards
What is the Uses and gratifications model?
- A rational choice model
- The users are actively seeking to use different media to fulfill different needs
What is the social learning theory?
-Predicting that people learn by modeling the behavior of others
What is Copyright?
the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.
What is Convergence?
- The merging of functions of old and new media.
- Products serving multiple needs
- The coming together of computing, telecommunications, and media in digital environment Economic: internet and telecommunications with traditional media companies Ex: comcast + NBC/Cultural: values through media/globalization
What is twisted pair?
In the original telephony infrastructure, it was made up of two copper wire twisted around each other with a layer of plastic
What is protocol?
An established method of exchange
What is TCP/IP?
The two protocol layers of the Internet
What are the two types of Switching?
- Circuit Switching
2. Packet Switching
What is circuit switching protocol?
A “dedicated” circuit for the duration of interaction (as with telephony)
What are the Advantages of circuit switching?
- Fixed bandwidth
- Constant transmission rate
- Maintain transmission order
- Better for constant rate of communication
What are the disadvantages of circuit switching?
- Connection set-up/tear-down
- User pays for the circuit, even when not sending data
- Other users can’t use the circuit even if it is free of traffic
- Poor error performance
What is packet switching protocol?
- Protocol that breaks data into packets
- Requires fewer lines, more switches than circuit switching
- Cost-effective for “bursty” communication
- Packets from different sources co-mingle on the same lines
- Machines sort/direct packets
- Packets are reassembled into the message
What does TCP stand for?
Transmission control protocol
What are the two parts of the TCP protocol?
- It’s a virtual circuit protocol
1. Sending Process
2. Receiving Process
What does IP stand for?
Internet Protocol
Explain characteristics of Internet protocol
- Lower level protocol
- Sees each packet individually
Circuit switching is used for what industry?
Used for telephony, dedicated circuit between users
Packet switching is used for what industry?
Used for internet, no dedicated circuit, conversations sent in packets
List characteristics of the coaxial cable
- Could transmit more than 3 stations at once
- The hardwired tether could reach most people
- Allows transmission of more data than copper wires
Right of way
What you need to be able to put a cable in the ground from the cable provider to someone’s house
What is Telephony?
General term for electronic communication
What is the history of telephone use?
- Telephone was introduced by Bell in 1876
- Telephone still plays and important role in telecommunications
- Mobile phone has changed concept of telephony
- Wireless telephones are handled with antenna
- Landline business is shrinking
What is some legislation that deals with the telephone industry?
- Communication Act of 1934
- 1984 Modified final judgment
- 1996 Telecommunication act
Evolution to cellular and wireless phones
-Uses spectrum instead of wires
-Initially struggled to transmit over a broad area-spectrum interference
Technological innovation expanded reach and use of spectrum
Telephony- Protocols and standards and current issues
- Health issues (headaches, brain tumors -not conclusive)
- Digital divide
- Environmental concern of getting rid of cellphones
- Annoyance
- Risk of distraction
What is the US Government/s “lifeline” program?
- Help low income consumers get phone service
- Designed to ensure that emergency call services and access was available to all
Telephone Regulation and infrastructure leads to
- Competition
a. Increased innovation
b. Forces price reduction in short term - Deregulation
a. Led to convergence, consolidation
b. Increased globalization of corporations
c. Reduced domestic competition
What are the parts of network infrastructure/topology?
- Star architecture
- Loop/tree architecture (cable)
What is Star architecture?
- Telephone industry
- Network defined for voice
- One to one interactions
What is Loop/tree architecture
- Cable industry
- Designed for mass communication
- 1 signal to many at the same time
Telephony: what is handoff?
-phones travel, & cross cell boundaries
They must are switched (handed off) to a new channel in the new cell.
signal strength, not physical location, is the best criterion for handoff decisions.
What is POTS
- Plain old telephone line
- based on telegraph
What is POTS
- Plain old telephone line
- based on telegraph
What is Moore’s law?
(Computer) chips keep getting smaller
What is Moore’s law?
(Computer) chips keep getting smaller
What are the enabling features of Personal Computers?
- Cost of computers decreased
- “Windows” mad them more intuitive
- Technological innovations
ex. more memory and capability
What are the upgrades of personal computers?
- GUI (graphical user interface) made machines simpler to use.
- Computers became smaller and cheaper
What percent of Americans purchased PC’s in 2015?
73%
What are the motivating factors for Computers?
- Must learn how to use one for a job, reduces time to do a task
- Increased content and interactivity, required in the workplace
What are digital natives?
- Have never know a world without personal computers
- For many born today, their first computer will be a smartphone or tablet
What percent of earths population are made up from Digital natives?
60%
Give two examples of how internet access continues to diffuse?
- 2/3 people worldwide do not have Internet access
- 88.5% of people in the US have access (not service)
What are the two most important parts of a computer?
Hardware and software
What parts are included in the Motherboard
- CPU - processor in the computer - long term memory
- RAM - short term or working memory
What is software?
The instructions for hardware.
When was IOT (internet of things) officially born?
Around 2009
What was the deciding factors of the IOT?
The ratio of objects to people was about equal
What are the two types of connections?
Active and passive connection
What is an active connection?
“Smart” pieces of technology that can use embedded senses and power to provide information to other objects
What is a passive connection?
- Use radio frequency identification tags
- Ex. the location of an object
Define Internet of things (IOT)
Everyday objects can communicate with people and other objects through various networks, including the Internet
List the 4 core areas of IOT for businesses
- Premises monitoring
- Product monitoring
- Supply chain monitoring
- Consumer monitoring
Define premises monitoring
Consumer physical location in physical spaces (stores, hotels)
Define product monitoring
Tracking product/service after purchase
Define supply chain monitoring
Monitoring production and distribution
Define consumer monitoring
How customers are using products and consumer feedback or comment.
What is a smart home?
- Closed system programmed to respond to those inside the home
- Each device has central control
What is a connected home?
- Brings a smart home to the Internet-Integrates with other providers
- Shares information to maximize service (and sales opportunity)
What is networking?
Computers connected together
What are the pros of networking?
- Allows sharing of resources and information
- Use of cloud services has freed computer memory
What are the cons of networking?
Security
What are the levels of security concerns?
- Physical devices
- Connectivity
- Route and protocol
Define authorization
Need or permission to access data
Define authentication
Identify user to ensure user is authorized
What is automotive telematics?
Vehicles connected to one another
what are some enabling innovations of automotive telematics?
- Safety rules may mandate car to car communication
- Tracking where you are and how you drive (GPS)
In car entertainment and information
- Companies want you to connect while in the car
- Cloud computing enhances driving experiences
- The social car allows sharing of information
- Concerns about driving while distracted
- Hands free is better but still distracting
- People need more mobile data to use these features
Define radio industry
Generic term for audio content over a variety of devices (includes internet streaming
Traditional broadcast radio
Reaches more Americans weekly than any other media/93% listen monthly/advertisers utilize this
Arguments over spectrum allocation for radio
Radio companies didn’t fear competition
Evolving audio use
- Use media simultaneously
- More capacity for content on devices
- Sound quality improvements
Internet Access and Digitization
- Digital audio began with uncompressed WAV files
- Compression “squeezes” information from file
- New compression standard made it quicker & easier
MP3 Revolutionized audio industry by?
Reducing redundant sounds- Shrinks sound by factor of 12
Define streaming media
Transmitting audio/video from one computer to another
Effects of Digital radio and subscription radio
- Reduced prices of hardware
- Monthly subscription
- Problem with “listener churn” people discontinue after 1 year
Audio Home Recording Act of 1992
Consumers may legally record music for use, consumer responsibility, allows royalties to music creators and owners, does not include multipurpose devices
Digital performance right in sound recordings act of 1995
Grants owners of a copyright in sound recordings an exclusive right “to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission, enacted in response to lack of performance rights
No electronic theft law (NET ACT) of 1997
Criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement under certain circumstances, even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit from the infringement
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
Update U.S. copyright laws for the digital age, criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works
Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)
A working group of more than 200 companies and organizations interested in the development of specifications for secure digital music distribution ,provide consumers with convenient access to music online and in new digital distribution systems, to apply digital rights management restrictions to the work of artists, and to promote the development of new music-related business and technologies.
2009 Webcaster Settlement Act
Protected small Internet radio stations
Royalties to record labels based on size of station and # of listeners
Expired in 2015 -stations with 5,000 listeners pay the same as those with millions, out of business
Define the internet - Network of Networks
- Worldwide digital network of computer networks
- A ‘net’ of lines and switches/routers lines connect computers through switches/routers topology changes daily no one organization owns the internet (sort of) users can access info anywhere on the network
List some internet services
- IM
- Social Media
- World wide web
What is HTML?
Hypertext Markup Language, a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages.
What is the world wide web?
graphical interface, non obscure computer commands, HTML protocol, user interaction with mouse/icons
Understanding internet users
The Internet took only 4 years to attract 50 million users, Radio took 38 years to get 50 million, Retail shopping attracted many users to the Internet, Determining user demographics is difficult.
What are viruses
Can corrupt, delete, alter or overwrite files/hard drive, cause keyboard, printer or modem to stop functioning
What is broadband
makes using internet easier, connects computers and devices together by high bandwidth, US government defines as synchronous
Difference of diffusion in US and different countries
Global average is 5.1 mbps
South Korea 1st with 20.5 mbps average.
US is 16th average is 12.6 mbps.
The US has 32% diffusion as of 2017
Average diffusion in Europe is 85% for wireless broadband
Many other developed countries have 100% diffusion.
Growth of cellular broadband will increase diffusion
What is DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
Uses telephone lines and a modem to connect at 56k speed. Was standard in 1990s, but is now replaced mostly by high-speed access.
What is FTTN (Fiber to the Node)
Hybrid of cable or DSL—VDSL, using FTTN (Fiber to the Node)-
100 Mb/s downstream
Employs fiber optic cable to the node in neighborhood.
DSL Copper wires or coaxial go the “last mile.”
Facilitates very high bit rate Cable, DSL or VDSL
What is FTTH (Fiber to the home)
Hybrid of cable or DSL—VDSL, using FTTN (Fiber to the Node)-
100 Mb/s downstream
Employs fiber optic cable to the node in neighborhood.
DSL Copper wires or coaxial go the “last mile.”
Facilitates very high bit rate Cable, DSL or VDSL
What is a cable modem?
This provides high-speed Internet connections through the cable television network.
Satellite TV access
Very rare—for people without cable access/service.
Downstream to satellite dish
Upstream through phone line or satellite phone
Delay problems, expensive
Usually set data usage limits per day or month (10GB per month, charges after that).
Can reach anywhere in the globe
Wireless internet
Wireless can be mobile or fixed.
Wireless broadband through cellular phone increasingly popular.
3G services offer audio, video and data.4G service may reach 100Mb/s.
5G on the horizon—still in development
What is BPL (Broadband Over PowerLine)
Broadband over power line
Uses medium and low voltage electric power lines
Plug adapters into electrical outlets.
Susceptible to interference with licensed radio spectrum.
Not as fast or reliable
Used to increase the range of wiFi connectivity
List some Broadband facts
It has changed the way we receive information, entertainment and the way we communicate.
Higher speed Broadband users are more active and spend more time on the Internet
