Digital & Communication Systems

Digital & Communication Systems

Unit 1 Information Technology Systems

RECAP

Topics covered since we started

• ​Digital Devices

• Computer Hardware (Internal and External components)

• Motherboard (Northbridge & Southbridge)

• Servers and Mobile devices

• Binary conversions

• BCD & Hexadecimals

• CPU

• RAM

• GPU

• Storage systems

​

​

• Factors Affecting the Choice of Hardware

• Understanding Software

• Types & Role of Operating Systems

​

​

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, learners will understand the following:

�What digital devices are with examples

�What a digital camera is and how it works

�What a navigation system is and how it works

�Data capture and collection systems

�Communication devices and systems

�The function and use of digital devices

​What is a Digital Device ?

Recall our lesson on Digital Devices, Their Functions and Use on week of the 5th Sept 2022

(Available on Studyspace)​

What is a digital device?

� An electronic device that can receive, store, process or send digital information.

Devices that process information that has been encoded as binary values either one that's positive (represented as 1) or one that's non-positive (represented as 0).

Examples
of Digital
Devices

​ What we have covered so far:

• ​ What digital devices are with examples

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• ​What a navigation system is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• Communication devices and systems

• The function and use of digital devices​

​ Digital Camera

Are all cameras digital?​

Digital cameras

� Digital cameras capture two different types

of images. Still - images that do not move
(photos). They occupy much less storage
space than moving images.

� Video - moving images which comprise a

series of frames to make a film. Videos
include sound and can be edited to include
subtitles.

SLR cameras

SLR camera - a single lens reflex (SLR) camera uses
a lens which captures the scope of the image you see. They are a type of camera used by keen amateur and professional photographers.

​

Digital SLR cameras are known as DSLR cameras. They
have better sensors for capturing high quality images.

DSLRs are especially popular for specialist photography, because of the high quality of the images produced, depending on the quality of the camera lens.

DSLR in action

How Digital cameras Work

� Digital cameras encode digital images by breaking a picture into tiny

squares called pixels and store the images onto a memory card. The
resolution of the image captured is a count of how many pixels are
used to make up the image.

� A high-resolution image may contain several million pixels (1 million

pixels = 1 megapixel). A modern digital camera is between 10 and 20
megapixels. Several digital devices have camera functions, for
example smartphones and tablets, and can store photos on the hard
drive or an SD card.

Camera Lenses

Special effect lenses and interchangeable lenses can be bought for DSLR cameras, for example: wide angle fish-eye macro (for close-up photos) zoom (for long distance photos)

Multiple Select

What learning outcome(s have we covered so far?

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• What digital devices are with examples

• Communication devices and systems

Draw

What part of the camera makes images appear bigger and clearer? (Draw a circle around it)

Multiple Choice

Electronic devices that process information encoded as binary values are called what?

• Analog Devices

• Digital Devices

• Microscope Devices

• Electric Devices

Open Ended

Eric wants to upgrade his camera lens to a Canon EF 24-105mm which costs £394. He does not have enough money to pay one off.

The store has asked him to pay 10% first as down payment and the rest as equal amounts monthly without interest for a maximum of 12 months. How much will Eric pay as down payment and how much will he pay monthly? (2 answers)

After making a down payment of £39.4,

Eric is left with £394 - £39.4= £354.6 to pay.

There are 12months in a year. Eric's monthly payment will therefore be:

£354.6 = £29.55

12

Eric's monthly Payment

Camera cost - £394

10% down payment will be =

10 X 394 = £39.4

100

Eric's Down Payment

Solution

​ What we have covered so far:

• ​ What digital devices are with examples

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• ​What a navigation system is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• Communication devices and systems

• The function and use of digital devices​

Navigation systems

� These are systems that use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) or working alongside Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) to navigate to locations. In addition, they can provide information about:

�traffic congestion

�road works

�Accidents

� weather

�points of interest.

Navigation systems (Cont’n)

Navigation systems can be standalone, such as
TomTom or Garmin products. These products are
portable and can be fitted into vehicles to enable

the driver to navigate.

Many vehicles now come with factory-fitted GPS, either as standard or as an extra. Some motorbikes also come fitted with navigation systems.

​

You may have a navigation system integrated in your smartphone which enables you to find your way around while driving, cycling or walking.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

GPS - the global positioning system (GPS) is an accurate worldwide navigational and surveying facility.

​

It uses the signals from orbiting satellites to work out the position of the device.

More than 20 satellites make up the Global Positioning System, or GPS, enabling precise positions to be measured at any time.

​https://www.express.co.uk/ Facts about Satellites

​GPS Fact

​ What we have covered so far:

• ​ What digital devices are with examples

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• ​What a navigation system is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• Communication devices and systems

• The function and use of digital devices​

​ Data Capture & Collection devices

What is this and why do we need this?

​Discuss

Data capture and
collection systems

Data capture and collection systems, also known as electronic data capture (EDC), are devices which take information and collect it to perform a specific task. Examples are: credit and debit card readers for payment transactions

​

Iris and fingerprint recognition systems for biometric entry and authentication systems medical scanning machines ( X ray).

​

Data Capture and Collection Systems (Cont'n)

�Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) used in stock control, race timing systems personal digital assistants (PDAs) with integrated barcode scanners for stock control automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras for crime prevention and enforcement

� Barcode readers for fast data entry such as at checkouts and for courier services.

What happens when a lot of captured data needs to be organized​

�HINT: Is there a unit you are currently taking that focuses on data?

​ What we have covered so far:

• ​ What digital devices are with examples

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• ​What a navigation system is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• Communication devices and systems

• The function and use of digital devices​

What makes it possible for digital devices to communicate?

Communication
devices and systems

Communication devices and systems allow digital devices to communicate with each other, whether in the same room or on the other side of the world.

​

The growing demands of digital devices to interact with each other and the cloud has resulted in the resilient global communications we see today.

​

​

​

​

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Communication devices and systems (Cont’n)

Some of the devices and systems used for communication are:

​

• Copper (Ethernet connection​)

• WiFi (IEEE 802.11 wireless)

• FITC ( fibre to the cabinet) Fibre optic broadband

• 4G/LTE (or 5G)

• Bluetooth

​

Hedy Lamarr

Jewish American film actress

Born in Vienna, Austria​

​ WiFi, GPS & Bluetooth Inventor

​

​ Fun Fact

​

Narinder Singh Kapany

Born in Punjab India ​

​ Father of Fiber Optics

​

​ Fun Fact

​

Dr. Thomas Mensah

Born in Kumasi, Ghana, Africa​

​7 Patents in Fiber Optics Inventions

​

​ Fun Fact

​

Telephone cables which are used for data connections from homes are typically made from copper wire. Ethernet cable is a common type of network cable used with wired networks. Ethernet cables connect devices such as PCs, routers, and switches within a local area network.

​​Copper (Ethernet connection​)

​

​Communication devices and systems (Cont’n)

​Connects devices without wires using high frequency radio waves.

​​WiFI (IEEE 802.11 wireless)

​

​Fibre optic broadband uses light to offer speedier broadband connections than copper cabling alone.

​​FITC ( Fibre to the cabinet)

​

​These are high speed mobile data networks offering connectivity while on the move at speeds uof at least 50Mbps.

​4G/5G/LTE

​

​Often used for personal area networks (PANS) to

connect peripherals such as headsets, mice, to PCs and mobile devices.

​Bluetooth

​Communication devices and systems (Cont’n)

​​Network Engineer

​

​​PC Hardware Engineer

​

​Professional Photographer

​Front Desk Support Technician

​Career Opportunities

Let's take a breather!​

Head over to ​

​ What we have covered so far:

• ​ What digital devices are with examples

• What a digital camera is and how it works

• ​What a navigation system is and how it works

• Data capture and collection systems

• Communication devices and systems

• The function and use of digital devices​

The function and use of digital devices

�Some of the areas of life that have benefited from digital devices are discussed below.
We will look at the function of digital devices for these different areas of modern life.

�Education and Training

�Personal

�Social

�Retail

�Organisational use

�Creative

Draw

Write down at least 3 functions of digital devices under each area in the chart below.

​Instructions

Open lesson 20 Unit 1 Digital and Communication Systems lesson on studyspace (Unit 1 page)​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Read slides 14 - 23​. Summarize each slide in your own words. Complete this task using Msword. Submit this via teams.

​

At the end of this activity, you will be given a quiz to check your understanding of this learning objective​

​

​Individual Learning Activity - 15 mins

​

Education and
training

� Education

and

training

traditionally were nearly always
done

face

to

face

in

a

classroom. The emergence of
digital

devices

has

both

expanded the reach of the
classroom and brought about
different ways of educating
and training people.

Education and training
(Cont’n)

� If you attend a school or college, then it is

likely

that

your

teachers

have

used

interactive

white

boards

(IWBs)

for

front-of-class teaching. These IWBs connect
to a PC as the input device and enable
access to a wide range of features. If work
displayed on the IWB is stored on a network,
then it can be changed, drawn over,
manipulated and saved to a central server.
You may have experienced using e-learning
resources yourself.

Personal

� Over the last few decades, the

personal use of digital devices has
transformed how people in society
live.

We

are

now

able

to

communicate more easily, at the
touch of a button or by means of our
smartphones. Our personal digital
devices are highly integrated into our
lives and we can carry out many
everyday tasks in moments, directly
from our smartphones or tablets.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Personal (Cont’n)

� They allow us to communicate with friends and family anywhere in

the

world

through

phone

calls,

instant

messages,

email,

voice-over-the-internet protocols (VolP) such as Skype, and through
social media applications. They allow us to create, edit and watch
visual media in the form of photos and videos, and this is not
confined to specialist devices (such as DSLRs) but is available to all
on even the most basic smartphones. We can also read e-books
using e-readers and tablets.

Social

� Our social lives revolve around our

digital devices and the world of social
media that we can access on them.
Many of us check our social media
newsfeeds regularly throughout the day
and well into the evening. We always
want to know what new thing has been
posted or tweeted by our friends, family
and celebrities. Now it is often the case
that, even when you visit people, you
might spend time looking at social
media rather than talking to each
other.

Retail

� Retail operations have been made much

simpler by digital devices. Consider how
supermarkets use electronic scanners to
read barcodes on merchandise rather
than relying on a sales assistant to
manually key the price into the till. Until
relatively recently, shop assistants were
required to perform mental arithmetic to
add up the customer's purchases and
work out the change required, but this is
all done by digital cash registers now,
and these usually have touch screens.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Organisational use

Organisations use digital devices to support an extensive range of functions. For example, they
use digital devices to carry out administrative functions such as:

�accounts

�Sales

�stocktaking

�procurement (acquiring goods to sell).

�Organisations also use digital devices to carry out a number of specialist functions in the
following areas.

�Design - The design industry (textiles, architecture and furniture) will use computer-aided
design (CAD) software to create their technical drawings.

�Manufacturing and construction - The manufacturing and construction industries use CNC
machines for milling, turning, moulding and cutting materials with precision.

�CNC - computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines are automated using software
programs to carry out precision production of parts used in manufacturing and construction.

Creative

�The creative industries, one of the fastest
growing sectors over recent years, have
also benefited significantly from the use of
technology.

Consider

the

humble

photograph and the time delay that used
to exist between capturing an image on
film and then getting it processed and the
cost of the wastage created by taking
numerous frames. Instead, we take digital
images which do not cost anything to
capture and we can easily delete those
we are not happy with, freeing up memory
on our digital cameras/ smartphones.

Creative (Cont’n)

� The media, music and film industries can

now replicate sounds digitally and even
edit them on the move. Computer
generated

imagery

(CGI)

and

3D

computer graphics have revolutionized
media productions and contributed to
the rapid global growth of software
developers,

particularly

in

computer

gaming.

� It is highly unlikely any computer games

you enjoy now are 2D and you will
probably have watched 3D films in the
cinema or on a home TV.

Extension Class Activity- Revision

�Download the following worksheets from studyspace and answer all the questions

�01 Digital_Devices_1 and 2

�03_Uses_of_Digital_Devices_1 and 2

�Submit on the submission links on studyspace