How The Internet Changed Our Lives

Electronic communication system is an array of systems that can help us transmit the information over long distances, in electronic format, i.e., in the form of flow of electronic current. Electronic communication can include the types of various forms of the communication types. They can be radio communication, internet communication, mobile phone communication, landline phone communication etc. The electronic communication is now an integral part of the human life and the scope of this communication is beyond limits. Electronic communication has brought the world too near and no corner is beyond the reach of one or the other communication forms. From Letters to e-mails and web communications, the progress is noteworthy. Television and radio communication have enabled the spread of mass media to a very large extent.

The revolution of the electronic communication started with the invention of the telegraph. The only limiting factor in the case was the need of copper wires for transmission, which proved costly. But the advent of radio communication proved a boon in the case for far away and distant communications. After the expansion of the radio spectrums, the possibilities in the fields of the wireless communications have given various potentials for communication systems.

The essence of making each and everything accessible, communicable, and reachable within a few clicks has been made possible by something known as INTERNET. This is the keyword of the topic of the term paper, and as such, much of the emphasis would be given on this topic, over the other forms of electronic communication systems. Internet has led to an economic prosperity, and the development of intelligent search engines has enabled man to search for any information within a few clicks and in a matter of micro seconds.

The World Wide Web, which is known as www, is growing exuberantly. It already has billions of pages, and is growing at the rate of millions of pages per day. Hardly is there any sort of topic which has no finding on the internet. Computers are already an integral part of our life, and as such, the internet has enabled the users to connect on a worldwide level.

Communication System

A communication system has various channels which are staged in such a way that communication is carried out with the most possible efficiency. A typical communication system has the following channels:

Transmitter

Medium

Receiver

Transmitter: this unit mainly functions for the conversion of a signal into the form which can be transmitted over further distances. This may include Transducers, amplifiers, modulators etc.

Medium: this is the channel in which the signal propagates. This is mostly air in wireless communications. While radio waves can propagate in any medium, including vacuum. This is sometimes referred to as PROPAGATION channel, or PHYSICAL channel. The most recent development is in the form of OFC’s, the optic fibre cable, which as a high efficiency, and enormous speed.

Receiver: this unit receives the signal, converts it to the desired form for reception, and presents it to the receiving end. This unit includes antenna assembly, amplifiers, demodulators, receiver units etc.

There are some important aspects in the electronic communication systems which can be highlighted:

Modulation: the process of imposition of weak signal over a strong carrier signal is known as modulation. Modulation generally requires the use of high frequency signals, as the low frequency signals cannot be transmitted over long distances. Modulation also helps in conversion of the digital signals to analog forms for transmission over a distance. AM, FM and PM are the forms of modulation. FM is the most used forms of modulations in the general forms of communications.

Analog and Digital signals: these are the properties of signals which distinguish them b/w continuous of discrete signals. Analog signals are continuous signals, which are defined at each and every instant of time, while the digital signals are discrete signals. They are defined only after a particular interval of time.

Here, the blue continuous lines represent the analog signal, while the red dotted patterns show the digital or discrete values of the signals.

Types of modulation:

Amplitude Modulation- AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent.

Frequency Modulation-It is the process of conveying the information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency .

Phase modulation-Phase modulation (PM) is a form of modulation that represents information as variations in the instantaneous phase of a carrier wave.

Internet in our daily Life

Now, I would start to emphasise on the main topic of the term paper, Use of internet in our daily life. Around 10 years ago, hardly the 20% of the population of India would have heard about this word. Yet a lesser quantity would have used the internet even once. But now, imagining the life without internet is something which is really beyond our scope. It is the internet which has revolutionized the each and every sphere of our day to day life.

How internet works?

This is the diagram which tells us how the internet communication takes place. The key factor here is the ISP which helps to link between the user and the Main internet.

Major ISP’s in India:

An ISP or the Internet Service Provider is some agency which links a user, who can be an individual or a group. An ISP may provide internet access through a dedicated line, a telephone line or the Wireless modems. A list of major ISP’s in India is as below:

BSNL

MTNL

Bharti Airtel

Connect

Idea InfoTech

SIFY

Reliance

Tata Indicom

BSNL and MTNL are the government sector companies; they together occupy 56% of the total market share. Airtel is the leader amongst others.

Channels of internet access:

Narrow-band telephone line- This is a particularly dial up type connection which provides a low bandwidth connection. The speed of the internet communication is a maximum of 56 kbps in this type of connection. This type of system uses a PSTN or PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK. The user has to dial a number from the computer to get connected. A dial up modem in the computer encodes and decodes the packet signals, which are known as Internet Packet signals.

This is a type of dial up modem which is used in the computers for dial up connections. This type of modem is generally internally fitted in the computers.

All telephone lines work at a maximum signal speed of 64 kbps. 8 kbps has to be excluded out for the transfer guard band. As a result, the maximum possible speed in a dial up network can be 56kbps. But the major factor in this regard is that if there are a number of users, there would be traffic in the telephone exchange. As a result the speed would gradually decrease.

It was often noticed in earlier days that during peak hours, the speed used to be around 10-15kbps while in non-peak hours; the speed could reach to around 40kbps. But it hardly reached to the top notch of 50+.

The major drawback in this system that lead to its failure was not only the speed. This type of connection was billed in the terms of duration of connection. That means, whether it is transmitting or not, it will cost the user, regardless of the speed and amount of data transfer. The user was charged for net connection, as well as the telephone cost as a result, it would cause a high rise in the telephone bills of the users.

Costs to the users:

Till date, only BSNL and Connect have provided the dial up connection to the users. BSNL charges Rs. 6 per hour for the connection, and rupees 2 per 15 minutes of call connection. This implies that for one hour, a person is charged rupees 14. If the average speed is 40 kbps, the person can download 18 MB of data in an hour. But speed hardly reaches till 40 kbps. As a result, the fluctuation in the bandwidth would result it to be too expensive to the user.

Present Scenario:

At present, only BSNL is providing a dial up service. But this service has a limited number of users, mostly in the areas where the broadband has not reached, or the users who do not want to buy broadband due to very less usage. A majority of the user group has upgraded to the broadband internet.

Future:

The only dial up connection provider BSNL has decided to continue the dial up networking till the broadband reaches to the most remote areas. There is no scope of improvement in this channel of internet communication as it has already reached its limits. There is no chance of defying these limits.

Advantages:

This channel has practically no advantages over other channels of internet transmission, if we compare it to other types. This was the first form of internet communication to the public. This paved the ways for other types of internet.

Wired Broadband Internet:

This is the most used form of internet in the world. This type of internet is the most versatile and the most wide channel one, which can be transmitted over a wide variety of lines. They include the telephone lines, the television cable, dedicated lines etc.

A broadband connection is the one which has a minimum bandwidth of 256 kbps. It is the high speed channel of internet communication. The major advantage of this network is that the number of users in this type of networks generally does not affect the speed. Also, the phone lines through which the line has been connected can be used both for phone as well as the internet connection simultaneously. It does not affect the quality in each of the channels as both of them work on completely different bandwidths.

How Broadband Works???

A broadband connection works on the Digital Subscriber Line system. In this system, the internet signals are sent through the telephone cable on a completely higher frequency. Indian ISP’s mostly use ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) system. In this type of system, the uplink and downlink bandwidths are different. The downlink is always much more than the uplink one.

Bandwidths:

Indian service providers give a bandwidth with starts from 256 kbps and at the most they give it to 4 Mbps. This bandwidth is very low as compared to the other developed countries where the bandwidth goes to around 7-50 Mbps. In Sri Lanka itself, the minimum broadband bandwidth is 8 Mbps. India has a lot to go in this context.

Modems:

Currently, Indian markets have two types of modems:

Type-1 ADSL Modems: These are the LAN cable connection modems. These types of modems are used for wired connections. These modems modulate and demodulate the internet packet signals at the uplink and downlink frequency. These modems are connected to the computers through an 8-wire LAN cable. These modems have a strong security system. The reason is that these modems can be connected only through a cable. As such, the unauthorised access can be prevented. Most of the ISP’s provide the modems with the service. The chief brands of Type-1 modems available in the market are:

Huawei- It’s a Chinese brand, the cheapest and the least reliable. It costs in the range of around Rs 1200. This is not a good brand, YET BSNL is providing these modems to maximise its profit.

D-Link- This is a Taiwan made brand, comparatively better. It has some added security features like PSK. The cost is around Rs. 1400.

UT STARCOM- this is one of the best brands of this type of modems available here. It is totally user customisable, has an upgradable firmware system and the host security features. It costs around Rs. 1500.

Type-2 ADSL Modems- These types of modems are the WLAN enabled modems. These modems are comparatively less secure as the other counterparts, but are more easy to use as well as they comprise a wireless broadband network. They are sometimes also called as Wi-Fi routers. They have a range of around 100 metres of wireless LAN communication. They can connect a maximum of 20 computers to the maximum. The chief brands available are:

D-Link- as discussed earlier, this type of modem has better security features. Costs around 2000 Rs.

UT STARCOM- This is the best brand. Costs around 2400 Rs. Has a totally upgradable firmware system. Plus, this is the only modem in the category which gives a 3-level security. These levels are:

Admin level: Admin can access, edit, reset, change, and control all the other terminals.

User Level: They can just access the main security module, but can change, edit or reset their own module only.

Support Level: it has equal privileges of an Admin, but only with his permission.

WIRELESS BROADBAND:

This is the newest entry in the segment of public sector broadband connection. In this type of broadband, the ISP’s provide the broadband over the mobile telephone frequency channels. A SIM card is given to the user, which can be inserted in the simcard slot of the laptop of the user, or he can purchase a USB modem which is configured for the purpose. Currently Reliance, Aritel, Tata Photon and BSNL are in this market. This type of broadband is mostly costly, and the speeds vary from 256 kbps-1Mbps at the most. This is usually not value for money. Reason being a typical plan costs from Rs. 700-3000, which is too costly for a normal user. The costs of USB modems are also very high. As per 18/10/10, the prices are:

BSNL- Rs.3400 for modem, and plans start from Rs.300

Reliance- 2800 for the modem and plans start from 500.

Tata- 2400 for the modem, plans start from 350.

Airtel- 3000 for the modem, plans start from Rs. 900.

So, we can imagine that the plans are too costly for the reach of common man. This is the main reason why this segment is not so popular with the people.

3G communication in mobile pioneered by BSNL has brought a cheaper version of mobile broadband. This has achieved a bandwidth of maximum of 512 kbps and still has a scope of improvement. The best advantage is that the Plans start from just Rs. 25.

THE FUTURE- OPTICAL FIBRES

This channel of the internet communication is still not available in the public domain. Optical fibres work on the principal of the modulation of signal with the carrier frequencies of that of the spectrum of light. Light travels at the speed of 3×108 m/s. as such, the data transfer in this case would be at a very high speed.

This channel of transmission has not even been utilised to calculate its limits. The reason behing this is that we do not have such equipments that can transmit at such a high speed. Till date, data has been transferred through this channel at a maximum speed of 4 Gbps (gigabits per second). This is still a fraction of its limit. A single OFC can transmit thousands of channels without a single noise.

Also, this channel has a negligible resistance. As such, data loss rates are very very low. It has been estimated that the OFC’s can transmit internet at the speed of around 40 Tbps (tera bits per second). This is still an estimate. The original figure may go even higher.

Currently, no public sector company in India is providing the OFC internet. Only the defence forces (Indian Army and Air Force) are using it.

Limiting factors in the use of OFC:

The reason that the OFC internet communication system is still in the pipleine is that the technology needed to harness this channel speed to the maximum is still not available. Light travels at a speed of 300000000 m/s. if the signals are modulated to the suitable carrier, then the signal travelling at such a fast speed would practically give a really fast communication.

How internet has changed our lives?

Today we are living in 21st century i.e. In science era. Science and technology has modernised our lives and has made our life full of comforts. Means of Telecommunication and means of transportation are really a god gift for us…..we can’t imagine our lives without internet, television, etc. Internet has brought us together. It has united the wider gulfs across the oceans. we can have our access to any other part of world by just sitting at our home. It provides us various facilities. A student can have its access to internet as well as a person working can also use this internet in its own way. It is beneficial for all.

Communication: We used to write letters to stay in touch with those far away, and if our correspondent was very special, we would use our trusty film camera to take some photos before taking the resultant film to the camera shop for developing – waiting anywhere from an hour to a week to get the prints. We’d then hand over the cash, go home, put everything in the envelope, stick a stamp on it and post it off.

Nowadays, we grab our digital camera, take as many shots as we want, upload them directly on to our PCs, attach a copy to an e-mail and send it off into the ether. We can store, share, and order prints for our photographs from the same service.

Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and countless other websites have made social networking as easy as it could be. One cannot be too far away from his near and dear ones. People from all age groups spend time over these sites. Not only this, celebrities, VIP dignitaries, government officials etc. have their own portals on sites like twitter. Blogging is the trend of the new generation and with the help of your blog, you can share your likes and dislikes with the world .

Reservation , banking : Now Internet can be also used for banking , reservation purposes . You can operate your bank account from your pc, view the account reports, report etc. by just sitting at your home . Even Railway and Airline reservation can be done with the help of  a click . Now there is no need to stand in queues and wait . Just open the site, click and book and your work is done.  Even shopping can be done by sitting at a desktop.

Business: Internet is also used for expanding your business by the help of a website . Now you can target a large variety of consumers from around the world for your business if you have a properly maintained website. Various sites provide the online shopping facilities like www.ebay.in, www.tradus.in etc. Just a matter of click, and we can buy all what we want.