MODULE 1
LESSON
1
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
I.
Consider the
following
questions in
the group of
four. A
spokesperson will report
on your discussion
to the
whole group.
1. In what way do
you
communicate in your everyday life?
2. What is the most common means of communication nowadays?
Why?
3. Can
you name scientists working in the field of communication?
4. Is the system of communication well developed in our country?
II.
Read the text below and
check
its comprehension.
Communicating over long distances has been a challenge
throughout
his-tory. In ancient times, runners were used to carry important between messa-ges rulers or other important
people. Other forms
of long-distance communi-cation included smoke signals, chains of searchlights and flags to send a mes-sage from one tower to another,
carrier pigeons, and horses. Modern
telecom-munications began with
the discovery that electricity can
be used to transmit a signal. For
the
first
time, a signal could be sent faster than any other mode
of transportation.
The first practical telecommunications device to make use of this discovery was the telegraph.
The Telegraph
Beginning in the
mid-1800s, the
telegraph delivered the
first inter-city, trans-continental, and transoceanic messages in the
world. The telegraph revolutio-nized the way people communicated by providing messages
faster than any other means provided
at the time. American art professor
Samuel F.B. Morse
pursued an interest in electromagnetism
to create a practical electromagnetic telegraph in 1837. Morse partnered
with Alfred
Vail and was able to commerci-alize the technology with
financial support from the
Telegraph use quickly spread;
the first transcontinental link was completed in 1861 between
Commercial Growth of the
Telephone
In 1876
American inventor Alexander Graham
Bell ushered in a new era of
voice and sound telecommunication when he uttered to his
assistant the words,
"Mr. Watson,
come here; I want you," using a prototype telephone.
Bell receiv-ed the patent for the first telephone, but
he had
to fight numerous legal chal-lenges to his patent from other
inventors with similar devices.
The first commercial telephone line
was installed in
The Emergence of Broadcasting
Telephones and telegraphs are point-to-point
systems
of telecommunicati-ons, but with the invention of
the radio, point-to-multipoint
signals could be sent through a central
transmitter
to be received by anyone possessing a receiver.
Italian inventor and electrical
engineer Guillermo Marconi
transmitted a Morse-code
telegraph signal by
radio in 1895. This
began
a revolution in wireless
tele-graphy
that
would later result in broadcast radios
that could transmit actual voice and
music. Radio and wireless telegraph
communication played an im-portant role
during World War I (1914-1918),
allowing military personnel to com-municate instantly with troops in remote locations.
Television got its start
as a mass-communication
medium shortly after
World War II (1939-1945). The
expense of television
transmission prevented its use as a two-way medium,
but radio broadcasters quickly saw the poten-tial for television to provide a new way of bringing news and entertainment programming to people.
Government Regulation. The number of
radio broadcasts grew quickly
in the 1920s, but
there was no regulation of frequency use or transmitter strength. The result was a crowded
radio
band of overlapping
signals. To remedy this,
the
International Telecommunications
Networks
In order to provide overseas telecommunications, people
had to develop networks that could
link widely separated nations. The
first networks to provide
such linkage were telegraph networks that used undersea cables, but these networks could provide channels for only a few simultaneous communications. Shortwave radio also made it possible
for wireless transmissions of
both tele-graphy and voice over very long
distances.
To take advantage of the capability of satellites to provide telecommunica-tions service, companies from all over the world pooled resources
and shared risks by
creating a cooperative known
as the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, or Intelsat, in 1964.
Transoceanic satellite telecommu-nications
first became possible in 1965
with the successful
launch of Early Bird, also known as Intelsat 1. Intelsat 1
provided the first international television transmission and had the
capacity to handle one television channel along with 240 simultaneous telephone calls.
Intelsat has expanded and diversified
to meet the global
and regional
satel-lite requirements of over 200 nations
and territories. In
response to private sa-tellite ventures entering the market, the managers of Intelsat have sought to convert the
cooperative into a corporation better
able to compete with these emerging
companies. A separate
cooperative known as the International Mo-bile Satellite
Organization (Inmarsat)
primarily provides service to oceangoing
vessels, but it has expanded operations
to include service to airplanes and users in remote land areas not served by
cellular radio or wire line services. Inmarsat also seeks to become a private
corporation, because of competition
from private satellite ventures.
Current Developments
Personal computers have pushed
the limits of the telephone system as
mo-re and more complex
computer messages are being sent over
telephone lines, and at rapidly increasing speeds. This
need for speed has encouraged the de-velopment of digital transmission technology. Innovations in fiber-optic
techno-logy will hopefully keep up with the growing use of personal
computers for te-lecommunications. The next generation of cellular telephones, pagers, and televi-sions will also benefit
from the speed and clarity of digital telecommunications.
Telecommunications and information technologies
are merging and conver-ging. This means that many of the devices that we associate with
only one func-tion may evolve into more versatile
equipment. This convergence is
already happening in various fields. Some
telephones and pagers are able to store
not only phone numbers but also names and
personal information about callers.
Advanced phones with keyboards and
small screens are now in development
that can access the Internet and send
and receive e-mail. Personal
computers can now access information
and video entertainment and are in
effect beco-ming a combined television set and computer terminal. Television
sets, which we currently associate
with broadcast and cable-delivered video programming, are able
to gain access
to the Internet through add-on appliances. Future modi-fications and technology innovations
may blur the distinctions between appli-ances even more.
Convergence of telecommunications
technologies
will also trigger a change in the content available and the composition of the content provider. Both tele-vision and personal computers will be
incorporating new multimedia, interac-tive, and digital
features. For example, an entertainment program might have on-screen pointers to World Wide Web pages containing more information about
the actors. In the near term, before the actualization of a fully digital telecom-munications
world, devices like modems will still be necessary to provide an essential link between
the old analog world and the upcoming
digital
one.
1. What forms of communication existed
in ancient times? 2. What did mo-dern
communications begin
with? 3. How did the telegraph revolutionize the way people
communicated with each other? 4.
When was a practical electro-magnetic telegraph created? 5. Who opened a new era
of voice and sound tele-communication? 6. What were the advantages of the telephone over the tele-graph
system? 7. What was the
function of a telephone exchange? 8. What
was
established to regulate the spreading use of the broadcast spectrum? 9. Why was the International
Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Intelsat) created? 10. What are the results of
the convergence of telecommunications and
informa-tion technologies?
III.
Choose the best answer.
1. The word to
communicate means
…
a) to give recommendations; b)
to transmit or exchange information; c) to take urgent measures; d) to sign documents.
2. The
word means
refers to …
a) transport; b) sense; c) medium; d) measurement.
3. The best
explanation of simultaneous might be
…
a) occurring at the same time; b)
taking place from time to time; c) opera-ting
regularly; d) being similar.
4. The
word cable
means
…
a) the power of an electrical device; b) a device
for transforming sound ener-gy
into electrical energy; c) a system for
conducting electric current; d) a con-ductor for high electric current
consisting of several wires twisted
together.
5. The
prefix tele- means …
a) not far from home; b) TV; c)
at a distance; d) communication by means of videophones.
6. The
word mode refers to …
a) fashion;
b) type, kind; c) control; d) method or way of doing smth.
7. The
word emerge
implies …
a) to appear; b) to receive; c) to become well-known; d) to seem.
8. The Intelsalt deals
with …
a) navigation; b) developing the computer software; c) satellite communica-tion;
d) programming.
9. The
word to converge implies …
a) to unite, to join; b) to be sociable; c) to get in touch; d) to convert
10. The Federal Communication Commission deals with …
a) giving permission to
military personnel to communicate instantly with troops
in
remote location; b) regulation of frequency
use
or transmitter strength; c)
making weather forecasts by means of satellites; d) putting an end to espio-nage.
11. The word allow implies …
a) to forbid; b) to agree; c) to foresee; d) to permit.
12. The
best explanation of the word versatile might be …
a) many-sided;
b) vacant; c) limited; d) unsuitable
13. The
word currently means …
a) in the near future; b) as soon as possible;
c) instantly; d) at the present
moment.
14. The
word essential
implies …
a) special; b) important; c)
conventional;
d) inaccurate.
IV.
Use the
right verb from those given below.
to support, to expand, to access, to tune, to
deliver, network, overlapping, telephone
exchange,
to incorporate, immediate.
1. The
first transcontinental and transoceanic
messages in the world were … by the telegraph in the mid-1800s. 2. Several
telegraph companies worked in the
field, each having its own … of telegraph wires. 3. The financial … of the
V.
Are the following statements True or False?
1.
The telephone was the first practical telecommunications device. 2. The use of
telephone spread quickly as it was
much more convenient and perso-nal
than telegrams. 3. G. Marconi began a
revolution in wireless telegraphy having transmitted a Morse-code telegraph signal by radio in 1895. 4. The
In-telsat by means of satellites made it possible to provide
transoceanic telecom-munications. 5. The need for speed encouraged the development of
analogue transmission
technology.
VI.
Divide
the text into paragraphs.
VII.
Express the main idea of
each
paragraph
in one sentence.
VIII.
Summarize the
text and be ready to retell it.
IX.
Speak about the
history
of the
development of telecommunication.