STUDY GUIDE

MODULE 1 - Introduction to Electronic Communications Systems

Milestones in the History of Electronic Communications

• 1837, Samuel FB Morse invented the telegraph (patented in 1844)
• 1843, Alexander Bain invented facsimile
• 1864, James Clerk Maxwell proved the existence of electromagnetic waves
• 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone
• 1877, Thomas Alva Edison invented phonograph
• 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered radio waves
• 1901, Guglielmo Marconi performed the first trans-Atlantic radio contact (from
Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada
• 1906, Reginald Fessenden invented AM
• 1906, Lee de Forest invented triode vacuum tube
• 1918, Edwin Howard Armstrong develops the superheterodyne radio receiver
• 1923, Vladimir Zworykin invented and demonstrated the television
• 1933, Edwin H. Armstrong invented FM
• 1939, first use of two-way radio (walkie-talkies) happened in United States
• 1948, invention of transistor by Bell laboratories
• 1957, Russia launched the world’s first satellite (Sputnik 1)
• 1958, Jack Kilby (TI) and Robert Noyce (Fairchild) invented the integrated circuits
• 1958, NASA launched United States’ first satellite (Explorer 1)
• 1961, citizens band (CB) radio was first used in the United States
• 1977, the first use of fiber-optic cable transpired in the United States
• 1983, cellular telephone networks introduced in the US
• 1995, Global Positioning System was deployed in the United States

Basic components of a communication system:

 • Transmitter
• Channel or medium
• Receiver
Types of electronic communication:
• Simplex
• Duplex
• Analog
• Digital
Baseband Transmission
• Baseband information can be sent directly and unmodified over the medium or
can be used to modulate a carrier for transmission over the medium.
Broadband Transmission
• A broadband transmission takes place when a carrier signal is modulated,
amplified, and sent to the antenna for transmission.
Frequency and Wavelength

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Below is the list of famous organizations that maintain standards for a communication
systems
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA)
• European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
• Telecommunications Institute of America (TIA)