Topic 14.

Telecommunications
Explanation
14.1 The Greatest Inventions of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla had a dream: free electricity for every household in the world. Thanks to one of
the greatest inventors and scientists of the late 19th century (Thomas Alba Edison) electricity
was available for everybody, however, it was not for free. Tesla pointed out the inefficiency of
Edison’s direct current electrical powerhouses that had been built up and invented a different
way to transport electricity. The secret was the use of alternating current (AC), because to him
all energies were cyclic (Tesla Memorial Society of New York, n.d.).
Edison’s lamps were weak and inefficient when supplied by direct current. His system had a
severe disadvantage: it could not be transported more than three kilometers due to its inability
to step up to high voltage levels necessary for long distance transmission. Direct current flows
continuously in one direction; alternating current changes direction 50 or 60 times per second
and can be stepped up to vary high voltage levels, minimizing power loss across great
distances. Tesla said “The future belongs to alternating current”. He developed polyphase
system alternating current systems: generators, motors, transformers, and held 40 basic U.S.
patents (Tesla Memorial Society of New York, n.d.).
Tesla also worked and developed the now called Tesla coil, which is one of his most famous
inventions. It is essentially a high-frequency air-core transformer, taking the output from a
120VAC transformer and get it up above a thousand volts, which are discharged in the form of
electrical arcs (Tesla Memorial Society of New York, n.d.). Tesla coils are because they create
extremely powerful electrical fields. This invention was supposed to be the basis for sending
electricity through air to every corner of the world.
As early as 1892, Nikola Tesla created a basic design for radio. Tesla's robot-boat was
constructed with an antenna, which transmitted the radio waves coming from the command
post where Tesla was standing. Those radio waves were received by a radio sensitive device,
which transmitted the radio waves into mechanical movements of the propellers on the
boat(Tesla Memorial Society of New York, n.d.). Even we think Guglielmo Marconi as the
father of radio, Tesla was working on radio waves much earlier. However, these works were
not able to be patented yet.
The most important inventions of Nikola Tesla are the following (Tesla Memorial Society of
New York, n.d.):
Alternating Current

Direct current flows in one direction and cannot be transported more than 2 miles; Alternating
current changes direction 50 or 60 times per second and can be stepped up to vary high voltage
levels, minimizing power loss across great distances.

The Tesla Coil

It is a high-frequency air-core transformer. It takes the output from a 120vAC to several kilovolt
transformer & driver circuit and steps it up to an extremely high voltage (1,000,000). Tesla coils
are unique in the fact that they create extremely powerful electrical fields.

Tesla's Robot-Boat
It was constructed with an antenna, which transmitted the radio waves coming from the
command post where Tesla was standing.
14.2 The Patenting Process
As you visualized in Tesla´s story, it doesn´t matter how far you go with your research: it will
not matter or will not be recognized if you are not able to get a patent of it. That is why Tesla is
not recognized as the father of radio. That´s why the patenting process becomes crucial. An
invention is patentable only if it is:

 New and previously undisclosed.

 Distinguished by an inventive step not obvious to someone expert in that technology.
 Capable of industrial application - that is, it is physically possible to make the invention.

For patenting an invention, you must follow this process:

Begin the process by gathering the required documentation (request, applicant details,
description, drawing, abstract and patent fees).

Fill the application. An initial examination will be carried out.

An examiner must search for prior art documents, in order to prove the novelty of the
invention.

Publication of the application 18 months after the filing date, so the invention will appear in
databases and act as prior to other applications.

Substantive examination as to decide if the invention meets the requirements of the Patent
Convention.

Decision to grant a patent published in the Patent Bulletin.

Validation in each designated state in order to enforce the patent. Some states may require a
translation of the whole patent.

Opposition by third parties that believe the patent should not be granted. They have a nine-
month period to file notice of opposition.

Appeal is possible to all decisions taken by the patents organization.

14.3 Information Revolution

Some inventions can transform lives in a very deep way and even create a revolution in the
way the world, culture, habits, personal relationships and participation in politics are seen. The
Information Revolution is a vivid example of the product of a long, historical evolution of
technological innovations and modifications.
Johannes Gutenberg was a scientist trying to find a way to reproduce books, especially the
Bible, in a quicker way. Back at that time, in the 14th century, books were hand written and
copied by monks. They were only available for a closed elite consisting of clerics and royalty.
Inventing the printing press signified not only making more copies of the Bible available, but
also that all kind of information was reachable for different people; along with the creation of
more libraries, schools and universities. The intrinsic power to control information was diluted
and people were closer to knowledge, and that meant they could question the way religion was
taught and practiced, the understanding of rules and regulations. Gutenberg’s printing machine
made possible an intellectual revolution: the Renaissance, the fall of the Roman Empire and
the end of the Middle Age.
The progressive trend towards the expansion of human knowledge had a second big jump
along with the Industrial Revolution and specifically with the control of energy: electricity and
electromagnetic radiation. Electrical impulses made possible the communication. They were
traduced to noises or written symbols that could be read in places far away from where the
original message was sent. Most of the time the Morse code was used.
Guglielmo Marconi was credited with the invention of the telegraph, a machine capable of
communicating messages through electrical signals, conquering space and time barriers. This
mode of communication could send messages over long distances faster than any form of
transportation. Then other inventions such as the telephone, photography, television and radio
became available and all together they signified the democratization of communication. As an
example of the impact of this revolution, back in the 15th century only 4 or 5 percent of the
European population could read when the first books circulated. In contrast 82 percent of the
world’s population above the age of fifteen was literate in 2007 according to the World Bank.
Today more people have access to more information and media than ever before. That was
possible due to the transformation of the communication means from analogic (television,
radio), mechanical (publishing press) or electrical (telephone) to digital. Another turning point in
the information revolution was the creation in 1990 of the World Wide Web and the first web
server. In the last twenty-five years 3 billion people got connected and started using Internet.
At the beginning of the 21st century there are few places on earth that are not connected in
some way to an emerging global communication system. Being online has signified
participating in collaborative research work in the world, teleconferences, quick transmission of
information and prevention of disasters (e.g. when earthquakes, hurricanes occur). People´s
daily lives have very much adapted and depend on the Internet: weather forecasts, cellphone
communication, online newspapers, online education. You work, communicate, learn, get
entertainment and even order your food online.