Module 1: Communication in a Connected World Flashcards
1.1.2 Everything is Online
“Hey Shad, are you online?” “Of course, I am!” How many of us still think about whether or not we are “online”? We expect our devices, cell phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers to always be connected to the global internet. We use this network to interact with our friends, shop, share pictures and experiences, and learn. The internet has become such a part of everyday life that we almost take it for granted.
Normally, when people use the term internet, they are not referring to the physical connections in the real world. Rather, they tend to think of it as a formless collection of connections. It is the “place” people go to find or share information.
Noted
Who Owns The Internet?
No one
The _ is a worldwide collection of interconnected networks, cooperating with each other to exchange information using common standards.
internetwork or internet for short
Through telephone wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless transmissions, and satellite links, internet users can exchange information in a variety of forms.
Everything that you access online is located somewhere on the _. Social media sites, multiplayer games, messaging centers that provide email, online courses — all of these internet destinations are connected to local networks that send and receive information through the internet.
global internet
_ allow handheld devices to receive news and emails, and to send text.
Intelligent networks
_ instantly connects people around the globe.
Video conferencing
_ connect globally to share voice, text, and images.
Phones
_ connects thousands of people seamlessly.
Online gaming
Local Networks
- Small Home Networks
- Small Office and Home Office (SOHO) Networks
- Medium to Large Networks
- World Wide Networks
_ come in all sizes. They can range from simple networks consisting of two computers, to networks connecting hundreds of thousands of devices.
Local networks
_ are networks installed in small offices, or homes and home offices.
Small office/Home office (SOHO) networks
SOHO networks let you share resources such as printers, documents, pictures, and music, between a few local users.
_ let you share resources such as printers, documents, pictures, and music, between a few local users.
SOHO networks
In business, _ can be used to advertise and sell products, order supplies, and communicate with customers.
large networks
Communication over a network is usually more efficient and less expensive than traditional forms of communication, such as regular mail or long distance phone calls.
_ allow for rapid communication such as email and instant messaging, and provide consolidation and access to information stored on network servers.
Networks
The _ is considered a “network of networks” because it is literally made up of thousands of local networks that are connected to each other.
internet
Business and SOHO networks usually provide a shared connection to the internet.
_ connect a few computers to each other and to the internet.
Small home networks
The _ allows computers in a home office or a remote office to connect to a corporate network, or access centralized, shared resources.
SOHO network
Small Office and Home Office Networks
_ can have many locations with hundreds or thousands of interconnected hosts.
Medium to large networks
such as those used by corporations and schools
The _ is a network of networks that connects hundreds of millions of computers world-wide.
internet
World Wide Networks
The internet connects more computing devices than just desktop and laptop computers. There are devices all around that you may interact with on a daily basis that are also connected to the internet. These include mobile devices, home devices, and a variety of other connected devices.
Noted
Mobile Devices
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Smartwatches
- Smart Glasses
_ are able to connect to the internet from almost anywhere.
Smartphones
Smartphones combine the functions of many different products together, such as a telephone, camera, GPS receiver, media player, and touch screen computer.
_ combine the functions of many different products together, such as a telephone, camera, GPS receiver, media player, and touch screen computer.
Smartphones
_, like smartphones, also have the functionality of multiple devices.
Tablets
With the additional screen size, they are ideal for watching videos and reading magazines or books. With on-screen keyboards, users are able to do many of the things they used to do on their laptop computer, such as composing emails or browsing the web.
Tablets
_ can connect to a smartphone to provide the user with alerts and messages. Additional functions, such as heart rate monitoring and counting steps, like a pedometer, can help people who are wearing the device to track their health.
Smartwatches
A wearable computer in the form of glasses, such as Google Glass, contains a tiny screen that displays information to the wearer in a similar fashion to the Head-Up Display (HUD) of a fighter pilot. A small touch pad on the side allows the user to navigate menus while still being able to see through the smart glasses.
Smart Glasses
Connected Home Devices
- Security Systems
- Household appliances
- Smart TVs
- Gaming consoles
Many of the items in a home, such as _, lighting, and climate controls, can be monitored and configured remotely using a mobile device.
Security Systems
_ such as refrigerators, ovens, and dishwashers can be connected to the internet. This allows the homeowner to power them on or off, monitor the status of the appliance, and also be alerted to preset conditions, such as when the temperature in the refrigerator rises above an acceptable level.
Household appliances
_ can be connected to the internet to access content without the need for service provider equipment. Also, it can allow a user to browse the web, compose email, or display video, audio, or photos stored on a computer.
Smart TV
_ can connect to the internet to download games and play with friends online.
Gaming consoles
Other Connected Devices
- Smart Cars
- RFID Tags
- Sensors and Actuators
- Medical Devices
Many modern cars can connect to the internet to access maps, audio and video content, or information about a destination. They can even send a text message or email if there is an attempted theft or call for assistance in case of an accident. These cars can also connect to smartphones and tablets to display information about the different engine systems, provide maintenance alerts, or display the status of the security system.
Smart Cars
_ can be placed in or on objects to track them or monitor sensors for many conditions.
Radio frequency identification (RFIDs) tags
Connected _ can provide temperature, humidity, wind speed, barometric pressure, and soil moisture data. _ can then be automatically triggered based on current conditions.
Sensors and Actuators
For example, a smart sensor can periodically send soil moisture data to a monitoring station. The monitoring station can then send a signal to an actuator to begin watering. The sensor will continue to send soil moisture data allowing the monitoring station to determine when to deactivate the actuator.
_ such as pacemakers, insulin pumps, and hospital monitors provide users or medical professionals with direct feedback or alerts when vital signs are at specific levels.
Medical devices
What type of network allows computers in a home office or a remote office to connect to a corporate network?
small office home office (soho) network
What can be placed in or on a package so that it can be tracked?
RFID tag
_ in its raw form is the information you input or created.
Data
Types of Data
Volunteered Data
Inferred Data
Observed Data
_ is data that you offer yourself.
Volunteered Data
You realize the data is being collected about you and you are agreeing to share or store the data.
_ is data that you generate by your activities.
Inferred data
It is based on analysis of volunteered or observed data.
example: credit cards
_ is data that is captured by recording the actions of individuals.
Observed Data
Example: location data when using cell phones
Computers and networks only work with binary digits, _ and _.
zeros, ones
Each bit can only have one of two possible values, _ or _.
0, 1
A bit is stored and transmitted as one of two possible discrete states.
This can include two directions of magnetization, two distinct voltage or current levels, two distinct levels of light intensity, or any other physical system of two discrete states. For example, a light switch can be either On or Off; in binary representation, these states would correspond to 1 and 0 respectively.
The term _ represents the smallest piece of data.
bit
Humans interpret words and pictures, computers interpret only patterns of bits.
The term bit is an abbreviation of “_.”
binary digit
Every _ (mouse, keyboard, voice-activated receiver) will translate human interaction into binary code for the CPU to process and store.
input device
Every _ (printer, speakers, monitors, etc.) will take binary data and translate it back into human recognizable form.
output device
Within the computer itself, all data is processed and stored as binary.
Computers use _ to represent and interpret letters, numbers and special characters with bits.
binary codes
A commonly used code is the _. With this, each character is represented by eight bits.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
For example:
* Capital letter: A = 01000001
* Number: 9 = 00111001
* Special character: # = 00100011
Each group of eight bits, such as the representations of letters and numbers, is known as a _.
byte
_ can be used to represent almost any type of information digitally including computer data, graphics, photos, voice, video, and music.
Codes
After the data is transformed into a series of bits, it must be converted into _ that can be sent across the network media to its destination.
signals
_ refers to the physical medium on which the signals are transmitted.
Media
Examples of media are copper wire, fiber-optic cable, and electromagnetic waves through the air.
A _ consists of electrical or optical patterns that are transmitted from one connected device to another.
signal
These patterns represent the digital bits (i.e. the data) and travel across the media from source to destination as either a series of pulses of electricity, pulses of light, or radio waves.
Signals may be converted many times before ultimately reaching the destination, as corresponding media changes between source and destination.
There are three common methods of signal transmission used in networks:
- Electrical signals - Transmission is achieved by representing data as electrical pulses on copper wire.
- Optical signals - Transmission is achieved by converting the electrical signals into light pulses.
- Wireless signals - Transmission is achieved by using infrared, microwave, or radio waves through the air.
Transmission is achieved by representing data as electrical pulses on copper wire.
Electrical signals
Transmission is achieved by converting the electrical signals into light pulses.
Optical signals
Transmission is achieved by using infrared, microwave, or radio waves through the air.
Wireless signals
In most homes and small businesses, network signals are transmitted across _ or _.
copper wires (cables)
Wi-Fi enabled wireless connections
Larger networks employ _ cables in order to reliably carry signals for longer distances.
fiber-optic
A basic unit of information that represents one of two discrete states is known as _.
bit
When using your credit card to make purchases at several places, the credit card company can use this information to learn about your location and your preferences. This type of personal data is known as:
inferred data
Which of the following methods of signal transmission uses frequencies or pulses of light?
optical signals
_ is the capacity of a medium to carry data.
Bandwidth
Streaming a movie or playing a multiplayer game requires reliable, fast connections. To support these “high bandwidth” applications, networks have to be capable of transmitting and receiving bits at a very high rate.
Different physical media support the transfer of bits at different speeds. The rate of data transfer is usually discussed in terms of bandwidth and throughput.
_ measures the amount of data that can flow from one place to another in a given amount of time.
Digital bandwidth
Bandwidth is typically measured in the number of bits that (theoretically) can be sent across the media in a second.
Common bandwidth measurements are:
- Thousands of bits per second (Kbps)
- Millions of bits per second (Mbps)
- Billions of bits per second (Gbps)
Physical media properties, current technologies, and the laws of physics all play a role in determining available bandwidth.
Bits per second
bits per second (bps)
Thousands of bits per second
kilobits per second (Kbps)
10^3 bps
Millions of bits per second
megabits per second (Mbps)
10^6 bps
Billions of bits per second
gigabits per second (Gbps)
10^9 bps
Trillions bits per second
terabits per second (Tbps)
10^12 bps
_ is the measure of the transfer of bits across the media over a given period of time.
Throughput
Due to a number of factors, throughput does not usually match the specified bandwidth. Many factors influence throughput including:
- The amount of data being sent and received over the connection
- The types of data being transmitted
- The latency created by the number of network devices encountered between source and destination
Difference between bandwidth and throughput
Bandwidth is the maximum data transfer rate a network can handle, measured in bits per second (bps). Throughput, on the other hand, is the actual data transfer rate achieved, which can be lower due to network congestion, latency, or errors. Bandwidth represents the network’s capacity, while throughput reflects real-world performance. A network with high bandwidth may still have low throughput if there are inefficiencies or bottlenecks.
_ refers to the amount of time, including delays, for data to travel from one given point to another.
Latency
_ do not take into account the validity or usefulness of the bits being transmitted and received.
Throughput measurements
Many messages received through the network are not destined for specific user applications. An example would be network control messages that regulate traffic and correct errors.
In an internetwork or network with multiple segments, throughput cannot be faster than the slowest link of the path from sending device to the receiving device. Even if all or most of the segments have high bandwidth, it will only take one segment in the path with lower bandwidth to create a slowdown of the throughput of the entire network.
There are many online speed tests that can reveal the throughput of an internet connection.
Noted
What measurement includes any latency encountered during data transmissions?
bits per second
What Did I Learn in this Module?
Network Types
The internet is not owned by any individual or group. The internet is a worldwide collection of interconnected networks (internetwork or internet for short), cooperating with each other to exchange information using common standards. Through telephone wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless transmissions, and satellite links, internet users can exchange information in a variety of forms.
Small home networks connect a few computers to each other and to the internet. The SOHO network allows computers in a home office or a remote office to connect to a corporate network, or access centralized, shared resources. Medium to large networks, such as those used by corporations and schools, can have many locations with hundreds or thousands of interconnected hosts. The internet is a network of networks that connects hundreds of millions of computers world-wide.
There are devices all around that you may interact with on a daily basis that are also connected to the internet. These include mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and smart glasses. Things in your home can be connected to the internet such as a security system, appliances, your smart TV, and your gaming console. Outside your home there are smart cars, RFID tags, sensors and actuators, and even medical devices which can be connected.
Noted
What Did I Learn in this Module?
Data Transmission
The following categories are used to classify types of personal data:
* Volunteered data - This is created and explicitly shared by individuals, such as social network profiles. This type of data might include video files, pictures, text, or audio files.
* Observed data - This is captured by recording the actions of individuals, such as location data when using cell phones.
* Inferred data - This is data such as a credit score, which is based on analysis of volunteered or observed data.
The term bit is an abbreviation of “binary digit” and represents the smallest piece of data. Each bit can only have one of two possible values, 0 or 1.
There are three common methods of signal transmission used in networks:
* Electrical signals - Transmission is achieved by representing data as electrical pulses on copper wire.
* Optical signals - Transmission is achieved by converting the electrical signals into light pulses.
* Wireless signals - Transmission is achieved by using infrared, microwave, or radio waves through the air.
Noted
What Did I Learn in this Module?
Bandwidth and Throughput
Bandwidth is the capacity of a medium to carry data. Digital bandwidth measures the amount of data that can flow from one place to another in a given amount of time. Bandwidth is typically measured in the number of bits that (theoretically) can be sent across the media in a second.
Common bandwidth measurements are as follows:
* Thousands of bits per second (Kbps)
* Millions of bits per second (Mbps)
* Billions of bits per second (Gbps)
Throughput does not usually match the specified bandwidth. Many factors influence throughput including:
* The amount of data being sent and received over the connection
* The latency created by the number of network devices encountered between source and destination
Latency refers to the amount of time, including delays, for data to travel from one given point to another.
Noted
