New communication technologies

A set of electronic devices, which - thanks to the ability to represent any type of information as a sequence of bits - operate in an aggregate and integrated manner, are less distinguishable, and allow the user new spaces for intervention ( Convergence to digital ). In particular, it refers to optical disc players and recorders (including cameras and video cameras), satellites, computer networks, computers, digital switches, fiber optic equipment, laser devices, large screen television, and high definition, to the combinations of all these means with fixed and mobile telephony, to electrostatic reproduction and new printing methods.

The main categories that guide the entire sector's evolution are microelectronics, hardware, software, telecommunications. These sectors are interrelated and interdependent, but they can interact through appropriate architectures, some of which are specific, while others are all-encompassing.

1. Microelectronics

Microelectronics represents the primary engine of the evolution of the sector: the technology is mainly based on silicon components ( Chip ), with the increase of memory capacity and the processing speed of the central computer unit ( CPU ), with the parallel cost and price reduction as the functions and capabilities of the single component grow and with a continuous increase in the level of integration. Microelectronics' evolution took place both in the design of the components and in their production ( Integrated circuit ). The transition from Very Large System Integration (VLSI) to Ultra Large System Integration(ULSI) with more than three million transistors per chip brings both the technological limits and the convenience limits for factories in production silicon components closer and closer.

Another innovation is that of holographic techniques ( Holography ) used in the optical storage of information, thanks to the high density and high speed that can be reached. Protein memories constitute a promising research area for storing information: they are based on a protein called "bacteriorhodopsin," whose molecule has two different states, making it look like a flip-flop, a particular electronic circuit capable of functioning as a binary memory element.

We are witnessing the widespread use of 32-bit microprocessors as the basic CPU for PCs and the adoption of 64-bit microprocessors for professional workstations and as the basis for all higher-class systems. The difference between CISC ( Complex Instruction Set Computing ) and RISC ( Reduced Instruction Set Computing ) systems is getting smaller and smaller. Both architectures try to incorporate the best features of the other. Intel's dominance on the market is beginning to be opposed by its main competitors, AMD and Cyrix, even though Intel itself has claimed to bring the current Pentium's capabilities from 5.5 million transistors to 40 million.

The need to manage multimedia devices and applications and three-dimensional graphics, especially in the PC environment, required a revision of the pre-existing CPU architectures. Intel has introduced MMX technology capable of packing multiple pixels into a single register and manipulating them with a single ad hoc instruction. In practice, the system programmer has at his disposal 8 new registers and 57 new instructions that allow him to implement and manage more effectively the video, sounds, and multimedia animations. MMX is independent of the operating system used and facilitates the updating of pre-existing programs, with expected performance improvements between 50 and 400%. Intel intends to integrate MMX technology into all architectures, similar to what it did in the past with the extension of 32-bit instructions on CPUs of the time. At the same time, the main Intel competitors have also updated their CPUs in terms of multimedia, often with software systems compatible with MMX technology, which at the moment can be considered a sort of standard.

There are numerous products and continuous innovations for digital signal processing (DSP, Digital Signal Processing ) and microcontrollers for digital devices, particularly video game consoles, cameras and video cameras, digital television receivers, and controllers for satellite TV, hi-fi systems.

As for memories, the evolution is constant: in addition to EPROM ( Electrically Programmable ROM ), EEPROM ( Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory ), increasingly capable for single chip and Solid-State Memory Cards based on the PCMCIA standard, the most significant diffusion concerns EDO RAM ( Extended Data Out Random Access Memory), SDRAM ( Synchronous Dynamic RAM ), CDRAM ( Cache Dynamic Random Access Memory ), etc.

2. Systems for the processing of information

They comprise the technology of the systems hardware and various peripheral components. From a technological perspective, the distinction between large systems ( Mainframe ), medium or small systems is increasingly narrowing. CMOS technology is now dominant for all CPUs, and larger systems are based on strong parallelism of the same CPUs used for lower capacity systems. The spread of Internet logics in company information systems has led to models, usually called Intranet, which tries to simplify the client and the server into only two levels., current multi-tiered distributed architectures with a large system at the center, with application and database support servers, and workplaces.

Computing systems have increased the level of reliability and availability, recording a shortening of the average lifetime, the constant increase in the transition from larger systems to smaller systems (of equal capacity, but with lower costs and more recent software)—increasing availability of multimedia logic and peripherals.

The most significant innovation is represented by the Internet-Intranet phenomenon, which has guided the evolution of systems, regardless of their size and functionality, in the web logic. The use of CMOS CPUs to create systems with a high degree of scalability, from single PCs to large systems, is based on the possibility of making them work in parallel. There are numerous new techniques adopted to parallelize multiple CPUs. These techniques include architectural logic, high-speed buses to interconnect them, methods of use of peripherals and memories, appropriate functionalities at the operating system level. The most used modes are MPP ( Massively Parallel Processing ) and SMP ( Symmetric Multi-Processing): with the first logic, each CPU has its own memory, there are no shared elements, and this fact guarantees high scalability; with the second logic, however, the CPUs share a memory, to create a single virtual machine capable of processing applications without any modification.

The three-dimensional graphics, the so-called 3-D, assumes a role and a growing diffusion, not only in the field of workstations, specialized PCs, and typical applications such as CAD-CAM ( CAD), animations, virtual reality, the most advanced electronic games but also in traditional individual IT applications, such as graphic editors, spreadsheets, presentation programs, management, and control tools. This diffusion is favored by the availability, at low prices, of software libraries and coprocessors dedicated to graphics and video management, which act as accelerators for 3-D graphics. The main functions for treating a three-dimensional figure include: adding surface features, splitting the figure into polygons, adding highlights/shadows, and perspective. These functions are divided between the CPU and the coprocessor.

The evolution of hard drives and their drivers is continuous and allows for an increase in disk storage capacity of about 60% per year. The main manufacturers' goal is to increase the speed and storage capacity per unit of surface area to maintain this growth rate. A further boost to high-capacity storage systems comes from the concentration and centralization of memory on suitable high-capacity systems, which makes the information contained within it shareable to countless clients, connected directly to the network, and not as a peripheral of the processing system: NAS, Network Attached Storage, is the new term that indicates this process, also increased by the various types of networks (Internet, Intranet, LAN, WAN).

There are two lines of evolution for CDs: on the one hand, the increase in speed for CD-ROMs, on the other hand, the introduction of DVD ( Digital Versatile Disc ). DVD constitutes the overcoming and functional convergence, in a single device, of audio CDs and ROMs, laserdiscs, and videotapes. The current standard, promoted by the DVD Licenser Consortium, combines two different proposals, the MMCD ( MultiMedia Compact Disc ) and the SD ( Super Density ). The DVD considers two types of products, the DVD-Video, the peripheral of the TV, and the DVD-ROM, the peripheral of a PC. A DVD-Audio is also provided, as a peripheral of a stereo system. The video format is MPEG-2 ( MPEG); for the sound, the reference format is LPCM ( Linear Pulse Code Modulation ), but Dolby Digital is also used, in addition to MPEG-2.

The main innovations for printers concern color processing, particularly for desktop printers. While monitoring the scheme's color treatment is based on the RGB, Red-Green-Blue process, the printers mainly use the CMYK, Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black scheme. The tone of the color printed on the paper depends on the combination of these four colors. Like what happens with RGB, the effectiveness of the process depends on the hardware implementation. To overcome the problems associated with these different operating modes, the International Color Consortium (ICC) has defined a standard independent of platforms and hardware to reduce calibration problems, i.e., the calibrated - harmonized - color management of monitors., scanners, and printers. The ICC has defined a Color Management Framework that standardizes all inputs, outputs, and profiles.

The main technological innovations for video have mainly focused on creating monitors with larger liquid crystal screens that can be used, particularly for desktop PCs. Until recently, the size of LCD screens was at a maximum of 12.1 ", now the trend is at 16.1". The problem remains that of the price, still too high for a wide diffusion of these products. For 'wall' monitors, with sizes ranging from 20 "to 42" and beyond, the technology used is plasma and are in fact called PDP ( Plasma Display Panel): they are mostly used for TV, even at high resolution and digital; there are still problems in obtaining the required resolutions at the computer level (VSGA and SXGA), which should soon be overcome. In terms of innovation, traditional cathode-ray monitors have evolved at both the high and low-end terms of price and performance. At the high end, technologies for color monitors have appeared that improve the previous ones. In contrast, new standards have been issued by the VESA ( Video Electronics Standard Association ) for cathode-ray monitors, such as increasing the vertical frequency for greater resolution.

3. Software technologies

Software technologies have seen the web and multimedia as the main reference points for innovations, in particular: object technology, hypertext logic and websites for the Internet and Intranet, visual development environments and RAD ( Rapid Application Development ), the object database and the data warehouse, a database, often huge, capable of accessing all the information of a company, which can be distributed on several PCs and contain multiple databases.

The revision and rethinking of the current application contexts were accelerated by the problems inherent in the year 2000, which created a significant niche in the market, in terms of products and services, based mostly on the redesign and automatic modification tools of those parts of code relating to operations with dates that indicate the year with only two digits. The system software and utilities recorded interesting news as regards: the Internet / Intranet logic which is partially modifying the previous client/server one; the evolution of security systems for the transfer of information on public networks; the consolidation and evolution of the open system concept; increasing broad scalability between different platforms. The products on the market are increasingly integrated,

The Internet / Intranet logic and those of the software components, based on object-oriented technologies, have accelerated the development of application packages and respond to the rapid evolution of business and user needs.

The life cycle of applications has drastically reduced. The spread of integrated packages and the need to make old application environments coexist with new ones have further changed the logic of approach to software development, which is finding its first implementation in the new development environments. The common bases are the choice of an object-oriented environment, the possibility of reusing modules, independence from hardware platforms, modules scalability and portability, visual programming, the support of Internet logics and protocols, and in particular by compatibility with the most popular browsers.

It is interesting to note that, given independence from hardware platforms, the battle between the largest manufacturers on the market is being played out on two different approaches: on the one hand, independence from operating systems is favored, but it is based on only one language, for example, Java, on the other hand operating systems are limited, for example, those of Microsoft, but the interoperability and integration of modules written with different languages and in different development environments are allowed.

4. Telecommunications

Even for telecommunications, the Internet-Intranet event was the main engine, despite the continuous and parallel evolution of the increase in transmission and switching speed, intelligence-integration, and mobility-ubiquity. Addressing schemes and TCP / IP ( Network ) logics are becoming the reference standards in both public and private networks in the wake of their incredible diffusion. On the device market, the lion's share is played by routers, switches, and access devices for both WAN ( Wide Area Network ) and LAN, in the name of 'more for less' and an even greater capacity. The liberalization of the markets favors a further push towards the availability of alternatives in telecommunication services, particularly in transport ones, and in the integration of voice and data with the aim of drastic cost reductions. The main lines of innovation are represented by:

a) high speed for WAN: computer networks can communicate with each other, although spread over a huge area. Sonet, SDH, and ATM are the technologies that are consolidating as industry leaders;

b) high speed for LAN: computer networks connected, at the level of small areas, can share files and peripherals, as well as exchange messages: the speed of 100 Mb per second has been consolidated, they are spreading quickly and are starting to offer the first LANs of 1 Gigabit per second;

c) the strong orientation to high speed has led to the spread of countless products for access, switching, and routing ;

d) the diffusion of Internet / Intranet logics has effectively imposed the architecture and the TCP / IP addressing scheme, a protocol developed by the US Department of Defense for communications between computers, but this too has undergone and is undergoing numerous improvements;

e) the development of new systems for the management of networks, capable of integrating heterogeneous communication architectures and techniques;

f) the evolution of browsers mainly on two complementary fronts: on the one hand, the evolution of HTML pages from passive to active, capable of managing local or mobile forms that can be downloaded from servers. On the other hand, the introduction of so-called push and net casting, for the dissemination of information in a broadcasting logic ;

g) voice communication over the Internet and Frame Relay and integration between telephone systems and computers, CTI ( Computer Telephony Integration );

h) the evolution of CATV systems and networks, which in addition to diffusion as broadcasting networks for entertainment, are starting to play a role as interactive digital networks, thanks in particular to cable phone technologies and broadband modems ;

i) the diffusion of DSL ( Digital Subscriber Line ), for multimedia applications and digital TV, DVB ( Digital Video Broadcast );

j) mini-antennas for PCs for satellite communications and broadcasting.

It should be remembered that the greater speed in transmitting means represents the main factor of evolution, which follows the development of cabling systems: this evolution characterizes all means, from coaxial cable to the ether and satellite, but lately it has mainly focused on the twisted pair telephone and optical fiber ( Cable ) to allow the introduction of high-speed LAN technologies. In this sector, the main technological innovations include particular cables with four twisted pairs that operate at the max. of 100, 200, 600 Mhz, and multimode optical fiber.

The aforementioned mobile and satellite communications deserve a separate discussion, as in this sector, the main innovations concern new techniques for high speed. The widespread use of mobile telephony ( cellular ) immediately led to data transmission on these links. It should be noted that transmission speeds are limited, and this type of connection does not allow true multimedia applications. However, in satellite communication, now well established for TV and radio broadcasting, an interesting innovation is given by the small dish antennas that can be directly connected to a PC, thus being able to have new alternatives to wireless communication—high speed.

For satellite systems, development travels in two directions:

a) the technological evolution of satellites and the transmission techniques related to them;

b) the evolution and diversification of satellite services from continental/intercontinental fixed services to maritime mobile services, from broadcasting to new generalized mobile services in the maritime, air, and land sectors.

5. The architectures of information systems

The information systems architectures are the subject of various and concomitant technological innovations, motivated by:

a) the incredible growth and diffusion of the technologies of the World Wide Web ( WWW ) and the evolution of the HTML page from passive-static to active, with program loadable locally or from the network;

b) the functional specialization of different servers in new Intranet architectures, typically servers for transactional applications, servers for databases, management, control and security servers, servers for interfacing with existing mainframes and legacy systems ;

c) the integration of the web with the various office automation suites;

d) the introduction of a thin client ;

e) the diffusion of object technology and components are logical;

f) the dissemination of integrated application packages;

g) the effects on the information systems of the activities of BPR, Business Process Reengineering, which are making the concepts of 'extended company' and 'virtual company' effective and that activate the spread of electronic commerce, electronic banking, etc.;

h) the mandatory need to provide users with real 'added value' thanks to the use of the systems themselves: in this regard, it should be noted that innovation is not driven by technological evolution but by the requests of users who know how to be increasingly competitive and global;

i) the need to make different logics and technologies, old and new, coexist, given that there is neither the time nor the resources to redo the entire information system completely.

The 'time' element is one of the most critical variables for the development of new technologies. One cannot wait for technology consolidation because new tools must already be provided that meet users' new needs. The processes, the business, and the organization are in continuous, dynamic evolution.

It is necessary to adopt specific business IT architectures. In this technological reference framework, there are two most significant areas: infrastructures, networks, and basic software. That of applications, joined by the most critical area and requiring more and more investment and attention, is that of systems management. Two architectural standards are exciting for these two areas: the OSE, Open System Environment, of the Open Group, where the software is considered as a set of components that allow the interaction between applications and the external environment and that has found a strong acceptance within the European Union; and the one in preparation by the OAG, Open Application Group, intending to define common standards for the integration of business application software, in particular for the integration of the various components for the planning and management of the company and of the connections with external systems, with a view to extended / virtual company.

6. Conclusion

The development of communication technologies, in particular information technology, has profoundly changed the modalities of interaction between the person and the tools used. Today the computer and programs continue to be an essential point of reference, but they have lost the centrality they had: they are less and less' end 'and more' through 'for users' activities. New technologies, even the most sophisticated ones, are conceived as a function of responses in sectors useful to society (medicine, physics, planning, etc.) or the use of an ever-increasing number of people, and therefore with characteristics of great social usability.

Even if the danger of improper use is always present, in practice, the dc represents the indispensable tool to guarantee freedom and progress in an increasingly global society.

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