Telecom Essentials Blog

Key Measurements of the Digital World

Telecommunications is an enormous, expansive, and seemingly limitless universe of technologies, infrastructures, applications and regulations.  So how can one communicate effectively about it?  For one thing, it takes a big vocabulary!  And anyone who has even dipped one toe into perusing telecom literature quickly learns, the first challenge to understanding telecommunications is actually understanding the telecom language.

Since this blog is devoted to building your telecom knowledge, it make sense that we start early on by defining something as simple as the key measurements of the digital world.  And that's what we're going to do today - examine the measures of performance and success in the digital era.  They are pertinent to advances in platforms, devices, applications and infrastructures.

There are three key measurements in the digital world:

- Processing power, measured in the number of transistors and operations per second

- Storage, measure in the number of bytes

- Bandwidth, or digital data transmission, measured in bits per second

Processing Power

Moore's Law says that the number of gates on a chip-hence the power of the microprocessor-doubles every 18 months. Intel's original microprocessor, introduced in 1971, had 2,300 transistors. Top-of-the-line computers in 2001 contained some 42 million transistors that performed 100 billion operations per second. Today, Intel's high-end chip contains more than 1.7 billion transistors, and that number is expected to exceed 10 billion by 2010.  Meanwhile, the Teraflops Research Chip is the latest development from the Intel(r) Tera-scale Computing Research Program. This chip is Intel's first silicon tera-scale research prototype. It is the first programmable chip to deliver more than one trillion floating point operations per second (1 Teraflops) of performance while consuming very little power.

Unfortunately, there's also an awful truth about Moore's Law. Today's transistors are about a micrometer in overall length, which means dozens of them could sit on top of a human red blood cell. This very success is bringing chipmakers to the brink of a new, steep obstacle to further gains in performance.  The good news is that the industry is working on several solutions, including low k films and silicon photonics.  We can't really do justice to the topic in a blog, but you can get all the details and more by viewing my elearning tutorial on the subject.  Just go to http://www.telecomessentials.com/elearning_tutorials/elearning_tutorials1.htm and select the segment titled "Measurements of the Digital Era".  This is a complimentary offering, and I encourage you to view the entire "Understanding the Broadband Era" module - it will open your eyes to the key trends driving the ICT industry.

But, back to our discussion of processing power.  On the positive side, thanks to Moore's Law, network endpoints today are small, powerful, inexpensive devices. With such power in the endpoints, the need to embed the functions of a network in the network's core shrinks. In addition, smart end devices can set up and manage calls far better than a centralized network can. In fact, implementing voice in end devices makes it possibly to mix it into other kinds of interactions as well, such as online game play, collaboration, and shared Web surfing.

Storage

Fast processors that support today's visualization and multimedia applications are just one piece of the puzzle. The second element is storage. The industry is currently seeing a doubling of storage density every 12 months. Emerging solutions promise incredible improvements in storage density and size.  New storage devices are going to enable up to 1TB (terabyte) of storage; such a storage device would be able to contain 250 full-length films!

The developments in storage are a most interesting area, promising a future of holographic memory.  Personally, I am fascinated by what a simple bacteria may mean to the future of memory. Bacteriorhodopsin, more affectionately known as BR, is one of the first forms of life on our planet; a protein grown by salt marsh bacteria at least 2.3 billion years ago and it is likely to become the wave of the future in computer data storage and manipulation.  BR is a tiny, rugged protein that has improved through billions of years of evolution to become extremely efficient at converting light into energy.  As a biological substance, the protein also enables data to be stored in three dimensions, just like the human brain.

To put this into context, holographic storage devices in general, could address the growing gap between the capacity of storage devices and the speed with which they access data. As an example, transferring a full-length high definition movie, a 30-gigabyte file, to a computer's hard drive may currently take up to 30 to 45 minutes. Holographic devices have the potential to reduce that time to less than 10 seconds.  For additional information about holographic and other developments in storage technologies, please view my elearning tutorial on "Measurements of the Digital Era" -  http://www.telecomessentials.com/elearning_tutorials/elearning_tutorials1.htm , or you can download my whitepaper on the topic as well - http://www.telecomessentials.com/whitepapers/elearning_whitepapers1.htm

Bandwidth

Along with processing power and storage, the third of the three key measurements of the digital world is bandwidth. The term bandwidth comes from the visualization of the electromagnetic spectrum, where the spectrum is divided into bands. Each band and the channel within it has a width, expressed in Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. The wider the band, the more information it can carry. The information transfer rate is expressed in the number of bits per second.   Each transmission medium operates within a specific portion of the spectrum, which in turn determines the maximum bandwidth associated with that medium.  To learn all the details about the characteristics associated with copper, coax, microwave, satellite and fiber transmission media, please download a free copy of the chapter "Transmission Media" from the 2nd edition of my book, Telecommunications Essentials - http://www.telecomwebcentral.com/content/view/54/87/ - all you need to do is fill out a short registration form to access the resources available in the LIDO Telecom Essentials Learning Center.

The table below lists the units that are commonly used in describing the data rates of various bandwidths.

                            Common Bandwidth Units

Unit                             Prefix Meaning           Transfer Rate

Kilobits per sec (Kbps)      kilo=1 thousand                  1,000 bps

Megabits per sec (Mbps)      mega=1 million               1,000,000 bps

Gigabits per sec (Gbps)      giga=1 billion           1,000,000,000 bps

Terabits per sec (Tbps)      tera=1 trillion      1,000,000,000,000 bps

Petabits per sec (Pbps)   peta=1,000 trillion  1,000,000,000,000,000 bps

Exabits per sec (Ebps)   exa=1 billion billion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bps

Particularly over the past decade, networks have begun carrying greater and greater data rates. Gbps networks are now common, Pbps networks are beginning to emerge, and Ebps networks are expected to make an appearance within the next 3-5 years.  But, in my experience, while most people are impressed by the large numbers we talk about relative to bandwidth, the measurements alone do not convey just how much data can be transferred at these speeds.  So let me provide you with a few examples.  At 10 Gbps, you can transfer the entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica, comprised of some 30 volumes, in the blink of an eye!   Of course if you wanted to transmit the entire contents of the Library of Congress, at 10 Gbps it would take about 2.35 hours.  But, at the speed of 1 Tbps, it would take only 1.41 minutes, and at 1 Ebps, it would take a mere 0.826 seconds!

Now, you may say, yes, but how many times do we need to download the entire Library of Congress?  Do today's applications really require so much bandwidth?  The answer is yes, as we begin to utilize more applications involving online virtual reality, 3-D holography, grid computing and web agents, we will require networks that operate in the Exabit per second range.  Also, it is important to note, broadband access lines create a need for more bandwidth in the core - and with the number of broadband subscriber lines growing daily, not to mention the speed of broadband access alternatives destined to reach 100 Gpbs, it is only a matter of a few years before we find ourselves demanding networks operating in the Petabit and Exabit per second range!

Fortunately, advances in optical and wireless technologies promise to provide us with the necessary bandwidth, and more.   Similarly, photonics will be key to the next generation of computing and storage.  But to truly understand the broadband evolution, you must appreciate the developments in embedded devices, intelligent wearable, man-machine interactions, the full range of virtual reality technologies, grid computing and real-time communications.

To this end I invite all of you to take part in my elearning tutorial entitled "Understanding the Broadband Evolution".  This is a complimentary offering, the only requirement is that you register to use the LIDO Telecom Essentials Learning Center.  I promise you 98 minutes of a highly enjoyable exposure to the trends driving the broadband evolution.  It will not only educate you on the key ICT trends, but it will also inspire you to learn all that you can about next generation networks and the broadband generation.

To access the elearning module, go to http://www.telecomessentials.com/elearning_tutorials/elearning_tutorials1.htm, complete the short registration form, and go on to open your eyes to what the future holds for you, professionally and personally!  As I note in the introductory chapter of my book - I love telecommunications. It is powerful and it empowers, with far-reaching consequences. It has demonstrated the potential to transform society and business, and the revolution has only just begun.   Understand the Broadband Evolution - and go on to create wealth - all you have to do is "think telecom" ! 

Free eLearning Tutorial - Understanding the Broadband Evolution -

http://www.telecomessentials.com/elearning_tutorials/elearning_tutorials1.htm

Free Whitepaper - Understanding the Broadband Evolution -

http://www.telecomessentials.com/whitepapers/elearning_whitepapers1.htm

LIDO Telecom WebCentral     www.telecomwebcentral.com

HelpDesk Humor

There are not a huge number of opportunities for humor in telecom, so when someone does a great job at creatively addressing an issue that plagues the industry, it deserves to be shared with everyone!

I recently found the “HelpDesk Humor” video on YouTube – and it is an absolute must see!   We’ve all got a heap of war stories about our experiences with less than adequate tech support.  But this little video let’s us get a glimpse into the frustrations brought about by less than skilled users.  I suspect most of us rarely think about that side of the equation!

HelpDesk Humor

Not only will this video give you a great moment of laughter today, it also speaks to some truly critical issues in the broadband era, the least of which is the importance of training!  Customer and tech support is a two way relationship, with each party bearing some responsibility for being properly educated and prepared!  The interactions and steps demonstrated in this video clearly highlight the need for not only technical training for support reps, but also softskills training.  These days, what gives a company a competitive edge boils down to two things – how knowledgeable their people are, and how well they interact with their customers, in other words, their customer service operations!

The video also makes a giant point about the fact that the industry is very quick to sign up new customers and subscribers, but then leaves them to flounder about on their own, without the slightest bit of knowledge as to how to use the wondrous tools of the information age.  One of the greatest added value services a vendor or service provider can offer to its users is education.  If you invest in educating your customers, you’ll find you’ve created not only a more loyal user, reducing customer churn, you’ll also create a customer with the knowledge to order and use new services as you introduce them!

A little bit of education can go a long way in securing your relationships with your support staff and customers!  Knowledge is power, so empower your personnel, and empower your customers – create an educational program that will provide them with the basics they need to understand the nature of computing and telecommunications. 

To wind up today’s post - there’s a wonderful quote by Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937) that really speaks to this “bits of humor” episode –  ”If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you’re old.”

So have a good laugh at the world of Internet help desks, and remember……

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”  e.e.cummings (1894-1962)

LIDO Telecom WebCentral   www.telecomwebcentral.com

The Key to Creating Wealth - Think Telecom

Greetings telecom thinkers – and welcome to the magical world of telecom! Why magical? Between 2001 and 2002, investors saw approximately $2 trillion of market value simply vanish – twice the damage done when the Internet bubble burst. Poof, it’s gone! but Abracadebra……its back, stronger than ever! Today, the telecom industry has not only recovered, but is expected to reach an all-time high! According to a recent Business Week feature article – “Telecom: Back from the Dead” (June 25, 2007), http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_26/b4040001.htm) – industry profits are expected to reach $72 billion this year - exceeding the previous high-water mark of $65 billion in 1998!

And what does that have to do with the Telecom Essentials Blog? Simply put - telecommunications knowledge is essential to your future. Why? Telecom is the most important infrastructure of the 21st century. Every business, and just about every human activity depends on it. In fact, it is fair to say that is has become more important than power, water, transportation and even education. As noted by R. Brough Turner, CTO of NMS Communications, “Investment in telecom is more productive than investment in other kinds of infrastructure. The impact is particularly noticeable in developing nations.” (“Large Productivity Benefit of Telecom Investment in Emerging Markets” http://www.nmscommunications.com/News/NL/AYS/Fall2006.htm#Invest).

If you want to create wealth, think telecom! No matter what industry you work in, telecommunications and information technologies are vital to its operation and survival. Consider that for a moment – healthcare, education, entertainment, government, transportation, finance, national security, defense, public utilities – all these industries and many more are dependent on their ICT infrastructures. In future posts we’ll explore specific applications and technologies impacting all these industries, as well as what exactly is driving the telecom industry today. But for today, let’s continue examining the role of telecom in creating wealth.

As I mentioned above, wealth can mean different things to different people. Most certainly, possessing telecom knowledge can lead you to the financial rewards of cold hard cash, and as indicated by the $72 billion of industry profits expected this year, many are reaping such rewards as we speak! But there are a multitude of other ways in which telecom can build your wealth. The reality is that telecom is good for mankind – not only is it more productive than other kinds of infrastructure investments, but perhaps more importantly, it can dramatically improve the human condition – from bringing expert medical attention to remote and/or impoverished parts of the world, to introducing the luxury of world class education where teachers and facilities are not readily available. Some will become rich as they accumulate intellectual wealth in their quest for scientific truth, while others, in pursuit of environmental protection and social justice, will feel the richness of being empowered to actually make a difference, benefiting many generations to come. And let us not forget the artists and entertainers who enrich our senses and imaginations through wonderful new forms of arts and entertainment, infusing the world with the gift of joy and laughter, while producing an enormous amount of revenue in the process! Whatever wealth means to you, telecom is there to serve you!

The purpose of this blog and the LIDO Telecom WebCentral website, as well as my personal mission, is to enlighten and educate the world about telecommunications. With each post I will share insights – striving to build your telecommunications knowledge. But today, I’d like to finish our discussion of telecom and wealth creation by sharing a charming Indian tale with you…….

Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young man went to the forest and said to his spiritual master, “I want to have unlimited wealth, and with that unlimited wealth, I want to help and heal the world. Will you please tell me the secret to creating affluence?”

And the spiritual master replied, “There are two Goddesses that reside in the heart of every human being. Everybody is deeply in love with these supreme beings. But there is a certain secret that you need to know, and I will tell you what it is. Although you love both Goddesses, you must pay more attention to one of them. She is the Goddess of Knowledge, and her name is Sarasvati. Pursue her, love her, and give her your attention. The other Goddess, whose name is Lakshmi, is the Goddess of Wealth. When you pay more attention to Sarasvati, Lakshmi will become extremely jealous and pay more attention to you. The more you seek the Goddess of Knowledge, the more the Goddess of Wealth will seek you. She will follow you wherever you go and never leave you. And the wealth you desire will be yours forever.”

I thank Deepak Chopra for recanting this tale in his book "Creating Affluence" - for it not only reminded me of the power of knowledge, which I've always worshipped - but it also caused me to reflect on how, today, knowledge of telecommunications is fundamental to creating affluence and wealth - regardless of your industry or passion! 

Knowledge is power, and knowledge invites wealth. Seek telecommunications knowledge and you will create wealth – for yourself and for mankind. I am here to serve you in your quest. Welcome to Telecom Essentials!

LIDO Telecom WebCentral www.telecomwebcentral.com