Information systems experiments summary

OUTCOME 1:
1.7 Gather and process first-hand
and secondary information on the In any communication there is;
basic pattern of the information - A step involving coding
transfer process in the following
systems: - A step involving transmission
o land connected - A step involving decoding
telephones e.g. Telephone
o mobile phones - Coding (mouthpiece)
o television
o radios
- Transmission (wire – electricity)
o CD players - Decoding (earpiece)

LAND CONNECTED TELEPHONES

 Vibrations from voice box  sound energy/wave
 Microphone – coding device
- converts sound energy to electrical energy
 Earpiece (loudspeaker) or ear – decoding device
- converts electrical energy to sound energy
 Transmission channels – wires, optical fibres (electrical/light
energy)
Energy used in telephone communication;
Electrical
Light (optic fibres)
Mechanical
Sound

System Code Coding Transmission Decoding

device channel or device
medium
Telephone Sound Mouthpiece Electrical Earpiece
waves wires

RADIO
 Coding – radio transmitter
 Transmission channels – radio wave, audio signal, modulated
signal
 Decoding – ear, demodulating circuit, aerial
Transmitting aerial – converts electrical energy  EM energy
Receiving aerial – converts EM energy  electrical energy
*Refer to radio transmission diagram
 System Code Coding Transmission Decoding
device channel or device
medium
Radio Audio Radio “Space” via Diode or
signal transmitter aerial demodulating
circuit

TELEVISION
System Code Coding Transmission Decoding
device channel or device
medium
TV Electrons Electrical Wires, radio Cathode
signal waves or optic Ray Tube
fibre (CRT)

Diagram:

MOBILE PHONES
 When phone is on, it is constantly checking for incoming calls and
looking for the CELL SITE with strongest power.

Sound  Electrical  Radio waves  Transmitted via

microwaves  Electrical energy  Sound energy
System Code Coding Transmission Decoding
device channel or device
medium
Mobile Sound Mouthpiece Tower via Aerial or
phone energy or microwaves earpiece
(waves) microphone
 CD PLAYER
 A physical pattern is recorded as data on a CD “a series of flats
and bumps exists on what appears to be a flat disc surface”
 Photodiode – light energy  electrical energy
 Transmission channel – digital signals are converted from the
original signal, amplified and converted to sound by the speaker

System Code Coding Transmission Decoding

device channel or device
medium
CD player Digital Laser light Electric Photodiode
(light) current &
laser light
reflection

*RADIO TRANSMISSION DIAGRAM

SYLLABUS POINT: To outline features that the systems have in common and use
avilable evidence to discuss the applications of these systems

Common features:
 Encoding
 Storage
 Transmission
 Decoding
 Energy transformations
 Electrical energy use
Applications of these systems:
 Transmission of voice/sounds
 Transmission of images
 Transmission of text
 Emergency services
 Entertainment
 Business and commerce
1.8 Gather and process
information from secondary
sources to develop a timeline of
communication systems
introduced to society and use
the available evidence to
analyse the impact these
systems have had on society and
predict possible future
directions in communication
technologies
Technological/scientific advances and their benefit to society:
Technological or Benefit to society
scientific advance
Invention of writing *Improved quality of communication
*Allowed messages to be sent
*Allowed info to be stored for later use
*Allowed for development of writing
materials e.g. papyrus, paper
Invention of electricity *Allowed for invention of telegraph 
increased speed of communication esp.
long distances
*Submarine telegraph cables were
invented to link people from overseas
Invention of wireless *Much cheaper than telegram
communication *Quicker
*Allowed for ship-to-ship communication
Development of mass *With printing presses, leaflets,
communication newspapers distributed widely  info is
spread quickly
*In contemporary times, mass
communication involves broadcasting on
the radio & TV

Timeline of communication systems/technologies;

1870s – Bell invents the electric telephone
1890s – Portable typewriter is invented
1890s – Marconi invents wireless telegraphy  long distance radio
communication
1930s – Regular TV broadcasting begins
Late 1930s – Atanasoff invents first electronic digital computer
1950s – Laser is invented
1980s – First optical fibre system is created  long distance
1990s – Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web (www)
1990s – VCRs become popular

Impact of TWO chosen communication systems on society;

Telephone (1876)
 Simple and fast communication
 Long distance communication  reduces travel time
 Confidential
 Quality of communication was improved
 Versatile e.g. used in homes, businesses, entertainment
Electrical computer (late 1930s)
 Easy communication
 Convenient to use
 Used in many industries e.g. technology, multimedia, office 
helped to create JOBS
 Easy access and storage of information
 Improved efficiency and quantity of communication
OUTCOME 2

2.4 Perform a first-hand Wave modulation (modification) allows different information to

investigation to observe ways in be transmitted.
which waves can be modulated to
carry different types of information A wave can be modulated in 2 ways;
Amplitude modulation (AM) – height of the waves

Frequency modulation (FM) – number of waves which pass a

point in 1 second

Radio transmitter – the coding device

In the AM radio transmitter:
 One electric circuit produces the audio signal
- Sound waves are converted into electrical signals
 Another circuit creates a carrier signal (function of a carrier
wave; to carry info from one place to another as an EM wave)
 A third circuit creates a modulated signal – i.e. the two
previous signals are “added” together

The audio signal carries speech and music and has a low, varying
frequency.
The carrier signal is an electrical signal with a high, constant
frequency.
Carrier and modulated signal both have a high frequency.
OUTCOME 3
3.4 Plan, choose equipment or
resources for, and perform a first-
hand investigation to compare the
quality of reception of AM and FM
radio waves
Background information:
AM radio waves
 Have relatively LOW frequency but LONG wavelengths
o Long wavelengths allows for AM waves to diffract (bend
around objects) with little loss of energy
o Useful when broadcast radio waves are needed
 Travel in straight lines
 Reflect off a layer of the atmosphere called ionosphere: allows
for OUT-OF-SIGHT transmission  useful in long distance
communication
 Useful to carry only voice transmissions (quality of sound
broadcast is relatively poor)
 Susceptible to interference e.g. storms can severely affect the
quality
 Advantage – AM circuitry is not overly complicated, cheap and
readily available / Disadvantage – crowded with users
FM radio waves
 Have relatively LOW frequency
 SHORTER wavelengths than AM waves therefore they do not
diffract as well  objects reduce signal strength
 Travel in straight lines but spread out from a point source
 Must be LINE-OF-SIGHT as they do NOT reflect off
 Carry more information than AM waves  higher frequency
than AM waves
 Generally higher quality than AM
 EXPERIMENT COMPARING FM AND AM
Independent variable – type of signal
Dependent variable – sound quality
Controlled variables – weather, conditions

Validity of the data collected;

By testing FM and AM signals from a set number of radio stations
ensures data collected if valid. The tests were conducted in the
same conditions to ensure accuracy of the results.

Conclusion;
The reception and quality of FM radio waves have an overall good
quality. There was not much interference when compared to AM
radio. The quality of AM radio is relatively poor as there is constant
background noise or static.

OUTCOME 3 CONTINUED

Table: Comparing AM and FM

Property AM FM
Cost to produce Very low Higher
Efficiency Low High
Noise (static) Significant Low
Range Good Poor
EM spectrum frequency Wide Very wide
usage
Interference from other Serious Little
stations with similar
frequency
Reflections from buildings, Little problem A little problem in some
hills and other objects locations
OUTCOME 4
4.3 Gather, process and analyse
information from secondary sources
to identify the satellites used for ‘live’
telecasts from other regions of the
world to Australia and vice versa and
to present reasons why
communication satellites have
different aerials and positional orbits
Satellites that are used for ‘live’ telecasts from other regions of
the world to Australia;
 Optus – 3 satellites (known as C1, D1, D2)
 AsiaSat – 3 satellites
 Intelsat – 7 satellites (on Indian and Pacific Ocean regions)
 Inmarsat – 2 satellites (on Indian and Pacific Ocean regions)
Service providers – Austar, Optus, Telstra, MediaSat, Netspeed
Why communication satellites have different aerials and
positional orbits;
 A satellite can only receive and transmit to a maximum of
about 40% of the Earth’s surface.
 Therefore, to cover all countries requiring satellite
communications services, many satellites are needed in
different locations
 Different aerials allow satellites to cover
different footprints (e.g. Australia and Japan
can be covered separately by different aerials
on the same satellite) and;
 Send and receive different types of data
(e.g. TV, meteorological data,
telecommunications such as telephones)
The use of aerials in the satellites assist in the communication
between the microwave fields of the transmission towers as they
provide directions.
OUTCOME 4 CONTINUED
OUTCOME 5
5.4 Gather, process, analyse and Digitally encoded information can be transmitted as;
present information from secondary  Light
sources to identify energy transfers  Electrical impulses
involved in coding and decoding  Microwaves
information by digital technologies  Radio waves
 TV waves

EXAMPLE in a fax machine;

Light 
Electrical energy 
(Light energy if optical fibre is use) 
(EM energy if microwaves are used – mobile fax) 
Electrical energy
OUTCOME 6
6.4 Perform a first-hand
investigation to demonstrate the
transmission of light through an
optical fibre
Aim: to demonstrate total internal reflection
Equipment: light ray box, wires, rectangular/triangular glass prism,
mirror, power supply (transformer)
Set up:

Light/laser beam
Ray box

Triangular prism

Transformer

In this experiment, we tested the glass-to-air interface. That is

when light is travelling from INSIDE the GLASS TO THE AIR.

REFRACTION CRITICAL ANGLE

Represented by the HORIZONTAL LINE

 When a wave reaches a boundary, it can be TRANSMITTED and REFLECTED.

 Light reaching an air/glass boundary cannot undergo total internal reflection.
 Light reaching s glass/air boundary undergoes total internal reflection.
 This happens if the incident angle is GREATER THAN the critical angle.
 It will only happen when the light is passing from an optically dense medium (glass) to an optically
less dense medium (air).
 When total internal reflection occurs there is NO REFLECTION of light.
6.5 Process and analyse Carrying capacity – optical fibre has greater information carrying
information to compare and capacity than any other medium (including radio, wireless or copper
contrast copper cables with fibre wire)
optic cables in relation to:
Cost – much greater amounts of information can be transferred at a
o Carrying capacity
o Cost much lower cost per GB of data to the service provider and
o Rate of information consumer. Optical fibre is therefore much cheaper using this
transfer criterion.
o Security Rate – information transfer via fibre optic cables is significantly faster
than copper cables
Security – signals in copper wires can be ‘tapped’ more readily than
optical fibre signals; copper wires present a greater security risk than
optical fibres.

SUMMARY
Optic fibre Copper cable
Carrying capacity Higher/large Lower/small
Cost Lower but set up Higher but getting
costs are very $$$ cheaper since new
technology is being
introduce
Rate of High (10GB/s) Low (2MB/s)
information
transfer
Security High security as it’s Low security as EM
harder to tap into radiation is emitted
and intercept optic from copper cables
which can be
detected/decoded