ECE 432 Microwave and Satellite Communications

Week 1, 2: Brief History and Introduction to Electronic Communications

Objectives: At the end of the week, the students should be able to do the following:
1. To remember the important parts of the history of electronic communications
2. To review and memorize terms and concepts from related topics from previous
subjects

1. The three major fields of electronics are computers, communications, and control. The computer
segment is the largest; communications is the second largest.
2. Communication is the process of exchanging information.
3. Most human communication is oral, but a great deal of it is also in written or printed form.
4. The two main barriers to communication are language and distance.
5. Major electrical discoveries in the mid- and late nineteenth century made possible the development
of electronic communications over long distances.
6. The telegraph (1844) and telephone (1876) were the first two long-distance communications systems.
7. Radio was discovered in 1887, and wireless telegraphy was demonstrated in 1895.
8. Electronic communications plays a vital role in all our lives and is essential to the success of our
information society.
9. The major elements of a communications system are a transmitter to send a message, a
communications medium, a receiver to pick up the message, and noise.
10. The three primary communications media are wires, free space, and fiber-optic cable.
11. Radio waves are signals made up of electric and magnetic fields that propagate over long distances.
12. Noise is any interference that disturbs the legible transmission of a signal. Noise is produced by the
atmosphere, heavenly bodies, manufactured electrical equipment, and thermal agitation in electronic
components.
13. The transmission medium greatly attenuates and degrades the transmitted signal.
14. Electronic communications may be either one-way or two-way. One-way transmission is called
simplex or broadcasting.
15. Two-way communication is called duplex. In half-duplex communications, only one of the two parties
can transmit at a time. In full duplex, both parties may transmit and receive simultaneously.
16. Information signals may be either analog or digital. Analog signals are smooth, continuous voltage
variations such as voice or video. Digital signals are binary pulses or codes.
17. The information signal, called the base band signal, is often transmitted directly over the
communications medium.
18. In most communications systems, the base band signal is used to modulate a higher-frequency carrier
signal than is transmitted by radio.
19. Modulation is the process of having an information signal modifies a carrier signal in someway.
Common examples are AM and FM.
20. The base band signal cannot usually be transmitted through space by radio because the antennas
required are too long and because multiple base band signals transmitting simultaneously would
interfere with one another.
21. Multiplexing is the process of transmitting two or more signals simultaneously over the same channel
or medium.
22. Besides TV, there are several other methods of transmitting visual or graphical information; they are
facsimile, videotex, teletext.
23. Simplex transmission of special signals from land-based or satellite stations is used by ship and
airplanes for navigation.
24. Telemetry is measurement at a distance. Sensors convert physical characteristics to electric signals
which modulate a carrier transmitted to a remote location.
25. Radio astronomy supplements optical astronomy by permitting the location and mapping of stars by
the radio waves they emit.
26. Radar uses the 'reflection of radio waves from remote objects for the detection of their presence,
direction, and speed,
27. Underwater radar is called active sonar. Passive sonar is simply listening underwater for the detection
of objects of interest.
28. Two forms of personal communications services are CB radio and Amateur "ham" radio, which are a
technical hobby as well as a communications service.
29. Data communications is the transmission of computer and other digital data via the telephone system,
microwave links or satellite.
30. Devices called modems permit digital data to be transmitted over the analog telephone networks.
31. Interconnections of PCs for the exchange of information are called local area networks.
Notes Compilation for ECE 432
By: Engr: May Ricciel R. Benitez
2016-2017
32. The electromagnetic spectrum is that range of frequencies from approximately 30 Hz to visible light
over which electronic communications takes place.
33. The greatest portion of the spectrum covers radio waves, which are oscillating electric and magnetic
fields that radiate for long distances.
34. Wavelength is the distance (in meters) between corresponding points on successive cycles of a
periodic wave: A= 3OO/f (f is in megahertz). It is also the distance that an electromagnetic wave
travels in the time it takes for one cycle of oscillation.
35. The range of human hearing is approximately 20 to 20,000 Hz. The voice frequency range is 300 to
3000 Hz.
36. Amplitude-modulated broadcasting occurs in the MF range from 300 kHz to 3 MHz.
37. The high-frequency range (3 to 30 MHz), or shortwave, is used for world Wide two way
communications and broadcasting.
38. Television broadcasting occurs in the VHF and UHF ranges.
39. Frequencies above 1 GHz are called microwaves.
40. The SHF and EHF bands are used primarily for satellite communications and radar.
41. Those frequencies directly above 300 GHz are called millimeter waves.
42. Electromagnetic signals produced primarily by heat sources are called infrared. They cover the 0.7-
to 100 m range.
43. A micron is one millionth of a meter.
44. Visible light occupies the region above infrared. Its wavelength is 4000 to 8000 Ǻ.
45. An angstrom is one ten-thousandth of a micron.
46. Bandwidth is the spectrum space occupied by a signal, the frequency range of a transmitted signal,
or the range of frequencies accepted by a receiver. It is the difference between the upper and lower
frequencies of the range in question.
47. There is more spectrum space available at the higher frequencies. For a given bandwidth signal,
more channels can be accommodated at the higher frequencies.
48. Spectrum space is a precious natural resource.
49. In the United States, the FCC regulates the use of the spectrum and most forms of electronic
communications according to the Communications Act of 1934.
50. Most countries belong to the ITU, an organization devoted to worldwide cooperation and negotiation
on spectrum usage.
51. The NTIA coordinates government and military communications in the United States.

Notes Compilation for ECE 432

By: Engr: May Ricciel R. Benitez
2016-2017