Neelesh

WiFi Technology

2011-03-17T15:31:00.001-07:00

What is Wi-Fi?

WiFi is a wireless technology brand owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance intended to improve the operating of wireless products. Common applications for Wi-Fi include Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and network connectivity for consumer electronics such as mobile phones, laptops, game consoles, MP3 players and PDA's. Wi-Fi also allows connectivity which enables devices to connect directly with each other. This connectivity mode is useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications.

It's faster and has a greater range than Bluetooth, and is ideal for home or office connectivity. In the near future, wireless networking may become so widespread that you can access the Internet just about anywhere at any time, without using wires. The easy access of emails for business orientated individuals is also a bonus, as urgent messages can be downloaded on the go once the email settings are configured on to the WiFi enabled handset.

The mobile phones market has received a lot of attention lately as several operators across the world have launched various types of handsets which allow users to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, the iPhone being the ultimate example.

Mobile VoIP

A new study from a London-based research firm claims that mobile voice-over-IP will become a mainstream form of communication by the end of 2012, based on rapid growth of voice-over-3G wireless users. Disruptive Analysis said its research shows mobile VoIP will eclipse fixed-mobile convergence services that use dual-mode handsets with voice-over-WiFi capabilities.

VoIP has become popular largely because of the cost advantages to consumers over traditional telepone networks. VoIP calls can be placed across the Internet. Most Internet connections are charged using a flat fee structure. Using the Internet connection for both data traffic and voice calls can allow consumers to get rid of one monthly payment. In addition, VoIP plans do not charge a per-minute fee for long distance. For International calling, the monetary savings to the consumer from switching to VoIP technology can be enormous.

Today, Skype, TruPhone and a company called Fring already offer VoIP over 3G smartphones and 3G-enabled laptops allowing users to communicate with other VoIP users via the Internet. This service is expected to provide customers with a cheaper alternative to connecting calls via GSM in the near future.

HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. Current HSDPA deployments support down-link speeds of 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and 14.4 Mbit/s. Further speed increases are planned for the near future

The Latest Mobile Phone Technology

2011-03-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

The latest mobile phone handsets provide a wide range of services and technology that allows the user to be as interactive as possible with the global community. These new mobile technologies offer the user accessibility to the worldwide web via WiFi connectivity, download and transfer large amounts of data via high speed connectivity and find a location via satellite with mobile Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices.

Todays mobile phones have now evolved to incorporate all types of online activity, here is a little breakdown of some of the latest technology to grasp the mobile market.

Neelesh SiNgh

Difference between time sharing and multitasking

2011-03-01T12:16:00.001-08:00

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1.Time-sharing refers to sharing a computing resource among many users by multitasking.Because early mainframes and minicomputers were extremely expensive it was rarely possible to allow a single user exclusive access to the machine for interactive use. But because computers in interactive use often spend much of their time idly waiting for user input it was suggested that multiple users could share a machine by using one user's idle time to service other users. Similarly small slices of time spent waiting for disk tape or network input could be granted to other users.The concept was first described publicly in early 1957 by Bob Bemer as part of an article in Automatic Control Magazine. The first project to implement a time-sharing system was initiated by John McCarthy in late 1957 on a modified IBM 704 and later an additionally modified IBM 7090 computer. Although he left to work on Project MAC and other projects one of the results of the project known as the Compatible Time Sharing System or CTSS was demonstrated in November 1961. CTSS has a good claim to be the first time-sharing system and remained in use until 1973. The first commercially successful time-sharing system was the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System (DTSS) which was first implemented at Dartmouth College in 1964 and subsequently formed the basis of General Electric's computer bureau services. DTSS influenced the design of other early timesharing systems developed by Hewlett Packard Control Data Corporation UNIVAC and others (in addition to introducing the BASIC programming language).Other historical timesharing systems some of them still in widespread use include: IBM CMS (part of VM/CMS) IBM TSS/360 (never finished; see OS/360) IBM Time Sharing Option (TSO) KRONOS (and later NOS) on the CDC 6000 series Michigan Terminal System Multics MUSIC/SP WYLBUR RSTS/E UNIX

2011-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

Time-division multiplexing

Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a type of digital or (rarely) analog multiplexing in which two or more signals or bit streams are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrenttimeslots of fixed length, one for each sub-channel. A sample byte or data block of sub-channel 1 is transmitted during timeslot 1, sub-channel 2 during timeslot 2, etc. One TDM frame consists of one timeslot per sub-channel plus a synchronization channel and sometimes error correction channel before the synchronization. After the last sub-channel, error correction, and synchronization, the cycle starts all over again with a new frame, starting with the second sample, byte or data block from sub-channel 1, etc.

External Bus

2010-11-25T19:42:00.001-08:00

The external bus is also referred to as the expansion bus. There are six major types of external bus’s found on the common motherboard. Only a few of these are actually found on the home PC such as ISA, PCI, AGP, USB and IDE. These slots are easily recognized on the board. They are usually covered with pins on the inside channel. Some of these pins are made of tin or gold. The pins themselves actually mount into the internal bus. Some pins provide power to you component or connect to the data, address bus’s. Here is a description of some common buses

ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), This bus is the low speed work horse of the system. You will commonly find a Sound Card hooked up this type BUS.

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), Supports 32-64 bit bus and is the reigning standard of external buses. The PCI is fast and is slowly making the ISA fade away. Go with a PCI BusCard when possible.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), This Bus provides from 2 to 4 times the speed of the PCI and is used for video expansion only. If you have this slot on your motherboard make sure and use it for you video card. This is great way to go and takes a lot of stress off the CPU, thus gaining in performance all the way around.

USB (Universal Serial Bus), This is something that is fairly new and allows you to hook up to 127 devices. This is probably going to wipe out PS/2 ports and more. The USB is allows you to hot swap devices or plug and unplug devices while system is running. This is a great feature and is incorporated on most new motherboards.

IDE (Intelligent Drive Electronics), This bus is used mostly for disk drives and connects up to two devices on one connection. More than likely you’re hard drive and CD-ROM are connected through this type bus.

There are a few more bus types that are not very common and some are not even in uses in modern computers. The buses above are the most common and found in modern motherboards.

-So what are the slots mad up off? We already know that there are little pins made out of gold and tin, but what else? Check out the Slot's Makeup

Overview of motherbord

2010-11-13T03:10:00.001-08:00

A motherboard, like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also connects the central processing unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.

A typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components connected to the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices may be attached to the motherboard as plug-in cards or via cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate some of these peripherals into the motherboard itself.

An important component of a motherboard is the microprocessor's supporting chipset, which provides the supporting interfaces between the CPU and the various buses and external components. This chipset determines, to an extent, the features and capabilities of the motherboard.

Modern motherboards include, at a minimum:

sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors may be installed[3]

slots into which the system's main memory is to be installed (typically in the form of DIMM modules containing DRAM chips)

a chipset which forms an interface between the CPU's front-side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses

non-volatile memory chips (usually Flash ROM in modern motherboards) containing the system's firmware or BIOS

a clock generator which produces the system clock signal to synchronize the various components

slots for expansion cards (these interface to the system via the buses supported by the chipset)

power connectors, which receive electrical power from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory, and expansion cards.[4]

The Octek Jaguar V motherboard from 1993.[5] This board has 6 ISA slots but few onboard peripherals, as evidenced by the lack of external connectors.Additionally, nearly all motherboards include logic and connectors to support commonly used input devices, such as PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard. Early personal computers such as the Apple II or IBM PC included only this minimal peripheral support on the motherboard. Occasionally video interface hardware was also integrated into the motherboard; for example, on the Apple II and rarely on IBM-compatible computers such as the IBM PC Jr. Additional peripherals such as disk controllers and serial ports were provided as expansion cards.

Given the high thermal design power of high-speed computer CPUs and components, modern motherboards nearly always include heat sinks and mounting points for fans to dissipate excess heat.

AM transmission

2010-10-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

In order to better understand the way the radio transmitter works, block - diagram of a simple AM (amplitude modulated) signal transmitter is shown on Pic.2.2. The amplitude modulation is being performed in a stage called the modulator. Two signals are entering it: high frequency signal called the carrier (or the signal carrier), being created into the HF oscillator and amplified in the HF amplifier to the required signal level, and the low frequency (modulating) signal coming from the microphone or some other LF signal source (cassette player, record player, CD player etc.), being amplified in the LF amplifier. On modulator's output the amplitude modulated signal UAM is acquired. This signal is then amplified in the power amplifier, and then led to the emission antenna.

The shape and characteristics of the AM carrier, being taken from the HF amplifier into the modulator, are shown on Pic.2.3-a. As you can see, it is a HF voltage of constant amplitude US and frequency fS. On Pic.2.3-b the LF signal that appears at the input of the modulator at the moment t0 is shown. With this signal the modulation of the carrier's amplitude is being performed, therefore it is being called the modulating signal. The shape of the AM signal exiting the modulator is shown on Pic.2.3-c. From the point t0 this voltage has the same shape as that on Pic.2.3-a. From the moment t0 the amplitude of AM signal is being changed in accordance with the current value of the modulating signal, in such a way that the signal envelope (fictive line connecting the voltage peaks) has the same shape as the modulating signal.
Let's take a look at a practical example. Let the LF signal on Pic.2.3-b be, say, an electrical image of the tone being created by some musical instrument, and that the time gap between the points t0 and t2 is 1 ms. Suppose that carrier frequency is fS=1 MHz (approximately the frequency of radio Kladovo, exact value is 999 kHz). In that case, in period from t0 till t2 signals us on Pic.2.3-1 and uAM on 2.3-c should make a thousand oscillations and not just eighteen, as shown in the picture. Then It is clear that it isn't possible to draw a realistic picture, since all the lines would connect into a dark spot. The true picture of AM signal from this example is given on Pic.2.3-d. That is the picture that appears on screen of the oscilloscope, connected on the output of the modulator: light coloured lines representing the AM signal have interconnected, since they are thicker than the gap between them.
Block - diagram on Pic 2.2 is a simplified schematic of an AM transmitter. In reality there are some additional stages in professional transmitters that provide the necessary work stability, transmitter power supply, cooling for certain stages etc. For simple use, however, even simpler block diagrams exist, making the completion of an ordinary AM transmitter possible with just a few electronic components

Principal of radio transmission

2010-10-20T05:01:00.000-07:00

Transfer of information (speech, music, image, computer data etc.) by radio can be presented in its simplest form with block - diagram as on Pic.2.1. That is a transmission realized by amplitude - modulated signal. Since, in our example, the information being transferred is the sound, the first step of such transmission is converting the sound into electrical signal, this being accomplished by a microphone. The low - frequency (LF) voltage at microphone output (Pic.2.1-a), that represents the electrical "image" of the sound being transferred, is being taken into the transmitter. There, under the effect of LF signal, the procedure called amplitude modulation is being carried out, and on its output high - frequency (HF) voltage is generated, its amplitude changing according to the current LF signal value. HF voltage creates HF current in the antenna, thus generating electromagnetic field around it. This field spreads through the ambient space, being symbolically shown on Pic.2.1 with dashed circles. Traveling at the speed of light (c=300 000 km/s), the electromagnetic field gets to the reception place, inducing the voltage in the reception antenna, as shown on Pic.2.1-c. This voltage has the same profile as the one on Pic.2.1-b, except it has much smaller amplitude. In the receiver, the amplification and detection are carried out first, resulting with the LF voltage on its output, that has the same profile as the one on Pic.2.1-a. This voltage is then transformed into sound by loudspeaker, that sound being exactly the same as the sound that acted upon the microphone. This, naturally, is the way it would be in ideal case. Back to reality, due to device imperfection as well as the influence of various disturbances, the sound being generated by the loudspeaker differs from the one that acts upon the microphone membrane. The block - diagram on Pic.2.1 (excluding the HF signal shape) is also applicable in case of radio transmission being carried out by frequency modulation. In that case frequency modulation is being carried out in the transmitter, under the effect of LF signal coming from the microphone, therefore HF signals on Pics.2.1-b and 2.1-c having constant amplitude, and their frequency being changed in accordance with the actual value of LF signal from the microphone. In fact, all types of radio transmission can be presented with Pic.2.1. First, the information being sent is always transformed into electrical signal through the appropriate converter. In telegraphy this converter is the pushbutton, in radiophony it's a microphone, in television engineering an image analysis cathode ray tube (CRT) etc. Then, with this "electrical image" of information, the modulation is being done. The modulated HF signal is being transferred into antenna and transmitted. On the reception place, the modulated signal from the reception antenna is being amplified and detected and then, again with the appropriate converter (pen recorder, loudspeaker, TV CRT etc.), the information is transformed back into its original form

2010-10-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

The circuit for a powerful AM transmitter using ceramic resonator/filter of 3.587 MHz is presented here. Resonators/filters of other frequencies such as 5.5 MHz, 7 MHz and 10.7 MHz may also be used. Use of different frequency filters/resonators will involve corresponding variation in the value of inductor used in the tank circuit of oscillator connected at the collector of transistor T1.
The AF input for modulation is inserted in series with emitter of transistor T1 (and resistor R4) using a transistor radio type audio driver transformer as shown in the circuit. Modulated RF output is developed across the tank circuit which can be tuned to resonance frequency of the filter/resonator with the help of gang condenser C7. The next two stages formed using low-noise RF transistors BF495 are, in fact, connected in parallel for amplification of modulated signal coupled from collector of transistor T1 to bases of transistors T2 and T3. The combined output from collectors of T2 and T3 is fed to antenna via 100pF capacitor C4.
The circuit can be easily assembled on a general-purpose PCB. The range of the transmitter is expected to be one to two kilometers. The circuit requires regulated 9-volt power supply for its operation. Note: Dotted lined indicates additional connection if a 3-pin filter is used in place.

40 meter distance radi transamission

2010-10-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Using the circuit of 40-metre band direct-conversion receiver descr- ibed here, one can listen to amateur radio QSO signals in CW as well as in SSB mode in the 40-metre band. The circuit makes use of three n-channel FETs (BFW10). The first FET (T1) performs the function of ant./RF amplifier-cum-product detector, while the second and third FETs (T2 and T3) together form a VFO (variable frequency oscillator) whose output is injected into the gate of first FET (T1) through 10pF capacitor C16. The VFO is tuned to a frequency which differs from the incoming CW signal frequency by about 1 kHz to produce a beat frequency in the audio range at the output of transformer X1, which is an audio driver transformer of the type used in transistor radios. The audio output from transformer X1 is connected to the input of audio amplifier built around IC1 (TBA820M) via volume control VR1. An audio output from the AF amplifier is connected to an 8-ohm, 1-watt speaker. The receiver can be powered by a 12-volt power-supply, capable of sourcing around 250mA current. Audio-output stage can be substituted with a readymade L-plate audio output circuit used in transistor amplifiers, if desired. The necessary data regarding the coils used in the circuit is given in the circuit diagram itself

long distance radio transmission

2010-10-19T20:54:00.001-07:00

The power output of most of these circuits are very low because no power amplifier stages were incorporated.
The transmitter circuit described here has an extra RF power amplifier stage, after the oscillator stage, to raise the power output to 200-250 milliwatts. With a good matching 50-ohm ground plane antenna or multi-element Yagi antenna, this transmitter can provide reasonably good signal strength up to a distance of about 2 kilometres.
The circuit built around transistor T1 (BF494) is a basic low-power variable-frequency VHF oscillator. A varicap diode circuit is included to change the frequency of the transmitter and to provide frequency modulation by audio signals. The output of the oscillator is about 50 milliwatts. Transistor T2 (2N3866) forms a VHF-class A power amplifier. It boosts the oscillator signals� power four to five times. Thus, 200-250 milliwatts of power is generated at the collector of transistor T2.
For better results, assemble the circuit on a good-quality glass epoxy board and house the transmitter inside an aluminium case. Shield the oscillator stage using an aluminium sheet.
Coil winding details are given below:
L1 - 4 turns of 20 SWG wire close wound over 8mm diameter plastic former.
L2 - 2 turns of 24 SWG wire near top end of L1.
(Note: No core (i.e. air core) is used for the above coils)
L3 - 7 turns of 24 SWG wire close wound with 4mm diameter air core.
L4 - 7 turns of 24 SWG wire-wound on a ferrite bead (as choke)
Potentiometer VR1 is used to vary the fundamental frequency whereas potentiometer VR2 is used as power control. For hum-free operation, operate the transmitter on a 12V rechargeable battery pack of 10 x 1.2-volt Ni-Cd cells. Transistor T2 must be mounted on a heat sink. Do not switch on the transmitter without a matching antenna. Adjust both trimmers (VC1 and VC2) for maximum transmission power. Adjust potentiometer VR1 to set the fundamental frequency near 100 MHz.
This transmitter should only be used for educational purposes. Regular transmission using such a transmitter without a licence is illegal in India

Principal of car tracker

2010-10-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

This FM radio-controlled anti- theft alarm can be used with any vehicle having 6- to 12-volt DC supply system. The mini VHF, FM transmitter is fitted in the vehicle at night when it is parked in the car porch or car park. The receiver unit with CXA1019, a single IC-based FM radio module, which is freely available in the market at reasonable rate, is kept inside. Receiver is tuned to the transmitter's frequency. When the transmitter is on and the signals are being received by FM radio receiver, no hissing noise is available at the output of receiver. Thus transistor T2 (BC548) does not conduct. This results in the relay driver transistor T3 getting its forward base bias via 10k resistor R5 and the relay gets energised. When an intruder tries to drive the car and takes it a few metres away from the car porch, the radio link between the car (transmitter) and alarm (receiver) is broken. As a result FM radio module gene-rates hissing noise. Hissing AC signals are coupled to relay switching circ- uit via audio transformer. These AC signals are rectified and filtered by diode D1 and capacitor C8, and the resulting positive DC voltage provides a forward bias to transistor T2. Thus transistor T2 conducts, and it pulls the base of relay driver transistor T3 to ground level. The relay thus gets de-activated and the alarm connected via N/C contacts of relay is switched on. If, by chance, the intruder finds out about the wireless alarm and disconnects the transmitter from battery, still remote alarm remains activated because in the absence of signal, the receiver continues to produce hissing noise at its output. So the burglar alarm is fool-proof and highly reliable.

Electrical engineering

2010-09-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacture of electrical equipment. Some of this equipment includes electric motors; machinery controls, lighting, and wiring in buildings; radar and navigation systems; communications systems; and power generation, control, and transmission devices used by electric utilities. Electrical engineers also design the electrical systems of automobiles and aircraft. Although the terms electrical and electronics engineering often are used interchangeably in academia and industry, electrical engineers traditionally have focused on the generation and supply of power, whereas electronics engineers have worked on applications of electricity to control systems or signal processing. Electrical engineers specialize in areas such as power systems engineering or electrical equipment manufacturing

Computer Hardware engineering

2010-09-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

Computer hardware engineers research, design, develop, test, and oversee the manufacture and installation of computer hardware, including computer chips, circuit boards, computer systems, and related equipment such as keyboards, routers, and printers. (Computer software engineers—often simply called computer engineers—design and develop the software systems that control computers. These workers are covered elsewhere in the Handbook.) The work of computer hardware engineers is similar to that of electronics engineers in that they may design and test circuits and other electronic components; however, computer hardware engineers do that work only as it relates to computers and computer-related equipment. The rapid advances in computer technology are largely a result of the research, development, and design efforts of these engineers

Civil engineers

2010-09-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

Civil engineers design and supervise the construction of roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and water supply and sewage systems. They must consider many factors in the design process from the construction costs and expected lifetime of a project to government regulations and potential environmental hazards such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Civil engineering, considered one of the oldest engineering disciplines, encompasses many specialties. The major ones are structural, water resources, construction, transportation, and geotechnical engineering. Many civil engineers hold supervisory or administrative positions, from supervisor of a construction site to city engineer. Others may work in design, construction, research, and teaching

Chemical engineers

2010-09-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Chemical engineers apply the principles of chemistry to solve problems involving the production or use of chemicals and other products. They design equipment and processes for large-scale chemical manufacturing, plan and test methods of manufacturing products and treating byproducts, and supervise production. Chemical engineers also work in a variety of manufacturing industries other than chemical manufacturing, such as those producing energy, electronics, food, clothing, and paper. In addition, they work in healthcare, biotechnology, and business services. Chemical engineers apply principles of physics, mathematics, and mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as chemistry. Some may specialize in a particular chemical process, such as oxidation or polymerization. Others specialize in a particular field, such as nanomaterials, or in the development of specific products. They must be aware of all aspects of chemical manufacturing and how the manufacturing process affects the environment and the safety of workers and consumers

Biomedical engineering

2010-09-13T10:52:00.001-07:00

Biomedical engineers develop devices and procedures that solve medical and health-related problems by combining their knowledge of biology and medicine with engineering principles and practices. Many do research, along with medical scientists, to develop and evaluate systems and products such as artificial organs, prostheses (artificial devices that replace missing body parts), instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems. Biomedical engineers also may design devices used in various medical procedures, imaging systems such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and devices for automating insulin injections or controlling body functions. Most engineers in this specialty need a sound background in another engineering specialty, such as mechanical or electronics engineering, in addition to specialized biomedical training. Some specialties within biomedical engineering are biomaterials, biomechanics, medical imaging, rehabilitation engineering, and orthopedic engineering

Agriculture engineering

2010-09-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Agricultural engineers apply their knowledge of engineering technology and science to agriculture and the efficient use of biological resources. Accordingly, they also are referred to as biological and agricultural engineers. They design agricultural machinery, equipment, sensors, processes, and structures, such as those used for crop storage. Some engineers specialize in areas such as power systems and machinery design, structural and environmental engineering, and food and bioprocess engineering. They develop ways to conserve soil and water and to improve the processing of agricultural products. Agricultural engineers often work in research and development, production, sales, or management

Aerospace engineering

2010-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Aerospace engineers design, test, and supervise the manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles. Those who work with aircraft are called aeronautical engineers, and those working specifically with spacecraft are astronautical engineers. Aerospace engineers develop new technologies for use in aviation, defense systems, and space exploration, often specializing in areas such as structural design, guidance, navigation and control, instrumentation and communication, and production methods. They also may specialize in a particular type of aerospace product, such as commercial aircraft, military fighter jets, helicopters, spacecraft, or missiles and rockets, and may become experts in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, or guidance and control systems

NATURE OF ENGINEER WORKING

2010-09-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Engineers apply the principles of science and mathematics to develop economical solutions to technical problems. Their work is the link between scientific discoveries and the commercial applications that meet societal and consumer needs.

Many engineers develop new products. During the process, they consider several factors. For example, in developing an industrial robot, engineers specify the functional requirements precisely; design and test the robot's components; integrate the components to produce the final design; and evaluate the design's overall effectiveness, cost, reliability, and safety. This process applies to the development of many different products, such as chemicals, computers, powerplants, helicopters, and toys.

In addition to their involvement in design and development, many engineers work in testing, production, or maintenance. These engineers supervise production in factories, determine the causes of a component’s failure, and test manufactured products to maintain quality. They also estimate the time and cost required to complete projects. Supervisory engineers are responsible for major components or entire projects. (See the statement on engineering and natural sciences managers elsewhere in the Handbook.)

Engineers use computers extensively to produce and analyze designs; to simulate and test how a machine, structure, or system operates; to generate specifications for parts; to monitor the quality of products; and to control the efficiency of processes. Nanotechnology, which involves the creation of high-performance materials and components by integrating atoms and molecules, also is introducing entirely new principles to the design process.

Most engineers specialize. Following are details on the 17 engineering specialties covered in the Federal Government's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Numerous other specialties are recognized by professional societies, and each of the major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions. Civil engineering, for example, includes structural and transportation engineering, and materials engineering includes ceramic, metallurgical, and polymer engineering. Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials

shannon concept of infomation theory

2010-09-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

odern digital communication depends on Information Theory, which was invented in the 1940's by Claude E. Shannon. Shannon first published A Mathematical Theory of Communication in 1947-1948, and jointly publishedThe Mathematical Theory of Communciation with Warren Weaver in 1949. That text is still in publication by theUniversity of Illinois Press. Information Theory, sometimes referred to as Classical Information Theory as opposed toAlgorithmic Information Theory, provides a mathematical model for communication. Though Shannon was principally concerned with the problem of electronic communications, the theory has much broader applicability. Communication occurs whenever things are copied or moved from one place and/or time to another.
This article briefly describes the main concepts of Shannon's theory. The mathematical proofs are readily available in many sources, including the Internet links on this page. While Shannon's theory covers both digital and analog communication, analog communication will be ignored for simplicity. On the other hand, Information Theory is a fairly technical subject, generally introduced to third-year engineering university students. Really understanding it requires knowledge of statistics and calculus.
For those who wonder how a theory about communication can possibly relate to biological evolution, a visit to Tom Schneider's web site, Molecular Information Theory and the Theory of Molecular Machines, may help. In any case, Creationists are now fond of arguing about information, and this article provides useful background material on the subjec

Secondry storage device

2010-08-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

An auxiliary storage device refers to any type of storage device--except for the internal memory, usually referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory)--that is used to save information. From the moment you start typing a letter in Microsoft Word, for example, and until you click on "Save", your entire work is stored in RAM. However, once you power off your machine that work is completely erased, unless you had saved a copy on an auxiliary storage device, like an internal or an external hard disk drive, optical drives for CDs or DVDs, or a USB flash drive.

Internal Hard Disk Drive

Internal hard disk drive is the main auxiliary storage device that stores all of your data magnetically, including operating system files and folders, documents, music and video. You can think of the hard disc drive as a stack of disks mounted one on top of the other and placed in a sturdy case. They spin at high speeds to provide easy and fast access to stored data anywhere on a disk.

External Hard Disk Drive

External hard disk drives are used when the internal drive does not have any free space and you need to store more data. In addition, it is recommended that you always back up all of your data and the external hard drives become very useful as they can safely store large amounts of information. They can be connected by either USB or Firewire connection to a computer and can even be connected with each other in case you need several additional hard drives at the same time.

Optical Drive

An optical drive uses lasers to store and read data on CDs and DVDs. It basically burns a series of bumps and dips on a disc, which are associated with ones and zeros. Then this same drive can interpret the series of ones and zeros into data that can be displayed on your monitors. There are a few different types of both CD and DVD disks, but the main two types include R and RW, which stand for Recordable (but you can write information on it just once) and Re-Writable (meaning you can record data over and over again).

USB Flash Drive

A USB flash memory storage device is also portable and can be carried around on a key chain. This type of a secondary storage device has become incredibly popular due to the very small size of the device compared to the amount of data it can store (in most cases, more than CDs or DVDs). Data can be easily read using the USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface that now comes standard with most computers.

Conclusion

There is a great variety of different auxiliary storage devices, some of which have become obsolete. You might still remember the tape drives that used reels of tape to store data or the 3.5 inch floppy drives that could store only minimal amounts of information. But, as we have seen with the rapid development of USB flash memory drives and SD memory cards (usually used in photo cameras), the modern technology doesn't stay still, allowing us to store more and more data onto smaller and smaller devices

Element of communication system

2010-08-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

Elements of a communication system

The above figure depicts the elements of a communication system. There are three essential parts of any communication system, the transmitter, transmission channel, and receiver. Each parts plays a particular role in signal transmission, as follows:

The transmitter processes the input signal to produce a suitable transmitted signal suited to the characteristics of the transmission channel.

Signal processing for transmissions almost always involves modulation and may also include coding.

The transmission channel is the electrical medium that bridges the distance from source to destination. It may be a pair of wires, a coaxial cable, or a radio wave or laser beam. Every channel introduces some amount of transmission loss or attenuation. So, the signal power progressively decreases with increasing distance.

The receiver operates on the output signal from the channel in preparation for delivery to the transducer at the destination. Receiver operations include amplification to compensate for transmission loss. These also include demodulation and decoding to reverse the signal procession performed at the transmitter. Filtering is another important function at the receiver.

The figure represents one-way or simplex (SX) transmission. Two way communication of course requires a transmitter and receiver at each end. A full-duplex (FDX) system has a channel that allows simultaneous transmission in both directions. A half-duplex (HDX) system allows transmission in either direction but not at the same time.

Disadantage of amplitude modulation

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When the amplitude of high frequency carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal, it is called amplitude modulation.

In amplitude modulation, only the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal. However, the frequency of the modulated wave remains the same as the carrier frequency. The Below figure shows the principle of amplitude modulation (a) shows the audio electrical signal, whereas (b) shows the carrier wave of constant amplitude and (c) shows the amplitude-modulated wave.

Note that the amplitude of both positive and negative half cycles of carrier wave are changed in accordance with the signal. For instance, when the signal is increasing in the positive sense, the amplitude of carrier wave also increases. During negative half cycle of the signal, the amplitude of carrier decreases. Amplitude modulation is done by an electronic circuit called modulator.

The following points are worth noting in amplitude modulation:

(i) The amplitude of the carrier wave changes according to the intensity of the signal.

(ii) The amplitude variation of the carrier wave is at the signal frequency f_s.

(iii) The frequency of the amplitude modulated wave remains the same, i.e., carrier frequency, f_c.

In amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the wave is varied duplicating faithfully the fluctuations of the message. At the receiver these variations are detected or demodulated i.e., the message is removed from the carrier. (Although the more precise terms are demodulation for the process and demodulator for the device, the terms detection and detector are widely used.) After reception and demodulation at the receiver, the carrier is of no further use and is discarded.

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Static RAM
Static RAM uses a completely different technology. In static RAM, a form of flip-flop holds each bit of memory (see How Boolean Logic Works for details on flip-flops). A flip-flop for a memory cell takes four or six transistors along with some wiring, but never has to be refreshed. This makes static RAM significantly faster than dynamic RAM. However, because it has more parts, a static memory cell takes up a lot more space on a chip than a dynamic memory cell. Therefore, you get less memory per chip, and that makes static RAM a lot more expensive.

Static RAM is fast and expensive, and dynamic RAM is less expensive and slower. So static RAM is used to create the CPU's speed-sensitive cache, while dynamic RAM forms the larger system RAM space.

Memory chips in desktop computers originally used a pin configuration called dual inline package (DIP). This pin configuration could be soldered into holes on the computer's motherboard or plugged into a socket that was soldered on the motherboard. This method worked fine when computers typically operated on a couple of megabytes or less of RAM, but as the need for memory grew, the number of chips needing space on the motherboard increased.

The solution was to place the memory chips, along with all of the support components, on a separate printed circuit board (PCB) that could then be plugged into a special connector (memory bank) on the motherboard. Most of these chips use a small outline J-lead (SOJ) pin configuration, but quite a few manufacturers use the thin small outline package (TSOP) configuration as well. The key difference between these newer pin types and the original DIP configuration is that SOJ and TSOP chips are surface-mounted to the PCB. In other words, the pins are soldered directly to the surface of the board, not inserted in holes or sockets.

Memory chips are normally only available as part of a card called a module. You've probably seen memory listed as 8x32 or 4x16. These numbers represent the number of the chips multiplied by the capacity of each individual chip, which is measured in megabits (Mb), or one million bits. Take the result and divide it by eight to get the number of megabytes on that module. For example, 4x32 means that the module has four 32-megabit chips. Multiply 4 by 32 and you get 128 megabits. Since we know that a byte has 8 bits, we need to divide our result of 128 by 8. Our result is 16 megabytes!

In the next section we'll look at some other common types of RAM