Fundamentals of Information System

Telecommunication System

What is telecommunication System?

A telecommunications system is a collection of compatible hardware and software arranged to

communicate information from one location to another. These systems can transmit text, data,
graphics, voice, documents, or video information.

Components of Telecommunication System

Input and output devices, also referred to as 'terminals'

These provide the starting and stopping points of all communication. A telephone is an example of a
terminal. In computer networks, these devices are commonly referred to as 'nodes' and consist of
computer and peripheral devices.

Telecommunication channels, which transmit and receive data This includes various types of
cables and wireless radio frequencies.

Wired: Coaxial Cable, Twisted Pair Line, Fiber Optics

Wireless:

Microwave Communication, Radio, Satellite

Telecommunication processors, which provide a number of control and support functions.

Telecommunication processors support data transmission and reception between the terminals and
computers.

Examples of telecommunication processors are modems, multiplexers, and internetworked

processors like switches, routers, and hubs.

Control software, which is responsible for controlling the functionality and activities of the network.

Commonly referred to as an internet filter, is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet
user is capable to access, especially when utilized to restrict material delivered over the Internet via
the Web, e-mail, or other means. Content-control software determines what content will be available
or be blocked.

Messages represent the actual data that is being transmitted In the case of a telephone network, the
messages would consist of audio as well as data.

Protocols specify how each type of telecommunication systems handle the messages For example,
GSM and 3G are protocols for mobile phone communications, and TCP/IP is a protocol for
communications over the Internet.

What is Computer Network?

A computer network is a system of computers and peripheral devices that are connected
electronically. These connected computers can communicate with each other, which mean that they
can share information. Each computer has its own network address, so it can be uniquely identified
among all the computers in a network. Computer networks are able to carry different types of data
and support different applications.

Components of Computer Network

Servers - Servers are computers that hold shared files, programs, and the network operating system.
Servers provide access to network resources to all the users of the network. There are many different
kinds of servers, and one server can provide several functions. For example, there are file servers,
print servers, mail servers, communication servers, database servers, fax servers and web servers, to
name a few.

• Clients - Clients are computers that access and use the network and shared network resources.
Client computers are basically the customers(users) of the network, as they request and receive
services from the servers.

• Transmission Media - Transmission media are the facilities used to interconnect computers in a
network, such as twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, and optical fiber cable. Transmission media are
sometimes called channels, links or lines.

• Shared data - Shared data are data that file servers provide to clients such as data files, printer
access programs and e-mail.

• Shared printers and other peripherals - Shared printers and peripherals are hardware resources
provided to the users of the network by servers. Resources provided include data files, printers,
software, or any other items used by clients on the network.

• Network Interface Card - Each computer in a network has a special expansion card called a network
interface card (NIC). The NIC prepares(formats) and sends data, receives data, and controls data
flow between the computer and the network. On the transmit side, the NIC passes frames of data on
to the physical layer, which transmits the data to the physical link. On the receiver's side, the NIC
processes bits received from the physical layer and processes the message based on its contents.

• Local Operating System - A local operating system allows personal computers to access files, print
to a local printer, and have and use one or more disk and CD drives that are located on the computer.
Examples are MS-DOS, Unix, Linux, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows XP etc.

Components of Computer Network

• Network Operating System - The network operating system is a program that runs on computers
and servers, and allows the computers to communicate over the network.

• Hub - Hub is a device that splits a network connection into multiple computers. It is like a
distribution center. When a computer requests information from a network or a specific computer, it
sends the request to the hub through a cable. The hub will receive the request and transmit it to the
entire network. Each computer in the network should then figure out whether the broadcast data is for
them or not.
• Switch - Switch is a telecommunication device grouped as one of computer network components.
Switch is like a Hub but built in with advanced features. It uses physical device addresses in each
incoming messages so that it can deliver the message to the right destination or port.

Like a hub, switch doesn't broadcast the received message to entire network, rather before sending
it checks to which system or port should the message be sent. In other words, switch connects the
source and destination directly which increases the speed of the network. Both switch and hub have
common features: Multiple RJ-45 ports, power supply and connection lights.

• Router - When we talk about computer network components, the other device that used to connect
a LAN with an internet connection is called Router. When you have two distinct networks (LANs) or
want to share a single internet connection to multiple computers, we use a Router. In most cases,
recent routers also include a switch which in other words can be used as a switch. You don’t need to
buy both switch and router, particularly if you are installing small business and home networks. There
are two types of Router: wired and wireless. The choice depends on your physical office/home
setting, speed and cost.

• LAN Cable A local area Network cable is also known as data cable or Ethernet cable which is a
wired cable used to connect a device to the internet or to other devices like other computer, printers,
etc.

What is Object Oriented Methodology?

• It is a new system development approach, encouraging and facilitating re-use of software

components.

• It employs international standard Unified Modeling Language (UML) from the Object Management
Group (OMG).

• Using this methodology, a system can be developed on a component basis, which enables the
effective re-use of existing components, it facilitates the sharing of its other system components.

• Object Oriented Methodology asks the analyst to determine what the objects of the system are?,
What responsibilities and relationships an object has to do with the other objects? And how they
behave over time?

Object Oriented Methodologies

1. Object Modeling Techniques (OMT)

-It was one of the first object oriented methodologies and was introduced by Rumbaugh in 1991.

- OMT uses three different models that are combined in a way that is analogous to the older
structured methodologies

Analysis

• The main goal of the analysis is to build models of the world.

• The requirements of the users, developers and managers provide the information needed to
develop the initial problem statement.
OMT Models

• I. Object Model It depicts the object classes and their relationships as a class diagram, which
represents the static structure of the system. • It observes all the objects as static and does not pay
any attention to their dynamic nature.

• II. Dynamic Model It captures the behavior of the system over time and the flow control and events
in the Event-Trace Diagrams and State Transition Diagrams.

• It portrays the changes occurring in the states of various objects with the events that might occur in
the system.

• III. Functional Model It describes the data transformations of the system. • It describes the flow of
data and the changes that occur to the data throughout the system.

Design

It specifies all of the details needed to describe how the system will be implemented.

• In this phase, the details of the system analysis and system design are implemented.

• The objects identified in the system design phase are designed.

2. Object Process Methodology (OPM)

• It is also called as second generation methodology.

• It was first introduced in 1995.

• It has only one diagram that is the Object Process Diagram (OPD) which is used for modeling the
structure, function and behavior of the system.

• It has a strong emphasis on modeling but has a weaker emphasis on process.

Object Process Methodology (OPM)

It consists of three main processes:

I. Initiating: It determines high level requirements, the scope of the system and the resources that will
be required.

II. Developing: It involves the detailed analysis, design and implementation of the system.

III. Deploying: It introduces the system to the user and subsequent maintenance of the system.

3. Rational Unified Process (RUP)

• It was developed in Rational Corporation in 1998. • It consists of four phases which can be broken
down into iterations.

I.Inception
II. Elaboration
III. Construction
 IV. Transition

• Each iteration consists of nine work areas called disciplines.

• A discipline depends on the phase in which the iteration is taking place.

• For each discipline, RUP defines a set of artefacts (work products), activities (work undertaken on
the artefacts) and roles (the responsibilities of the members of the development team).

Objectives of Object Oriented Methodologies

• To encourage greater re-use.

• To produce a more detailed specification of system constraints.

• To have fewer problems with validation (Are we building the right product?).

Benefits of Object Oriented Methodologies

1. It represents the problem domain, because it is easier to produce and understand designs.

2. It allows changes more easily.

3. It provides nice structures for thinking, abstracting and leads to modular design.

4. Simplicity: The software object's model complexity is reduced and the program structure is very
clear.

5. Reusability: It is a desired goal of all development process. It contains both data and functions
which act on data. It makes easy to reuse the code in a new system. Messages provide a
predefined interface to an object's data and functionality.

6. Increased Quality: This feature increases in quality is largely a by-product of this program reuse.

7. Maintainable: The OOP method makes code more maintainable. The objects can be maintained
separately, making locating and fixing problems easier.

8. Scalable: The object oriented applications are more scalable than structured approach. It makes
easy to replace the old and aging code with faster algorithms and newer technology.

9. Modularity: The OOD systems are easier to modify. It can be altered in fundamental ways without
ever breaking up since changes are neatly encapsulated.

10. Modifiability: It is easy to make minor changes in the data representation or the procedures in an
object oriented program.

11. Client/Server Architecture: It involves the transmission of messages back and forth over a
network.

Information Systems Ethics, Computer Crime, and Security

Information Systems Ethics

• Toffler’s three waves of change

– Agriculture

– Industrial Revolution

– Information Age

Information Systems Ethics

• Computer Literacy – Knowing how to use a computer

• Digital Divide – That gap between those with computer access and those who don’t have it

• Computer Ethics – Standards of conduct as they pertain to the use of information systems

• Privacy – Protecting one’s personal information

• Identity theft – Stealing of another’s social security number, credit card number, or other personal
information

• Information accuracy – Deals with authentication and fidelity of information

• Information property – Deals with who owns information about individuals and how information can
be sold and exchange

• Information accessibility – Deals with what information a person has the right to obtain about others
and how the information can be used

• Issues in information accessibility

– Carnivore: software application designed to be connected to Internet Service Providers’ computers

and eavesdrops on all communications

. – Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA): it offered stronger support for voice mail than it
did for e-mail. No other laws at federal or state levels protect e-mail privacy

– Monitoring e-mail

• The need for a code of ethical conduct

– Business ethics

– Plagiarism

– Cybersquatting: registering a domain name and then trying to sell the name for big bucks to a
person, company. Domain names are a scarce resource – one of the few scarce resources in
cyberspace

Computer Crime

• Definition: the act of using a computer to commit an illegal act

– Authorized and unauthorized computer access

– Examples

• Stealing time on company computers

• Breaking into government Web sites

• Stealing credit card information

• Federal and State Laws

– Stealing or compromising data

– Gaining unauthorized computer access

– Violating data belonging to banks

– Intercepting communications

– Threatening to damage computer systems

– Disseminating viruses

• Hacking and Cracking

– Hacker – one who gains unauthorized computer access, but without doing damage

– Cracker – one who breaks into computer systems for the purpose of doing damage

• Types of computer crime

– Data diddling: modifying data

– Salami slicing: skimming small amounts of money

– Phreaking: making free long distance calls

– Cloning: cellular phone fraud using scanners

– Carding: stealing credit card numbers online

– Piggybacking: stealing credit card numbers by spying

– Social engineering: tricking employees to gain access

– Dumpster diving: finding private info in garbage cans

– Spoofing: stealing passwords through a false login page

• Software piracy

– North America – 25%

– Western Europe – 34%

– Asia / Pacific – 51%

– Mid East / Africa – 55%

– Latin America – 58%

– Eastern Europe – 63%

• Computer viruses and destructive code

– Virus – a destructive program that disrupts the normal functioning of computer systems

Types:

• Worm: usually does not destroy files; copies itself

• Trojan horses: Activates without being detected; does not copy itself

• Logic or time bombs: A type of Trojan horse that stays dormant for a period of time before activating

Computer Security

• Computer Security – precautions taken to keep computers and the information they contain safe
from unauthorized access

• Recommended Safeguards

– Implement a security plan to prevent break-ins

– Have a plan if break-ins do occur

– Make backups!

– Only allow access to key employees

– Change passwords frequently

– Keep stored information secure

– Use antivirus software

– Use biometrics for access to computing resources

– Hire trustworthy employees

• Encryption – the process of encoding messages before they enter the network or airwaves, then
decoding them at the receiving end of the transfer

• How encryption works

– Symmetric secret key system

• Both sender and recipient use the same key

• Key management can be a problem – Public key technology

• A private key and a public key – Certificate authority

• To implement public-key encryption on a busy Web site requires a more sophisticated solution. A
third party, called certificate authority, is used.

• A trusted middleman verifies that a Web site is a trusted site (provides public keys to trusted
partners)

• Secure socket layers (SSL), developed by Netscape, is a popular public-key encryption method

• Other encryption approaches

– Pretty good privacy (PGP) • Phil Zimmerman

– Clipper Chip: a chip that could generate uncrackable codes. There was a flaw

• Internet Security – Firewall – hardware and software designed to keep unauthorized users out of
network systems

• Virus prevention

– Install antivirus software

– Make backups

– Avoid unknown sources of shareware

– Delete e-mails from unknown sources

– If your computer gets a virus…

• How to maintain your privacy online

– Choose Web sites monitored by privacy advocates

– Avoid “cookies”

– Visit sites anonymously

– Use caution when requesting confirming e-mail

• Avoid getting conned in cyberspace

– Internet auctions

– Internet access

– International modem dialing

– Web cramming

– Multilevel marketing (pyramid schemes)

– Travel/vacations
– Business opportunities

– Investments

– Health-care products

Programming language & Program development

Four ‘Types’ of Programming

1. Procedural Programming

2. Object Oriented Programming

3. Aspect Oriented Programming

4. Adaptive and Agile Software Development

Two aspects of programming

• Telling the hardware to do something

• Telling a program running within the hardware to do something.

Approaches to Program Design and Development

• Procedural programming separates a program into small modules that are “called” by the main
program or another module when needed

– Allows each procedure to be performed as many times as needed; multiple copies of code not
needed

– Prior to procedural programming, programs were one large set of instructions (used GOTO
statements)

• Each ‘procedure’ must be programming individually and are not reliant on other programs to
function.

• Very thorough and difficult to program as the failure of one procedure will not affect the entire OS or
program.

• Assembly and machine language

For example

• When you press a key on the keyboard…..’a’ for example.

• The keyboard sends 01100001 through the port/bus the keyboard is attached to.

• The processor interprets those bit and displays the letter ‘a’ on the screen.

• MAGIC!
• Now imagine doing that for EVERY function on a computer.

• Every keystroke, every color, every input, every mouse movement must be represented with a
binary code!

• FUN STUFF huh!?

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

• Object-oriented programming (OOP) consist of a collection of objects that contain data and methods
to be used with that data

– Objects can be accessed by multiple programs and are reliant on one another to function properly.
– Operating System functions are a great example.

– Class: A group of objects that share some common properties

– Attributes: Data that describes the object

– Methods: Perform actions on an object

• Can be used with different types of objects

– Instance: An individual object in a class

• Inherits the attributes and methods of the class

• The values of attributes may vary from instance to instance

Aspect-Oriented Programming and

• Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) separates functions so program components can be

developed and modified individually from one another

– The components can be easily reused

– Aspect oriented programs ‘borrow’ some functions for object oriented programs and machine
language

• Programs such as office applications is an example.

Adaptive/Agile Software Development

• Adaptive software development adapts programs as they are being written

• Mobile developers are using continuous mobile innovation

• Updates to Windows 10 are planned to adapt to the users environment.

– Typically iterative and/or incremental development

– Agile software development (ASD) can create software quickly

• Focuses on building small functional program pieces as the project progresses

• Emphasizes teams of people working closely together (programmers, managers, business experts,
customers, and so forth)

Programming Languages

1. Low Level

2. High Level

3. Scripting

Low-Level Programming Languages

• Low-level languages (earliest programming languages)

– Machine language

• Written at a very low level, just using 1s and 0s

• First generation of programming languages – Assembly language

• Uses names and other symbols to replace some of the 1s and 0s in machine language

• Second generation of programming languages

• Programs take longer to write and maintain

High-Level Programming Languages

• High-level languages: Closer to natural languages – Machine-independent

– Most are 3GLs and can be:

• Procedural languages (Fortran, BASIC, COBOL, C, etc.)

• Object-oriented languages (C++, C#, Python, Java, etc.) – Can be visual programming
environments (VPEs), which allow programmers to create the interface graphically

• Dragging and dropping objects and then defining their appearance and behavior

• Often assist in creating code – Can be visual programming languages which create programs
entirely using graphical elements

• Scratch

C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Swift, and F#

• C: A powerful and flexible language used for a variety of applications

– Much closer to assembly language than other high-level languages

– C++: Object-oriented version of C – C# (C-sharp): A hybrid of C and C++

• Most often used to create Web and Windows applications

– Objective-C: A version of C used to write programs for Apple devices

• Being replaced by Swift

– F#: Developed for .NET platform as an improvement to C#

Java and Dart

• Java: Object-oriented programming language commonly used for Web-based applications

– Developed by Sun Microsystems and is now open source

– Java programs are compiled into bytecode

• Can run on any computer that includes Java Virtual Machine (Java VM)

– Can be used to write Java applets (small programs inserted into Web pages and run by browsers)

• Dart: Open source, object-oriented programming language developed by Google

– Designed to replace JavaScript in Web applications

– Similar multiple data elements can be manipulated together

• Dart apps can run directly in Dartium

• For other browsers, much be compiled to JavaScript code

Python

• Python: An open-source, dynamic, object-oriented language that can be used to develop a variety of
applications

– Can run on a variety of computers (Windows, Linux, UNIX, OS X, etc.) and on some mobile devices

– Better code readability

– Used by large organizations and some colleges, such as MIT, are using Python for some
programming courses instead of more traditional languages

Markup Languages: HTML

• Define the structure, layout, and general appearance of the content located on a Web page

• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): The markup language designed for creating Web pages –
Use HTML tags

- Text-based codes embedded into a Web page’s source code

• Indicate the location and appearance of content on that Web page

• Some are paired tags

– The Web browser, browser settings, and device used ultimately determine what the Web page will
look like

XML and XHTML

• XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a set of rules for exchanging data over the Web

– “Extensible” because the data contained in XML documents can be extracted when needed and
used in a variety of ways

– Identifies only the data itself, not the format of that data

– XML tags are assigned to data and vary from one organization to the next

– Allows easy retrieval and updating of data

• XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is a version of HTML that is based on XML

HTML5

• HTML5 is the current version of HTML

– Designed to replace both HTML and XHTML

– Supports the creation of more complex and dynamic Web pages and applications

– HTML5 pages have three main sections (declaration, head, and body)

– Support new HTML5 tags

• Audio and video tags

• Tags to better identify the parts of a Web page

• Canvas tag, which creates a bitmapped work surface

– No proprietary software is required

– Supports both XHTML and XML tags

Scripting Languages

• Scripting languages

– Add dynamic content to a Web page

– Scripts are embedded into a Web page’s code

– Scripts are used as middleware to tie a Web site to a database

– Scripts can be run:

• By the Web browser being used to view the Web page (client-side script)
• By the Web server hosting the Web page being viewed (server-side script)

Examples of Scripting Languages

• JavaScript was developed to enable Web authors to implement interactive content on Web sites

– Client-side scripts; embedded into Web page source code either as direct commands or a link to
an external .js file

• VBScript (Visual Basic Scripting Edition) was developed by Microsoft for purposes similar to
JavaScript

– Can be used for both client-side and server-side scripts

• PHP is commonly used to create dynamic Web pages

– Server-side scripts

• Perl is one of the most popular languages for writing CGI scripts that accept data from and return
data to a Web server

EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING ELEARNING MULTIMEDIA

Technology’s Influence on Training and Learning

-New technologies have made it possible to:

-reduce the costs associated with delivering training.

and instructional methods include:

-learning)

re they receive training.

-needed basis.
 rogram.

to a
central training location.

geographic proximity.

new technology:

nd resource person.
Technology and Multimedia

- combines audiovisual training methods with computer-based training

Simulations

- computer depictions of humans that are used as imaginary coaches, coworkers, and
customers in simulations.
Mobile Technology and Training Methods: iPods, PDAs

-Fi and Bluetooth)

know when and how to take advantage of the technology.

device.