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INTRODUCTION TO
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INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES
A GUIDE FOR
NON-ENGINEERS
STEPHAN JONES AND RON KOVACS

AUERBACH PUBLICATIONS
A CRC Press Company
Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

"To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jones, Stephan
Introduction to communications technologies: A guide for non-engineers / Stephan Jones, Ron Kovac.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8493-1266-3 (alk. paper)
1. Telecommunication. I. Kovac, Ron. II. Title.

TK5101 .J66 2002

621.381--dc21
2002074433

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted
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Dedication

To my family — my wife Jan, for a lifelong tolerance of my eccentric behaviors,

and to my children, Stephanie, Kelsey, and Luke, for accepting their father as a
propellerhead who likes to read non-fiction

Steve Jones

A venture of this sort does not come without its pain. But the pain is usually
felt by other people. Accordingly, I thank my family for putting up with me during
these times and providing moral support. But I really want to dedicate this book
to my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad for making me what I am.

Ron Kovac

v
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

1 Systems and Models of Communications Technologies:

Shannon-Weaver, von Neumann, and the OSI Model............................. 1
Computing Model............................................................................................................ 3
Open System Interconnect (OSI) Model ....................................................................... 5
Summary........................................................................................................................... 9
Questions for Review...................................................................................................... 9
Multiple Choice........................................................................................................... 9
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 11
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 11
2 Basic Concepts of Electricity ...................................................................... 13
Common Units of Technical Measurement ................................................................. 13
Signals............................................................................................................................. 14
Current............................................................................................................................ 17
Resistance ....................................................................................................................... 18
Voltage............................................................................................................................ 19
Capacitance .................................................................................................................... 20
Inductance...................................................................................................................... 20
Power ............................................................................................................................. 22
AC to DC Conversion ................................................................................................... 22
Summary......................................................................................................................... 25
Questions for Review.................................................................................................... 26
Multiple Choice......................................................................................................... 26
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 27
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 29
3 Modulation and Multiplexing .................................................................... 31
Spectrum......................................................................................................................... 31
Amplitude Modulation................................................................................................... 33
Frequency Modulation .................................................................................................. 36
Phase Modulation .......................................................................................................... 38
Pulse Amplitude Modulation ........................................................................................ 39
Pulse Code Modulation................................................................................................. 40
Summary......................................................................................................................... 42
Questions For Review ................................................................................................... 42

vii
viii Introduction to Communications Technologies for Non-Engineers

Multiple Choice......................................................................................................... 42
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 44
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 44
4 Signaling Formats, Multiplexing, and Digital Transmissions ............. 45
Digital Formats............................................................................................................... 45
Multiplexing ................................................................................................................... 49
Frequency Division Multiplexing ............................................................................ 49
Time Division Multiplexing ..................................................................................... 49
Digital Circuits ............................................................................................................... 50
Questions for Review.................................................................................................... 50
Multiple Choice......................................................................................................... 50
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 52
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 52
5 PSTN to CPE ................................................................................................... 53
PSTN ............................................................................................................................... 53
The Telephone............................................................................................................... 54
Network Access ............................................................................................................. 56
Trunks and Lines ........................................................................................................... 59
Loop Start .................................................................................................................. 59
Ground Start.............................................................................................................. 59
Direct Inward Dial (DID) Trunks............................................................................ 60
E&M Trunks .............................................................................................................. 60
Centrex ...................................................................................................................... 60
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) ........................................................................... 61
Private Automatic Branch Exchanges (PABX)........................................................ 61
Digital Key Systems and Hybrids................................................................................. 64
Voice Processing ............................................................................................................ 65
Summary......................................................................................................................... 65
Questions for Review.................................................................................................... 66
Multiple Choice......................................................................................................... 66
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 67
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 68
6 Circuit Switching, ISDN, ATM, and SS7 .................................................... 69
Circuit Switching............................................................................................................ 69
System Signaling Seven (SS7)....................................................................................... 71
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) ............................................................... 73
ISDN Configurations................................................................................................. 74
ISDN Network Interface Configurations ................................................................. 76
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) ........................................................................... 76
ATM Architecture ...................................................................................................... 76
ATM Cell Structure.................................................................................................... 77
ATM Structure Defined............................................................................................. 77
Summary......................................................................................................................... 79
Questions For Review ................................................................................................... 82
Multiple Choice......................................................................................................... 82
Matching Questions .................................................................................................. 83
Short Essay Questions .............................................................................................. 83
7 Wireless Technologies: AMPS, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, Satellites,
and Microwave Systems .............................................................................. 85
Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS).................................................................... 85
Contents ix

Multiple Access Technologies....................................................................................... 86

Mobile Switching ........................................................................................................... 89
Antennas......................................................................................................................... 91
Smart Antennas .............................................................................................................. 93
Microwave Signals ......................................................................................................... 94
Engineering Issues for Microwave Signaling .............................................................. 96
Summary......................................................................................................................... 99
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 100
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 100
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 101
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 103

8 Packet Switching and Local Area Network Technology ..................... 105

The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 106
The Costs of a LAN................................................................................................ 106
Initial Costs......................................................................................................... 107
Ongoing Costs.................................................................................................... 107
Personnel ....................................................................................................... 108
Equipment Maintenance, Upgrades, and Repairs ...................................... 108
Moves, Adds, and Changes (MACs) ............................................................ 109
Outside Links ................................................................................................ 109
Software Licensing ........................................................................................ 109
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 109
The Working Parts of a LAN ................................................................................. 109
End-User Devices............................................................................................... 110
Physical Media ................................................................................................... 110
Networking Equipment ..................................................................................... 111
Hubs............................................................................................................... 112
Switches ......................................................................................................... 113
Routers ........................................................................................................... 113
Network Interface Cards (NICs) .................................................................. 115
Network Operating Systems (NOSs) ................................................................ 116
Common LAN Flavors ............................................................................................ 116
Ethernet (802.3) ................................................................................................. 116
Token Ring (802.5) ............................................................................................ 118
AppleTalk ........................................................................................................... 119
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 119
The Use and Function of Standards ..................................................................... 119
The Process of Standardization ............................................................................. 120
Standard-Making Bodies......................................................................................... 120
The Legal Aspects................................................................................................... 121
Summary....................................................................................................................... 121
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 122
True/False................................................................................................................ 122
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 123
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 124

9 The Language of the Internet: TCP/IP ................................................... 125

The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 125
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 127
Message Casting...................................................................................................... 127
Unicasting ........................................................................................................... 127
Multicasting......................................................................................................... 127
x Introduction to Communications Technologies for Non-Engineers

Broadcasting ....................................................................................................... 128

Message Addressing ............................................................................................... 129
Network Routing..................................................................................................... 130
Centralized Routing ........................................................................................... 130
Decentralized Routing ....................................................................................... 132
The Language of the Network: Routed Protocols ............................................... 133
TCP/IP................................................................................................................. 134
IPX/SPX .............................................................................................................. 135
SNA ..................................................................................................................... 136
SNA Access Programs........................................................................................ 138
IPv6 .......................................................................................................................... 138
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 139
Summary....................................................................................................................... 140
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 142
True/False................................................................................................................ 142
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 142
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 144

10 New and Emerging Technologies ............................................................ 145

The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 145
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 147
Wide Area Networks .............................................................................................. 147
Virtual Private Networks ........................................................................................ 148
Fast Ethernet, Giga Ethernet, and the Future of Speed...................................... 150
VLANs ...................................................................................................................... 151
Layer 1: Port-Based VLANs ............................................................................... 152
Layer 2: MAC-Based VLANs.............................................................................. 152
Layer 3: Protocol-Based VLANs ........................................................................ 153
Quality of Service (QoS)........................................................................................ 153
Network Security .................................................................................................... 156
Authentication .................................................................................................... 157
Encryption .......................................................................................................... 157
Accounting.......................................................................................................... 159
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 159
Summary....................................................................................................................... 160
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 160
True/False................................................................................................................ 160
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 161
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 162

11 The Wonderful World of Wireless ........................................................... 165

The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 165
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 166
The Basics of Radio Frequency ............................................................................ 166
What Is a Wireless LAN?........................................................................................ 167
Things to Consider ................................................................................................. 169
Access Technology ............................................................................................ 170
Frequency Range ............................................................................................... 170
Antennas ............................................................................................................. 172
Range and Bandwidth ....................................................................................... 174
Interference ........................................................................................................ 175
Security .................................................................................................................... 175
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 176
Contents xi

Summary....................................................................................................................... 176
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 178
True/False................................................................................................................ 178
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 179
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 180
12 Video Basics Outline................................................................................... 181
The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 181
High-Quality ............................................................................................................ 182
Medium-Quality ...................................................................................................... 183
Low-Quality ............................................................................................................. 184
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 184
Image Scanning....................................................................................................... 185
Color ........................................................................................................................ 188
Transmission of Video............................................................................................ 188
High-Definition Television ..................................................................................... 190
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 191
Summary....................................................................................................................... 193
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 194
True/False................................................................................................................ 194
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 195
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 196
13 Network Convergence Objectives ........................................................... 197
The Business and Human Factors ............................................................................. 198
Reduce Telephone Costs........................................................................................ 198
Enhance Telephone Services ................................................................................. 199
Increase Network Efficiency .................................................................................. 199
The Technical Factors ................................................................................................. 200
The Basic Parts of VoIP ......................................................................................... 200
Sampling .................................................................................................................. 201
Quantitizing ............................................................................................................. 202
Coding ..................................................................................................................... 203
Putting It Back Together........................................................................................ 204
Packet Transmission ............................................................................................... 204
Delays in Packetizing ........................................................................................ 205
Jitter..................................................................................................................... 205
Traffic Capacity .................................................................................................. 205
Transmitter.......................................................................................................... 206
Packet Size ......................................................................................................... 206
The Regulatory and Legal Factors ............................................................................. 206
LAN Telephony............................................................................................................ 207
Benefits of LAN Telephony ................................................................................... 207
Ethernet Phone .................................................................................................. 210
Analog Phone/Converter Gateway................................................................... 210
Gatekeeper ......................................................................................................... 210
Ethernet LAN ...................................................................................................... 211
PSTN Access Gateway....................................................................................... 211
IP Router ............................................................................................................ 211
Summary....................................................................................................................... 211
Questions for Review.................................................................................................. 211
True/False................................................................................................................ 211
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 212
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 212
xii Introduction to Communications Technologies for Non-Engineers

Appendix A: Answer Key ................................................................................... 213

Chapter 1...................................................................................................................... 213
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 213
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 213
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 214
Chapter 2...................................................................................................................... 215
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 215
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 216
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 216
Chapter 3...................................................................................................................... 217
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 217
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 217
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 217
Chapter 4...................................................................................................................... 218
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 218
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 218
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 219
Chapter 5...................................................................................................................... 220
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 220
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 220
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 220
Chapter 6...................................................................................................................... 222
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 222
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 222
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 222
Chapter 7...................................................................................................................... 223
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 223
Matching Questions ................................................................................................ 224
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 224
Chapter 8...................................................................................................................... 225
True/False................................................................................................................ 225
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 226
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 226
Chapter 9...................................................................................................................... 227
True/False................................................................................................................ 227
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 227
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 228
Chapter 10.................................................................................................................... 228
True/False................................................................................................................ 228
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 228
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 229
Chapter 11.................................................................................................................... 229
True/False................................................................................................................ 229
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 230
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 230
Chapter 12.................................................................................................................... 231
True/False................................................................................................................ 231
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 231
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 231
Chapter 13.................................................................................................................... 233
True/False................................................................................................................ 233
Multiple Choice....................................................................................................... 233
Short Essay Questions ............................................................................................ 233
Contents xiii

Appendix B: Glossary ......................................................................................... 235

Index ...................................................................................................................... 247
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our outstanding research and graduate assistants who
gave their qualified input on the text and for being additional editors of the
document:

 Erik Kropa
 Ryan Shaffer  Brian Miller
 Frederic Larchier  Wendy Whittern
 Shane Neff  Nancy Rim
 Matthew Wright  Katie Gotshall
— Steve Jones — Ron Kovac

xv
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

The field of Information Technology is broad and ever-expanding. The tech-

nologies that are common today may be obsolete tomorrow. While this book
introduces you to concepts central to the field as it stands today, it does not
cover everything; it would take volumes of books to teach all that this field
encompasses.
This book has been written with the intention of explaining some of the
technologies that comprise the IT field. If you are an engineer, this book is
not for you. As the name implies, it has been written to give non-engineering
professionals a foundation of knowledge that will serve them well as they
become managers in the IT field. One need not have a technical background
to gain the valuable knowledge that lies within these pages — the book was
designed with that in mind.
The material covered within is the same as the material presented in the
foundation technology course for the Center for Information and Communi-
cation Sciences at Ball State University, one of the most-respected programs
of its kind in the country. Students pursuing a Masters of Science in Information
and Communication Sciences receive the same instruction in their pursuit of
the degree. Students who are graduated from this program continue to become
consultants, sales persons, and technical managers in the IT field. They work
for companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Accenture.
You too can glean the knowledge necessary to become a leader of
technology professionals. This book willl provide a foundation for your career
but it is not all that is required to ensure success. It takes a desire to achieve,
and a work ethic to match. You must explore further the topics presented in
this book. Read the chapters, research their contents, understand the material
within, and you will develop the knowledge necessary to succeed. Keep a
binder containing your notes and other materials that correspond with the
topics covered within the text. This will not only help you to stay current
with industry information, but it will also teach you where to find information
that relates to the field.

xvii
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 1

Systems and Models

of Communications
Technologies:
Shannon-Weaver,
von Neumann,
and the OSI Model

The language, acronyms, and discussions in communications technology (CT)

are based on fundamental ideas that can be considered systems. Understanding
these fundamental systems allows knowledge of various information technol-
ogies to be added, brick by brick, to build on understanding current and
developing technologies. One of the primary systems in CT is signaling.
Signaling occurs in traditional voice telephone connections, local area net-
working, and wireless communications ranging from cellular to satellite sys-
tems. Each of these areas of signaling usually becomes the domain of an
engineer who is focused specifically in this area of expertise. Preparing
someone to understand all the intricacies of each of these disciplines is a
huge undertaking. However, understanding the basic underlying principles of
the signaling process can give the non-engineering professional the ability to
converse on the topic intelligently.
The capacity to communicate is determined by a number of factors that
influence the quality of the signal. How will the information be sent or
transmitted? Will the person or device at the distant end of the communication
signal have the ability to receive the transmitted signal? Will the receiving end

1
2 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

Noise

Encoder Encoder

Channel
Source Sink

Decoder Decoder

Exhibit 1 Shannon-Weaver model of communication.

need to decipher or decode the signal in any way? What would happen if
noise was introduced to the transmitted signal? Would it cause the transmission
signal to be corrupted in any way?
Exhibit 1 is a good example of how communications can be understood
in a model (or systems format). The source (transmitting side of communica-
tions) signaling systems/needs to encode the information to be transmitted to
fit onto the medium or channel being used to convey the information. The
medium can be a range of possibilities: air, copper wires, or even fiber-optics.
When we speak to another human, we determine whether or not the person
understands the language we are speaking. As the source, we encode our
information in the language and put it on the medium (air) to be delivered
to the other person. What if the transmitting person has French as his primary
language and the receiving end of the conversation (transmission) does not?
The receiving end will need to decode the French language into one that he
or she is able to understand. The return signal from the receiving end may
ask the transmitting source, “Is this what you are trying to tell me? If it is,
then we can discuss this topic further.” This type of transmit/receive/confirm
format is the basis of human communication and is also employed in data
networking transmissions.
Claude Shannon developed a mathematical equation that defines the the-
oretical limit of the capacity in this model. He theorized (and later proved)
that the amount of information being transmitted was based on a number of
factors including noise, frequency of the transmission, and the strength of the
signals. The formula is:

C = B log2 (1 + S/N) (1.1)

Do not be concerned about solving the math problem! It is presented to show

the relationship between the signal (S) and noise (N) in a given transmission
based on the bandwidth (B) or frequency at which the signal is being
transmitted. The capacity (C) of information being transmitted is determined
by all of these factors. As we move into more-complex topics, we will be
able to use this formula to help us understand how much information can be
transmitted over a wireless connection for our local area network or how our
cell phone can be used to connect to the Internet. This formula tells us that
as the noise in a transmission increases, the capacity to send information will
Systems and Models of Communications Technologies 3

Program Control Unit

Main
Memory Input/Output Equipment
Arithmetic-Logic Unit

Exhibit 2 Components of the stored-program model.

decrease. As the frequency (or bandwidth) in which we transmit increases,

there is a greater capacity for information transfer. We will discuss the topics
of frequency and bandwidth in a subsequent chapter.

Computing Model
Any device on a communication network can be considered a node. A node
can be a computer, telephone, router, server, tandem switch, or any number
of devices that receive and transmit information on their respective networks.
If every device connected to a network used a different format for collecting,
storing, modifying, or transmitting information, the design of networks and the
components connected to the networks would be extremely difficult to accom-
plish. John von Neumann, a mathematician whose theories were incorporated
with the development of the first electronic digital computer, proposed a model
based on work originally presented by Alan Turing (another mathematician
who is famous for leading the group responsible for deciphering the Enigma
code during World War II). von Neumann’s idea is known as the stored-program
concept. Exhibit 2 is a simple block diagram of von Neumann’s model.
The general structure of this model is based on four primary components,
with a fifth component necessary for interblock signaling. This model can be
extrapolated to overlay the definition of how the nodes connected to any
communication network operate:

1. Main memory: Stores data and instructions.

2. Arithmetic and Logic Unit: Performs computational functions on binary
data.
3. Control unit: Interprets the instructions in the memory and causes them
to be executed.
4. Input/output (I/O) equipment: Devices operated by the control unit.

The fifth component of this model is the bus structure. The information
that needs to be exchanged between these blocks relies on an interconnecting
medium referred to as a bus. Bus structures can be found in everything from
digital wristwatches to the most sophisticated high-speed computing device.
We will look at this model and how it relates to a computer and, using the
same model, define how it works with telephone systems, data networking
equipment, and other nodal devices.
4 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

Storage I/O Mod

Memory
External
Buses Memory
Network I/O Mod
Local Data
Control Network
Application Data Print I/O Mod
Program #1 Address
Processor/CPU

RPC Stub Registers

Database Manager
ALU
SL CAR
Network
Operating Control
System Control Unit Memory

Operating PSW and CBR

BIOS System Program Center

Courtesy Frank M. Groom, Movement and Storage of Information, class notes.

Exhibit 3 von Neumann’s architecture in a computing device.

The main memory on the computer is its working area. The program files
that are needed to run specific applications are stored in this work area. It
can be analogized as a large legal pad of paper. The program that is running
on the computer is the top page of the tablet; this area of memory is also
called the random access memory (RAM) of a computer. If it needs more
information to process a request, the system will look into the pages available
on the tablet to see if the date is there. To retrieve more information on a
program or to pull a completely new program into the work area, the system
needs to retrieve more pages of information (data). Another typical memory
storage area is the hard drive, which, according to our model, is viewed as
an input/output device.
The process of responding to requests for data is based off a set of
instructions that is written in binary language. Most of us have never seen the
machine language that runs our digital devices, but it is the tongue of the
Information Age. The requests (instructions for information retrieval) printing,
accessing a modem, and other functions are acted on by the central processor
unit (CPU). The CPU relies on the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) to crunch
the numbers and to be able to feed the information back so it can control
the flow data.
Exhibit 3 represents a more-detailed view of the stored-program model.
The memory portion of the diagram is now populated with the various pages
of information necessary to operate the computer: BIOS, operating system,
and application programs. The bus structure that was represented by arrows
in Exhibit 2 is blocked in by a larger representation in Exhibit 3, which shows
the connection between the memory, the CPU, and the ALU. The I/O modules
are connected to external memory (hard drives), networks, or printers. This
Systems and Models of Communications Technologies 5

Flash CPU

NVRAM

Bus
ROM RAM
Interface

Interface Interface Interface

Exhibit 4 Simple router architecture block diagram.

step up in detail can be applied to other network equipment that requires

processing and memory management to work.
The model can be used to define how a router, a digital PABX, and data
networking switches work (these topics are defined in subsequent chapters).
A router is a device used in data networks to forward information from one
network to another. They are the workhorses of the Internet, the World Wide
Web (the Web), and corporate wide area networks (WANs). With this level of
responsibility, the sophistication of the equipment may seem more complex
than it really is. A router is required to analyze packetized information received
from its I/O module connection in order to decide where the information
packet is sent or routed next. This requires an operating system that keeps
the organization of the system flowing correctly. A CPU to control requests
in conjunction with the ALU is necessary to analyze the binary data. Connecting
all of these parts together is a bus structure, that is able to send and receive
millions of requests every second!
Exhibit 4 is another example of how the von Neumann architecture works
on a different type of computing device. The router has all the components
previously defined for a computer, and it works in a similar manner. The
operating system and application programs reside in the flash and other
nonvolatile memory. RAM is the working area memory in the router just as
it is in the computer. A router does not need the same memory capacity
that a computer has but requires the same binary process of 1s and 0s to
analyze data.
By understanding the von Neumann architecture, you can use it to com-
prehend how any number of devices will operate on different networks. The
foundational work for this model was presented in 1946; 56 years later, it
continues to be used to define the works of digital devices.

Open System Interconnect (OSI) Model

The ability to interchange different vendors’ products in a network without
issues of incompatibility has long been a concern of those who work in the
industry. Most strive to make various components talk intelligently to each
other on a reliable and consistent basis. The International Standards Organi-
6 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

User Interface: what we

7 Application
are doing

Form, syntax, language,

6 Presentation
encryption, compression

Resource control,
5 Session
handshaking, bind/unbind

End-to-end addressing,
4 Transport
segmentation, muxing

Routing, error recovery,

3 Network
packetization

Point to point, error-free

2 Data Link
physical layer, framing

Mechanical, electrical,
1 Physical
logical to physical, bits

Exhibit 5 OSI seven layers reference.

zation (ISO), which consists of various representatives from countries around

the world, has presented an open system interconnect (OSI) model. This
protocol model consists of seven layers, each with specific functions and
responsibilities within the stacked layers. The OSI, although not used as a de
facto standard by all companies developing equipment for use in networks
today, is used as a guideline to simplify the development and interoperability
between vendors. The most consistent adherence to the OSI model exists at
its lower levels (1 through 4) and is less well-defined in the higher layers of
the stack. Some of this information may not make a great deal of sense to you
initially, as we progress through different technologies and relate how they
communicate with the OSI model. Technologies such as Ethernet, frame relay,
ISDN, ATM, and other confusing acronyms are all compared to the OSI stack
when signaling, transmission, encryption, and other functions are discussed.
Understanding the basic principles of the model is most important at this point
in your reading.
Exhibit 5 shows each layer’s responsibility in the model and a brief defi-
nition of its function. A more in-depth examination of each layer is required
to fully understand the purpose and interrelationships of the layers.
Layer 1 is the physical layer. It is used to describe how data that will be
sent out on the network will be transmitted. It defines electrical, optical, or
frequency modulation, depending on the type of medium (e.g., copper, fiber,
wireless) the network employs. Connections standards such as EIA-232 are
defined in this layer. This layer should not be confused with the actual cable
that is used for transmitting the data; it is the layer within the OSI model that
defines how that connection will be made. Modem connections to the coaxial
cable are defined within this layer.
The data link layer is the second layer of the OSI model. The data link
layer is concerned with physical (as opposed to logical) addressing. At this
Systems and Models of Communications Technologies 7

layer, a network device (e.g., a computer) has an address assigned to its

network interface card (NIC) that uniquely identifies a device. Layer 2 is also
concerned with network access (e.g., the NIC), framing of upper layer data
for use at the physical layer, and error detection. Layers 1 and 2 are the most
universally accepted protocol layers of the OSI model.
The third layer, the network layer, has become an integral cog in the
movement of data across the world internetworkings. The logical addressing
of a device is located at this layer. Routing of information on the Internet, the
Web, and other WANs is based on the logical address found at the network
layer. The most widely used and accepted Layer 3 address scheme is the
Internet Protocol (IP). (Path or route selection is based on the IP address of
a device.) The network layer is also responsible for formatting data from
higher layers into packets that are passed down to the data link layer for
organization into frames to be delivered to the physical layer.
At this point, it is important to note that the network layer does not interact
with the physical layer. Layer 3 does not know what signaling format Layer
1 will use to provide the data to whatever medium is being used to deliver
the information. Each layer of the OSI model only has interaction with the
layer directly adjacent to it in the stack. Encapsulation, the process of putting
received information into another format for delivery, occurs at each layer
of the OSI stack. This allows for flexible architecture arrangements and the
ability to change Layer 1 and Layer 2 programming to accommodate the
connectivity of disparate systems. Think of a letter that is addressed in French
to someone on a university’s campus. Because the handlers of the mail may
not understand French, the letter is put inside another envelope addressed
in English so that as it transits the university’s postal network it can easily
be identified. The English labeled envelope is the encapsulation of the French
data. It is this flexibility that allows Apple computers to be networked with
Windows-based machines.
The transport layer, the fourth layer of the model, is primarily responsible
for end-to-end integrity of communications between two nodes on a network.
The transport layer establishes, manages, and terminates the exchange between
two devices. End-to-end error correction and the flow control of data trans-
mission are the responsibility of the transport layer. Layer 4 is responsible for
the segmentation of upper layer data being sent down for external delivery.
The segmented data is passed down to the network layer to be placed in
packets. Transport Control Protocol or TCP resides at this layer. TCP is
responsible for the integrity of the data delivered with IP. The two protocols
— TCP and IP — are the primary carriers of data in the world today. Other
delivery protocols live at this layer, and will be discussed when TCP/IP is
defined in a subsequent chapter.
The next three layers of the OSI model are generally considered the realm
of software design in contrast to the first four layers having a relationship
with the hardware configuration of a device. The upper layers have not been
developed universally and may not even be defined for some devices or
connections, unlike the lower layers.
8 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

The session layer, the fifth layer, is responsible for establishing, managing,
and terminating communications between two devices. It is also the area in
which full-duplex or half-duplex communication is defined. The session layer
determines if one device can be interrupted by another device while commu-
nicating. If a session connection is lost during data transfer, the session layer
is responsible for helping recover the communication.
Layer 6, the presentation layer, is the translator and interpreter for data
being sent from the upper application layer and for the data moving up the
stack to be acted on by the application layer. The presentation layer is also
responsible for encryption defined as the conversion of data into a secure
format that can be read only by predefined recipients. Compression formats
are also found at this layer. In the recent past, the sixth layer has been the
least defined of the model. However, with the advent of new video and voice
technologies being offered over the internetworks, this layer is becoming a
critical component for communications across the WAN.
The last layer, seven, is the application layer, which is the closest to
the user. It is the interface that runs between the network and the appli-
cation being used on a device. E-mail protocols, HTTP (web language),
and other interface applications reside at this layer. Error recovery from
data being assembled after transmission also can be the responsibility of
the application layer. It provides for a final integrity check for the data
transmission being received.
The OSI model has been put to use in developing numerous advanced
networking technologies and continues to provide the technical mapping for
integration between disparate networks, vendors, and software. This model
simplifies the understanding of how a complex set of protocols interact to
deliver information across the Internet. One of the most widely used protocols
based on this model is the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) suite. Analogizing the delivery of information over the Internet to
how a letter is written, addressed, routed, and eventually delivered with
comparisons to the OSI model is helpful in understanding how both TCP/IP
and the OSI work.
When writing a letter, a medium for delivery is considered. A blank sheet
of paper is used to formulate information into a written language that is
understandable to the reader. When the letter is completed, it is placed in an
envelope and addressed; the postal service routes the letter to its destination.
In looking at the analogy in reference to the TCP/IP protocol, data is created
in the upper layers of the OSI model (blank sheet of paper) and prepared
for sending. It is encapsulated (the envelope) as it passes through Layers 4
and 3. At Layer 3, the data is given a logical address that is understood by
the delivery system (postal service). When the data is pushed out to the
network, the address is used to route (deliver) the information to its destination.
The addressing scheme associated with TCP/IP is a simple format similar to
a home address, but sophisticated enough to provide millions of addresses
understood all over the world. A more-detailed look at this addressing scheme
is explored in the chapter on Wide Area Networks.
Systems and Models of Communications Technologies 9

Summary
The key to understanding complex systems is in learning the fundamental
platforms on which they are built. Using these models as a template to figuring
out difficult technology interactions is a functional form of problem solving
for the novice as well as the journeyman technologist. Shannon’s communi-
cation model defines how much information can be processed, given the
parameters of the environment in which the data is to be transferred. This
model can be employed in wireline as well as wireless delivery schemes. It
also can be used to define how humans communicate in various settings.
von Neumann’s stored-program model gives us an idea of how the majority
of computing devices have been configured since the mid-1940s. The model
can be used to understand how other nodal components of networks function,
such as routers, switches, and newer integrating devices that combine voice,
data, and multimedia into a single network. The five basic components of the
model exist in different capacities and functions in all these devices.
The open systems interconnect model is the most widely used generic
protocol stack for communications over various networks. The OSI Model was
developed by an international group that wanted to create interoperability
across disparate networks, manufacturers, and vendors. The TCP/IP suite of
protocols is modeled from this stack. It is the primary delivery mechanism for
information over the Internet. Its addressing scheme is understood worldwide
and continues to evolve as newer technologies are emerging.

Questions for Review

Multiple Choice

1. According to the capacitance theorem, as the noise in a transmission

increases:
a. The capacity to send information increases
b. The capacity to send information decreases
c. The capacity to send information is not affected
d. None of the above
2. All of the following are components of the von Neumann stored-
program concept, except:
a. Main memory
b. Program control unit
c. ALU
d. OSI
3. The OSI model consists of how many layers?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 7
10 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

4. A node is:
a. Any device on a communication network
b. A computer
c. A printer or a computer
d. A printer
5. According to the von Neumann model, a hard drive is:
a. A part of the main memory
b. A part of the ALU
c. An input/output device
d. A part of the bus structure
6. Encapsulation is:
a. Something that occurs at Layer 5 only
b. The process of putting information into another format for delivery
c. Something that occurs at each layer of the OSI model
d. Both b and c
7. Internet Protocol (IP) resides at what level of the OSI model?
a. The transport layer
b. The network layer
c. Layer 2
d. The data link layer
8. All of the following are components of the Shannon-Weaver model of
communication, except:
a. Encode/decode
b. Message
c. Capacity
d. Noise
9. The OSI model was created by:
a. Shannon
b. von Neumann
c. The International Standards Organization (ISO)
d. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
10. In the OSI model, each layer:
a. Interacts with all other layers
b. Only interacts with the layers directly above or below it
c. Does not interact with any other layers
d. Only interacts with layers that are higher than it
Systems and Models of Communications Technologies 11

Matching Questions
Match the following terms with the best answer.

1. C = B log2 (1 + S/N) a. A component of the Shannon-Weaver

2. Noise model
3. Data link layer b. A model containing seven layers
4. ALU c. TCP
5. Transport layer d. Frames
6. Packetization e. Developed the stored-program concept
7. von Neumann f. Occurs at all levels of the OSI model
8. OSI g. Capacitance theorem
9. I/O h. Occurs in Layer 3 of the OSI model
10. Encapsulation i. Performs computational functions on
binary data
j. Operated by the control unit in the von
Neumann model

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the communication process in terms of the Shannon-Weaver

model.
2. Why is it necessary to have a standard model in which to discuss
networks or computers?
3. List and define each component of the von Neumann stored-program
concept.
4. List and explain what occurs at each layer of the OSI model.
5. Explain the impact that the von Neumann model has had in terms of
digital devices.
6. Using examples, explain each step of the communication process in
terms of the Shannon-Weaver model of communication.
7. Define the fifth component of the stored-program concept, and explain
how it is used.
8. Explain, in words, the capacitance theorem.
9. Develop a situation where you think that knowledge of the systems
presented in this chapter would be helpful in your career.
10. Explain why it is important for a non-engineering professional to
understand the material presented in this chapter.
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 2

Basic Concepts of Electricity

An appreciation and understanding of communications technologies is attain-

able without ever delving into hard-core engineering topics of physics and
calculus. An understanding of the applied nature of the components of
electricity, however, will give nonengineering professionals greater compre-
hension of the topics covered in this book. Explaining the associated termi-
nology with examples of their use in networking environments will help make
the connection between theoretical and practical science.

Electricity: Basic concepts of electrical systems in telecom-

munications. Functions associated with components (e.g.,
resistor, capacitor) and their effect on signaling (e.g., resis-
tance, capacitance).

Common Units of Technical Measurement

Conversations between technically oriented people inevitably touch on termi-
nology that sounds (and sometimes is) foreign to those who do not understand
the nomenclature of various measures used in communications technology.
When the throughput of a specific circuit is said to have 1.5 megabits per
second, it is helpful to know that mega is equivalent to the number (in this
case 1.5) times 1,000,000 or 106. Understanding these units is important when
comparing different service offerings, evaluating mean time between failures
of various components, or reading the calculated aggregation of network
throughput necessary for purchasing a circuit for a corporate office. Exhibit 1
gives a brief example of the prefixes and their associated values.

13
14 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

1
1018 1015 1012 109 106 103 100 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12 10-15 10-18

000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
exa- peta- tera- giga- mega- kilo- milli- micro- nano- pico- femto- alto-
E P T G M K m n p f a

Exhibit 1 Scientific notation chart.

Exhibit 2 Common Uses of Scientific Notation

Prefix Frequency Data Voltage Resistance Power

Tera Terahertz (THz) Terabit (Tb)

Giga Gigahertz (GHz) Gigabit (Gb)
Mega Megahertz (MHz) Megabit (Mb) Megavolt Megohm Megawatt
Kilo Kilohertz (kHz) Kilobit (kb) Kilovolt Kilohm Kilowatt
Milli Millivolt Milliohm Milliwatt
Micro Microvolt Microhm Microwatt

Exhibit 1 also provides a reference for the various names and values
associated with the power of 10 (10n). Each place is given three zeros to be
added or subtracted from the number being discussed, depending on the
direction away from one the value is moving. The most common uses of the
prefixes are listed in Exhibit 2.
These terms will be used throughout this book without further explanation
of their meaning. The exhibits will make excellent reference tools for further
reading in communications technologies.

Signals
The delivery of information across the voice and data networks requires
somewhere along the continuum a signal from a sender to a receiver to either
establish the circuit in which the information is to travel or to verify information
has been sent and received. Exhibit 3 shows a block diagram of a voice circuit.
The signal process is necessary to establish a connection between the sending
party and the receiving party (remember Shannon’s law?). The signals are
generated in traditional wireline (as opposed to wireless) by signals or fre-
quencies being sent from the dial pad on the telephone.
The signals are propagated over the copper wire infrastructure to the
Central Office (CO; the telephone company switching gear closest to your
premises). From there, the analog signal is converted to a digital transmission
and it is sent out over fiber-optic connections to the various tandem switches,
toll offices, ISPs, and other entities that use the existing infrastructure for
Basic Concepts of Electricity 15

On Hook
48 VDC
Premises CO Battery

Loop Plant Inside Wire Telephone

Ringer Touch
+(TIP) 90 VAC Pad
Receiver
Central
Office Carbon
-(Ring)
XMTR
Minimum Interface
Point of Entry
(MPOE)
(Demarcation)

Off Hook
600-900
Ohm Load

Exhibit 3 Components of a wireline circuit.

+3V
Voltage

Time

-3V

Exhibit 4 Simple waveform.

access. Over the course of this book, we will progress our way through the
basic signaling system: the creation of the electrical portion, the traditional
analog to digital conversion scheme, the layout of the telephone network and
how it is connected, and finally, the steps involved in transmitting through
the network.
A signal is typically defined by a waveform, a picture produced by an
oscilloscope that shows the highs and lows of the voltage or current associated
with the signal. The waveforms vary in intensity, shape, duration, and com-
plexity. Exhibit 4 gives an example of a simple waveform that is graphed over
a period of time in reference to its voltage output. Note that the signal is
gradually diminishing in its height or peak, attenuating (or losing) its intensity
over time. The variation and repetition of a waveform over a specific period
of time is referred to as the waveform’s cycle. The cycle is usually measured
16 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

+3V

Voltage
1 second
Time

-3V

Exhibit 5 Repeating waveform.

f1 f2 f3 f4

A C frequency
300 Hz 4200 Hz 50 kHz 500 kHz

A = f2 - f1 A = 4200 Hz - 300 Hz = 3900 Hz

C = f4 - f3 C = 500 kHz - 50 kHz = 450 kHz

Exhibit 6 Bandwidth representation.

by how many times per second the waveform replicates itself on the graph.
This measure is called cycles per second or, in more current terms, Hertz
(Hz). If a waveform completes one cycle every second, it is said to be operating
at 1 Hz; if a waveform is replicating itself a thousand times every second, it
is said to operating at 1 kilohertz (kHz). Electricity in the United States, when
measured at an electrical outlet, operates at 60 Hz.
Exhibit 5 shows a signal replicating itself twice over a one-second time
period. It is said to be operating at 2 Hz or two cycles per second. The
frequency of a signal is defined as the number of cycles divided by the time
in which they occur. The period is the time it takes a waveform to complete
one complete cycle. These waveforms are characteristic of various signals in
the public switched telephone network, wireless communications, and data
networks.
Taking this principle one more step, we can discuss bandwidth. Bandwidth
is a range of frequencies a communication channel is defined within for
specific signaling functions. It is incorrect to refer to throughput (bits of
information usually measured by number per second, e.g., kilobits per second)
and bandwidth interchangeably. Exhibit 6 is a visual definition of bandwidth.
The values discovered for the areas defined by subtracting the lower frequency
from the higher frequency gives the bandwidth for a particular band; in this
case, that which is associated with bandwidth A and bandwidth C.
Basic Concepts of Electricity 17

Exhibit 7 Simple atom structure.

Current
One of the most feared and avoided courses in high school and college is
physics. Physics, however, is the scientific discipline that explains how things
work in our universe. Applying the principles of physics to communications
technologies for non-engineers can be done from a level of understanding
that eliminates the formulas and calculus that have caused the avoidance of
the subject in the first place. A simplistic definition of the building blocks of
matter and how they relate is important in our discussion of how information
is transmitted from a source to a receiver.
All matter in the universe is comprised of microscopic components called
molecules. These molecules are the smallest definable piece of a material.
Molecules can be broken down into even smaller building blocks called atoms.
Atoms consist of even smaller structures that hold different types of electrical
charges: protons (positively charged particles), neutrons (no electrical charge),
and electrons (negatively charged particles). Protons and neutrons make up
the center of the atom, its nucleus. Orbiting around the nucleus are the
electrons, usually in equal numbers in relation to the protons in the nucleus.
A basic principle of physics states that the protons and neutrons are bound
together by a force that is directly proportional to the size of the particle and
its distance from other particles of similar and opposing electrical charges. At
the outer edges of the atom, the forces that hold the electrons in orbit around
the nucleus are not as strong as those closer to the center of the nucleus;
these loosely held electrons are referred to as free electrons because they can
be moved out of their orbit. It is the movement of free electrons that causes
electric current to exist. Exhibit 7 is a block diagram of what an atom with
three protons and three electrons looks like underneath a high-powered
electron microscope. Note that the outer orbiting electron is the most suscep-
tible to becoming a free electron.
Forcing the atoms to lose and gain electrons creates an electrical charge
that can be harnessed to make all the various components of communications
technologies function. Some materials can be caused to move electrons
between atoms at a more excited rate than other materials. A conductor is a
material, such as copper, gold, or silver, that has a very high excitability and
can carry electrical current freely. An insulator is a material that does not allow
its electrons to break away from their nucleus easily. Plastic, rubber, and glass
are considered good insulators.
18 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

Voltage
Time

Exhibit 8 Alternating current over a 0.25-second time period.

The rapid change of free electrons in a conductor causes current to flow.

One atom changing followed by another, then another in sequence is not
how electrons move in a conductor. A by-product of this rapid movement of
electrons is heat generation. If a device or conductor is not capable of handling
high current pull, the cable will feel warm to the touch (and sometimes burn
through). Heat dissipation is an important component of designing electronic
circuitry because of the current flow through the various parts in the device.
Current flow is the movement of the free electrons in the same direction
in a conductor. The unit of measure used to describe current flow is the
ampere, or amp. The letter I is used to represent current in electronic schematic
drawings and equations.
Alternating current (AC) is the type of electrical power available at wall outlets.
It is one of the two types of current flow; the other is direct current. The charge
of the current passing through the conductor changes from a positive to a negative
value over a period of time. In the United States, the value alternates 60 times
per second; in Europe, 50 cycles per second. At this rate, a light bulb switches
on and off 120 times per second — too fast for the human eye to detect. Exhibit 8
shows the rate change of an AC signal. AC can be thought of as changing
direction as it goes from its positive to its negative position. This process is
continuous until the power source is eliminated.
Direct current (DC) is used primarily in electronic components in com-
puters, cellular phones, the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and
data networks. It is capable of doing more work than AC; however, it does
not travel as well, meaning it is not distributed over long distances as
efficiently as AC. DC can be considered a continuous flow of current in
contrast to the periodic condition of AC. Exhibit 9 gives a comparison of DC
current to AC current.

Resistance
Resistance is the force that opposes the flow of electrons in a material.
Resistance is represented by the letter R in mathematical equations and by
the symbol W (ohm) in graphical drawings or on components that need to
have their resistive values noted. Every material has some form of resistance
to electron flow, some more than others. These values of resistance are directly
Basic Concepts of Electricity 19

Direct Current

current
Time

Alternating Current

Exhibit 9 Direct current versus alternating current.

related to the previous discussion about conductors and insulators. Different

values of resistance are used to vary the current flow to various components
in a device. By manipulating a single source of current to service a wide
variety of functions using inexpensive resistors (and other electronic devices),
the cost of a device is greatly reduced. The cost of a device increases
proportionately as power and current requirements become more complex.

Voltage
The ability to perform work or the energy potential of the electrical charges
described previously is called a volt, which is represented by the letters V or E
in diagrams and equations. There is a direct relationship between current and
voltage. The greater the work to be accomplished, the more current is required.
Most circuitry is designed to work within specific engineering requirements with
current and voltage established at maximum and minimum values. Exceeding
either end of the scale will either cause the equipment to fail for lack of power,
or overheat and become damaged from overloading the circuitry. Most electronic
equipment today works at relatively low voltages that are converted from the
standard 120 V AC to ±3 or 5 V DC within the equipment.
Voltage is generated from a number of sources. It is obtained by chemical
reactions within a battery, from various forms of power generating plants (e.g.,
coal, nuclear, hydro), and from alternative sources such as the sun and wind.
The amount of voltage available for use from a source is directly related to
current and resistance.
As current increases through a resistive material, the amount of force has
increased, and the ability to do work has increased as well. The volt represents
this value in a simple formula:

Resistance ¥ Current = Voltage

This is the basic relationship that is defined by Ohm’s law. This law applied
to any resistive circuit with one of the values unknown allows the discovery
of the unknown value. The importance of this law is evident when evaluating
20 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

electrical demands for a communications room. Each device in a business

environment — PBX, server, router, switch — has a specific voltage and
current requirement listed on its specifications sheet. What would happen if
the current requirements on the circuit feeding the communications room
exceeded the value rating of the current in the electrical panel? Overload! An
overload causes the circuit breaker to stop current flow to the circuit, as it is
designed to do. By knowing the values and their relationship to each other,
proper planning for system upgrades can be adequately accomplished. This
knowledge allows you to understand the electrician when discussing physical
plant requirements for your facilities.
Ohm’s law is always calculated using amps for current, volts for voltage,
and ohms for resistance. Because these values can vary depending on the
appliance or circuit — megavolts, milliamps, kilohms — they must be con-
verted to satisfy the basic form of the value. By using the scientific notation
chart in Exhibit 1, the conversion is simplified.

Capacitance
The ability of an electrical conductor to hold a charge is considered its
capacitance. There are components in electronic equipment, called capacitors,
that are designed to take and give back electrical charges. They act as batteries
within the circuitry, maintaining specific levels of voltage across designated
components. When two oppositely charged conductors are placed in close
proximity to each other, they create and hold an electrical charge until the
power source of their charge is removed. The closer the proximity of the
conductors, the greater the ability of the conductors to hold the charge.
Capacitors take advantage of this property by separating two conductive
elements with dielectric material that controls the charge–discharge rate. All
wires within a cable bundle possess the ability to create conductance because
of their close proximity to other cable pairs that are transmitting signals (which
generates electrical charges). The insulating sheath of the wires helps reduce
any adverse conductance from occurring. However, if higher frequencies or
power demands are pushed through the wires, the charge rate of the wires
is significantly affected. Capacitance is directly related to frequency: as the
frequency increases, the capacitance decreases, giving the circuit in which a
coupling capacitor is situated an open condition to DC voltage. Exhibit 10
gives a basic graph of the relationship between frequency and capacitance.

Inductance
Wrapping wire around a core and passing current through the wire creates
an inductor. The core can consist of numerous materials; however, magnetic
material helps create an electromagnetic field around the core. The more
wraps of wire and the strength of the core material magnetically increase the
resistance of the inductor to return to its precharged state. This property of
Basic Concepts of Electricity 21

capacitance = xc
xc

Frequency

Exhibit 10 Capacitance in relationship to frequency.

inductance = XL

XL

Frequency

Exhibit 11 The relationship between inductance and frequency.

xc XL
Resonant
Frequency

Frequency

Exhibit 12 Resonant frequency.

an inductor is important in a number of components. Transformers, both step-

up and step-down types, are built on the inductor principle. Coils, the devices
used to send telephone signals greater distances through the network, are
designed as inductors. Inductance is the resistance of a conductor to allow
current to change direction. There is a small amount of inductance associated
with cable pairs bundled together in a sheathed environment. It is negligible
in most conditions; however, with increased frequency transmission through
a pair of conductors, the inductive reactance can easily increase. Inductors
act as filters to AC values while imposing little effect on DC signals. Exhibit 11
shows the relationship between frequency and inductance in a circuit.
The difference between capacitance and inductance and their relationship
to frequency is shown in Exhibit 12. The point at which the two resistive
22 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

values meet is known as the resonant frequency of the components. Electrical

circuit design engineers use the resonant frequency point to create filters that
eliminate everything but the resonant frequency. The filtering process is used
in finding a radio or television station and cleaning up an analog circuit from
extraneous noise from higher frequencies before it is converted into a digital
format.

Power
When electrons are forced to move between points of potential difference
(e.g., positive and negative terminals on a battery), work is being accom-
plished. The measure of the rate at which work can be accomplished is called
power (P). The unit of measure used to define power is called the watt. One
amp of current is flowing and one volt is being applied to create one watt
of power. The direct relationship of current, voltage, and power is:

Current ¥ Voltage = Power

As current increases, the amount of work that can be done also increases.
The same holds true with an increase in voltage. However, simply increasing
a voltage source to try and gain more work out of an electrical motor results
in disaster. Each electrical device manufactured has a specific rating that
dictates the maximum voltage and current draw for that device. Most equip-
ment is fused to disallow an overdraw on either voltage or current, which
causes the device to shut down. Electrical wires, connectors, and components
are built to tolerate certain levels of power. It is too cost-prohibitive to build
devices that can work across all voltage and current values. Power is expressed
in terms such as watts, kilowatts, and megawatts.

AC to DC Conversion
DC voltage is a better workforce than AC voltage. However, the delivery of
DC voltage over long distances, such as the grid that supports residential,
commercial, and industrial power needs, is not feasible. On the other hand,
AC is well-suited to be transported at high voltages and stepped down to
accommodate the multiple use requirements that it serves. Electronic devices,
such as computers, televisions, routers, PBX, fax machines, and servers, work
internally with DC voltage. Each device must convert the outlet 120 V AC
supply to a DC value to make it operational for the myriad of chips, transistors,
and other components running the device.
DC is derived from AC by a device known as a rectifier, which uses special
components to control the flow of AC current and bring the negative or
alternating side of the signal together with the positive side of the signal.
These devices, called diodes, allow current to flow through them in one
direction only. There are numerous types of diodes, and they all perform a
Basic Concepts of Electricity 23

AC AC to DC

6 E
4
2 time
volts
0
-2
-4
-6

E I R

Exhibit 13 AC sine wave.

Half Wave AC to DC

6 E
4
2 time
volts

0
-2
-4
-6
I

E R

Exhibit 14 Diode eliminating negative current flow.

similar function that varies with voltage and current. The diode acts like a
switch to current. Coupled with a capacitor, diodes can create a constant
current flow for components within electronic equipment. Exhibit 13 depicts
the first step in this conversion process, the normal sine wave signal from an
AC source. The direction of the current flow is also shown. Exhibits 13 through
19 show a step-by-step conversion of AC to DC.
A diode is put in place to stop the reverse current flow from occurring.
Exhibit 14 shows this first step.
Exhibit 15 shows how a capacitor, when inserted into the circuit, keeps the
voltage from dropping back to zero. Remember that the capacitor acts like a
battery in the circuit and discharges as the current is reversed in the circuit. This
discharge process gives back into the circuit voltage to power the circuit.
We now need to bring the voltage to a more constant rate and eliminate
the drop that occurs prior to the charge sequence. This is accomplished by
creating a full wave rectifier, which pulls the negative current flow to a positive
condition with the aid of diodes and a capacitor. By charging and discharging
the capacitor at a higher rate of speed, the attenuation of the voltage becomes
negligible. Exhibit 16 shows how the sine wave is pulled from the negative
24 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

RC Filter AC to DC
E
6
4
2 time
volts
0
-2
-4
-6
I

E R

Exhibit 15 Capacitor added to the AC/DC conversion process.

Full Wave AC to DC

6 E
4
2 time
volts

0
-2
-4
-6
I

E
R

Exhibit 16 Full wave rectified AC signal.

Full Wave AC to DC
E
6
4
2 time
volts

0
-2
-4
-6
I

E
R

Exhibit 17 Full wave rectifier with capacitor.

side of the circuit by using the rectifying diodes. Exhibit 17 shows how the
capacitor charges and discharges to hold the voltage to a more-consistent rate.
The voltage reading is done at the two nodes on the rectifier.
Basic Concepts of Electricity 25

AC to DC
during positive half-cycle of the input

Exhibit 18 Positive cycle of full wave rectifier.

AC to DC
during negative half-cycle of the input

Exhibit 19 Negative cycle of full wave rectifier.

Exhibit 20 Case Study: The Electric Chair

Developed as an alternative to hanging in the 1880s, the electric chair has killed more
than 4300 people. The electric circuit is rather simple: the condemned person’s body
is connected to a high-voltage circuit, becoming a resistance load. The electrodes are
usually attached at the head and at the ankles. They are terminated by a sponge soaked
in a saline solution to decrease the resistance in the circuit, the human body not being
a good conductor in general. There is no standard protocol for the voltage; however,
if it is too low, it takes too long, and if it is too high, it burns the body. Nowadays, the
voltage is usually set between 2000 and 2200 volts for a current set between 7 and 12
amps. Although in theory the victim’s nerves are immediately paralyzed, stopping all
sensation of pain, the few who have survived execution said the pain was unbearable.

Exhibits 18 and 19 show how the current flows through the rectifier during
the positive and negative cycles. Again, the reading for the voltage is accom-
plished at the nodes on either side of the rectifier.
Now that you understand the importance of DC voltage conversion, take
a look inside of your computer and follow the power lead from the external
120 V AC source through the unit. It is converted to DC immediately upon
entry into the unit (see Exhibit 20).

Summary
A basic knowledge of electricity is critical to understanding how the signaling
process occurs across voice, data, and video networks. The correct nomenclature
26 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

and scientific notation is important to understanding all aspects of measure-

ment and throughput discussed in communications technologies.
The atom and its electrical properties were explored to give a better
understanding of how current is created in an electrical circuit. Current,
resistance, and voltage were explored as the three key components of elec-
tricity. Ohm’s law is the basic principle that shows the relationship that these
three properties have with each other.
Power, inductance, and capacitance were discussed. Power is the measure in
which work is performed within a circuit. Its representation as watts is pervasive
throughout all disciplines that require electricity to operate. Capacitance and
inductance were discussed briefly as to their effect on electrical circuits and their
ability to be coupled together to create a filter at specific frequencies.
The conversion from AC to DC was examined. The importance of this
conversion is resident inside every electronic piece of gear that needs to be
plugged into an electrical outlet to either have a source of power or charge
the batteries that provide the DC voltage for the circuitry to work.

Questions for Review

Multiple Choice

1. What is the voltage provided by the Central Office (CO) to the tele-
phone?
a. 120 V AC
b. 120 V DC
c. 48 V AC
d. 48 V DC
e. None of the above
2. The waveforms vary in:
a. Intensity
b. Shape
c. Duration
d. Complexity
e. All of the above
3. A signal is considered to be attenuating when:
a. It is losing its intensity over time
b. It is losing its period over time
c. It is gaining its period over time
d. It is gaining its intensity over time
e. None of the above
4. A range of frequencies is called:
a. Throughput
b. Period
c. Bandwidth
d. Passband
e. All of the above
Basic Concepts of Electricity 27

5. What is Ohm’s law?

a. Resistance ¥ Voltage = Current
b. Voltage ¥ Current = Power
c. Current ¥ Resistance = Voltage
d. Current/Voltage = Resistance
e. None of the above
6. As frequency increases:
a. Capacitance increases and inductance increases
b. Capacitance increases and inductance decreases
c. Capacitance decreases and inductance decreases
d. Capacitance decreases and inductance increases
e. None of the above
7. The resonant frequency point is used to create filters that will eliminate:
a. The resonant frequency
b. All but the resonant frequency
c. All frequencies higher than the resonant frequency
d. All frequencies lower than the resonant frequency
e. All of the above
8. What is the relationship between current, voltage, and power?
a. Current ¥ Voltage = Power
b. Voltage/Current = Power
c. Power ¥ Current = Voltage
d. Voltage ¥ Power = Current
e. None of the above
9. AC:
a. A worse workforce than DC
b. Well-suited for transport over long distances and at high voltages
c. Delivered at the wall outlet
d. Must be converted to DC to serve electronic devices
e. All of the above
10. A filtered full wave rectifier is composed of:
a. 1 diode and 1 capacitor
b. 1 diode and 1 inductor
c. 4 diodes and 1 inductor
d. 4 diodes and 1 capacitor
e. None of the above

Matching Questions
Match the following terms with the best answer.
Match the different values:
1. 1 V a. 1000 V
2. 1 mV b. 1000 mV
3. 1 mV c. 0.001 mV
4. 1 kV d. 0.000001 kV
28 Introduction to Communications Technologies: A Guide for Non-Engineers

Match the different values:

1. 280 Hz a. 2,800 kHz
2. 2.8 MHz b. 28,000 Hz
3. 28 kHz c. 0.28 kHz
4. 0.28 GHz d. 280 MHz
Match the units:
1. Voltage a. Ohm (W)
2. Current b. Ampere (A)
3. Resistance c. Watt (W)
4. Power d. Volt (V)
Match the units:
1. Frequency a. Second (s)
2. Period b. Bit per second (bps)
3. Bandwidth c. Hertz (Hz)
4. Throughput d. Hertz (Hz)
Match the definitions:
1. Molecules a. Do not possess an electrical charge
2. Protons b. Are composed of atoms
3. Neutrons c. Are negatively charged particles
4. Electrons d. Are positively charged particles
Match the characteristics:
1. Copper a. Conductor
2. Glass b. Conductor
3. Plastic c. Insulator
4. Gold d. Insulator
Considering a simple electrical circuit (battery, wires, load), match the values:
1. 10 V, 2 A a. 5 W
2. 2 kV, 5 A b. 25 kW
3. 0.5 kV, 20 mA c. 5 kW
4. 25 mV, 5 mA d. 400 W
Match the values:
1. 10 V, 2 A a. 10 W
2. 2 kV, 5 mA b. 10 mW
3. 0.5 kV, 20 mA c. 200 mW
4. 25 mV, 8 A d. 20 W
Basic Concepts of Electricity 29

Match the definitions:

1. Voltage a. The number of cycles divided by the time in which
2. Current they occur
3. Power b. The ability to do work
4. Frequency c. The movement in the same direction in a conduc-
tor of the free electrons
d. The measure of the rate at which work can be
accomplished
Match the definitions:
1. Resistance a. The ability of an electrical conductor to hold a
2. Capacitance charge
3. Inductance b. The force that opposes the flow of electrons in a
4. Diode material
c. Allows current to flow only in one direction
through it
d. The resistance of a conductor to allow current to
change direction

Short Essay Questions

1. Define a waveform and name its four characteristics.

2. Define frequency and period, and name their respective units.
3. Define bandwidth and give an example.
4. Define current flow and name its unit. What are the differences between
the two types of current?
5. Define resistance and name its unit.
6. Define voltage and name its unit.
7. Define capacitance.
8. Define inductance.
9. Define power and name its unit.
10. Describe briefly the AC to DC conversion.
This page intentionally left blank
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
manufacture of the hippic generations; in summer sat on the top rail
of another fence and saw his colts trained; in autumn in the judges'
stand sat with a finger on his watch and saw them win; in winter,
passing into a state of partial hibernation over the study of
pedigrees, his fingers plunged deep in his beard, with comfortable
mumblings and fumblings that bore their analogy to a bear's brumal
licking of its paws.

A veritable Roman poet Horace of a man, with yearlings as his

odes—and with a few mules for satires.

Surely possessed of some excellent Epicurean philosophy of his

own in that he could live so long in a wretched world and escape all
wretchedness. If storms broke over his head, he insisted that the
weather just then was especially fine; if trouble knocked at the door,
he announced with regret from the inside that the door was locked.
Is there any wonder that, nobody though he insisted upon being, his
appearance in public always attracted a crowd? For the inhabitants
of this world are always looking for one happy inhabitant. His
acquaintances hurried to him as they would break into a playful run
for a barrel of lemonade at a woodland picnic when they needed to
be cooled; or as they waited around a kettle of burgroo at a
barbecue in autumn when they wished to be warmed. Hot or cold,
they felt their need to be sprayed as to their unquiet passions by his
streaming benevolence.

Always that benevolence. On two distinct occasions he had

placidly reduced by one the entire meritorious population of central
Kentucky; and then with a clear countenance, had presented himself
at the bar of justice to be cleared. Upon his technical acquittal, the
judge had casually said that no matter how guilty he was, it would
have been a much fouler crime to hang a citizen with so innocent an
expression; that the habitual look of innocence was of more value in
a homicidal community than a verdict of guilty for two fits of
distemper!
 If the world should last until Kentucky passes out of history into
the classic and the mythological; if Daniel Boone and the Wilderness
Road should become Orion and the Milky Way; if the capture of
Betsy Calloway should become the rape of Lucrece; if the two
gigantic Indian fighters, the Poe brothers, should establish their
claim to the authorship of those Poems and Tales which even in our
own time are beginning to fall away from a mythical personage,—
hardly more than an emanation of darkness, perhaps this unique
Kentucky gentleman who insisted upon being no one at all will
exhibit his beaming face in the heavens of those ages as Charioteer
to the Horses of the Sun.

The sole warrant for here disturbing his light repose under his
patchwork of turf is that he had taken to his hearthstone and heart
an orphan nephew, whose destiny it was to be profoundly influenced
by the environment of heart and hearthstone: by this breeding of
horses, by the method of training them; by that serene outlook upon
the world and that gayety of nature which attracted happiness to it
as naturally as the martin box in the yard drew the martins. Possibly
even more influenced in the earlier years around that fireside where
there was no women, no mother, no father, either; nor parent out of
doors save the motherhood of the near earth and the fatherhood of
the distant sky.

From the day when he arrived on that stock farm its influences
began their work upon him and kept it up during years when he was
not aware. But in his own memory the first event in the long series
of events—the first scene of all the scenes that made his Progress—
occurred when he was about fifteen years old. As the middle-aged
man, sitting in his library that morning with the Book of the Years
before him, reviewed his life, his memory went straight back to that
event and stopped there as though it were the beginning. Of course
it was not the beginning; of course he could not himself have known
where the beginning was or what it was; but he did what we all do
as we look back toward childhood and try to open a road as far as
memory will reach,—we begin somewhere, and the doctor began
with his fifteenth year—as the first scene of his Progress. But let that
scene be painted not as the doctor saw it: more nearly as it was: he
was too young to know all that it contained.

It was a balmy Saturday afternoon of early summer; and uncle

and nephew were out in the yard of the white and lemon-colored
manor house, enjoying the shade of some blossoming locust trees.
The uncle was sitting in a yellow cane-bottom chair; and he had on
a yellow nankeen waistcoat and trousers; so that the chair looked
like an overgrown architectural harmony attached to his dorsal
raiment; and he had on a pleated bosom shirt which had been
polished by his negro laundress with iron and paraffine until it looked
like a cake of winter ice marked off to be cut in slices. In the top
button-hole was a cluster diamond pin which represented almost a
star-system; and about his throat was tied a magenta cravat: that
was the day for solferinos and magentas and Madeira wine. But the
neck of the wearer of the cravat was itself turning to a gouty
magenta; so that the ribbon, while appropriately selected, was as a
color-sign superfluous. On the grass beside him lay his black alpaca
coat and panama hat and gold-headed cane and red silk
handkerchief and a piece of dry wood admirable for whittling.

He had been to a colt show that morning several miles across the
country in a neighborhood where there was some turbulence; not
the turbulence of the colts; and he had reached home just before
dinner—glad to get there without turbulence; and the dinner had
been good, and now he was experiencing that comfortable
expansion of girth which turns even a pessimist toward optimism;
that streaming benevolence of his countenance never streamed to
better advantage.

He was reading his Saturday weekly newspaper, an entire page of

which showed that this was a great thoroughbred breeding-region of
the world. At the distance of several yards you could have inferred
as much by the character of the advertisements, each of which was
headed by the little black wood-cut of a stallion. The page was
blackened by this wood-cut as it repeated itself up and down,
column after column. Whether the stallion were sorrel or roan or bay
or chestnut or black—one wood-cut stood for all. There was one
other wood-cut for jacks—all jacks.

In the same way one little wood-cut in an earlier generation had

been used to stand for runaway slaves: a negro with a stick swung
across his shoulder and with a bundle dangling from the stick down
his fugitive back; one wood-cut for all slaves. If you saw between
the legs of the figure, it was a man; if you did not—it was the other
figure of man's fate in slavery.

The turfman read every item of his newspaper, having first with a
due sense of proportion cast his eye on the advertisement of his
own stud.

The nephew was lying on the grass near by, wearing a kind of
dove-colored suit; so that from a distance he might have been taken
for a huge mound of vegetable mould; he having just awakened
from a nap: a heavy, rank, insolent, human cub with his powers half
pent up and half unfolded, except a fully developed insolence toward
all things and people except his uncle, himself, and his friend, Fred
Ousley. He rolled drowsily about on the soft turf, waiting to take his
turn at the newspaper: it was the only thing he read: otherwise he
was too busy reading the things of life on the farm. Once he
stretched himself on his back, looking upward for anything and
everything in sight. The light breeze swung the boughs of the locust,
now heavily draped with blossoms; and soon his eyes began to
follow what looked like a flame darting in and out amid the snowy
cascades of bloom—a flame that was vocal and that dropped down
upon his ear crimson petals of song—the Baltimore oriole.

He liked all birds but three; and presently one of those that he
disliked appeared in a fork of a locust and darted at the oriole,
driving it away and then returning to the fork—the blue-jay. His
hatred of this bird dated from the time when one of the negroes had
told him that no blue-jays could be seen at twelve o'clock on Friday
—all having gone to carry brimstone to the lower regions. After that
he and Fred Ousley had made a point of trying to kill jays early
Friday morning: a fatally shied stone would cut off to a dead
certainty just so much of that supply of brimstone. He hated them
even more on Saturday, when he thought of them as having
returned. The one in the fork now was looking down at him, and,
with a great mockery of bowing, called out his Fiddle-Fiddle-Fiddle:
it was his way of saying: "You'll get there: and there will be
brimstone, sonny!"

Of course he believed none of this legend; but suggestions live on

in the mind even though they do not root themselves in faith; and
memory also has its power to make us like and dislike. Presently, as
he lay there stretched on the grass and near the edge of the shade,
another ill-omened bird came sailing cloud-high across the blue
firmament; and having taken notice of him,—a motionless form on
the earth below,—it turned back and began to circle about him. That
was another bird he hated. When a child he asked about it, and had
been told that it removed all disagreeable things from the farms. He
thought it a very kind, very self-sacrificing and industrious bird to do
so. And he conceived the whole species of them as a procession of
wheelbarrows operated across the sky by means of wings and tails.
Afterwards, when his views grew less hazy on natural history, he
lowered his opinion of the disinterested buzzard.

The third bird on which had fallen his resentment was the rain-
crow: earlier in his childhood it had been told him that when the
clacking wail of this songster was heard on the stillness of a summer
day, a storm was coming. And he had seen storms enough on that
very farm—tornadoes that cut a path through the woods as a reaper
cuts his way across the wheat-field. But he saw no rain-crow to-day;
you look for them in August when they haunt the cool shade-trees of
lawns.
 Altogether these three birds made with one another a rather
formidable combination for a boy living on a farm: the one brought
on storms that threatened life; the second gladly presided at your
obsequies, if the opportunity were given; and the third was pleased
to accompany you to the infernal regions with the necessary fuel.
The arrangement seemed about perfect; apparently they had
overlooked nothing of value.

Thus he had not escaped that vast romance of Nature which

brooded more thickly over Kentucky country life in those days than
now: a romance of superstitions and legends about bird life and
animal life and tree life, that extended even to Nature's chemicals;
for was there not brimstone with its story? As far back as he could
remember he had been made familiar with the idea—rather terrible
in its way—that there was a variety of Biblical horse which breathed
brimstone. All alone one day he had made a somewhat cautious
personal examination of the paddocks and stalls; and was relieved to
discover that his uncle's horses breathed out only what they
breathed in—Kentucky air. He felt glad that they were not of the
breed of those Biblical chargers.

But then there was brimstone in reserve for a large portion of the
human family; and with a perverse mocking deviltry he pushed his
inquiry in this direction still farther. Without the knowledge of any
one he had wasted at a drugstore in town his brightest dime for a
package of the avenging substance; and at home the following day
he had scraped chips together at the woodpile and started a blaze
and poured the brimstone in. Actually he had a sample of hell fire in
operation there behind the woodpile! There was no question that
brimstone knew how to burn: it seemed well adapted for its
purpose. He did not take Fred Ousley into his confidence in this
experiment: the possibilities were a little too personal even for
friendship!

All this reveals a trait in him which lay deeper than child's-play—a
susceptibility to suggestion. Even while he amused himself as a child
with the shams and superstitions about nature, these lived on in his
mind as part of its furnishings. Alas, that this should be true for all of
us—that we cannot forget the things we do not believe in. To the
end of our lives our thoughts have to move amid the obstructions
and rubbish of the useless and the laughable. The salon of our inner
dwelling is largely filled with old furniture which we decline to sit in,
but are obliged to look at, and are powerless to remove; and which
fills the favorite recesses where we should like to arrange the new.

There they were, then, that Saturday afternoon: the uncle with
his newspaper and the nephew at that moment with his group of
evil birds.

There was an interruption. Around the yard with its velvet turf
and blooming shrubs and vines and flowers, that filled the air with
fragrance, was a plank fence newly whitewashed. All the fences of
the farm had been newly whitewashed; and they ran hither and
thither across the emerald of the landscape like structures of white
marble. Through the gate of the yard fence which was heard to shut
behind him there now advanced toward uncle and nephew a
neighbor of theirs, the minister of the country church, himself a
bluegrass farmer. He was one of the many who liked to seek the
company of the untroubled turfman. The two were good neighbors
and great friends. The minister came oftenest for a visit on Saturday
afternoons, as if he wished to touch at this harbor of a quiet life
while passing from the earthly fields of the week to the Sabbath's
holy land.

At the sound of the latch the uncle lifted his eyes from his
newspaper.

"Bring a chair, Downs, will you?" he said in a cordial undertone;

and soon there was a fine group of rural humanity under the
blossoming locusts: the two men talking, and the boy, now that his
turn had come at last, lying on the grass absorbed in the newspaper.
 The men were characters of broad plain speech, much like English
squires of two centuries earlier: not ladylike men: Chaucer might
have been pleased to make one of their group and listen, and turn
them afterwards into fine old English tales; Hogarth might have
craved the privilege to sit near and observe and paint; and a certain
Sir John Falstaff might have been at home with them—in the
absence of the "Merry Wives."

There was another interruption. Around the corner of the manor

house a young servant advanced, bearing a waiter with two deep
glasses well filled: at the bottom the drink was golden; it was green
and snow-white at the top: a little view of icebergs with pine trees
growing on them.

The servant smiled and approached with embarrassment, having

discovered a guest; and in a lowered tone she offered to the master
of the house apologies for not bringing three.

"This is yours, Aleck," said the host, holding out one glass to the
minister. "This is for you, Downs. Now, Melissa, make me one, will
you?"

"None for me," said the minister.

"Then never mind, Melissa. But wait—lemonade?"

"Yes; lemonade. It is the very thing."

"As it is or as it might be?"

"As it is."

"Lemonade without the decanter, Melissa."

While the servant was in the house, the uncle and the nephew
waited with their glasses untouched.
 The turfman was very happy—happy in his guest, in his nephew,
in himself, in everything: his mind overflowed with his quaint
playfulness; and when he talked, you were loath to interrupt him.

"Aleck," he said, rattling the ice in his julep, "don't you suppose
that when we get to heaven, nothing will make us happier there
than remembering the good times we had in this world? so if you
want to be happy there, be happy here. This is one of the pleasures
that I expect to carry in memory if I am ever transformed into a
male seraph. But I may not have to remember. If there is any
provision made for the thirst of the Kentucky redeemed, do you
know what I think will be the reward of all central Kentucky male
angels? From under the great white throne there will trickle an ice-
cold stream of this, ready-made—and I shouldn't wonder if there
were a Kentuckian under the throne making it. The Kentucky
delegation would be camped somewhere near, though there will be
two delegations, of course, because they will divide on politics. And
don't you fear that there will not be others hastening to the banks of
that stream! It is too late to look for young Moses in the bulrushes;
but I shouldn't wonder if the whole ransomed universe discovered
old Moses in the mint."

"Which mint?" said the minister, who kept his worldly wits about
him.

"Aleck," replied the turfman, "I leave it to you whether that is not
too flippant a remark with which to close a gentleman's solemn
discourse."

The lemonade was served.

"Is yours sour enough, Aleck?"

The visitor found it to his taste.

"Is yours sweet enough, Downs?"

 This hurt Downs' feelings: it implied that he was not old enough
to like things sour. He replied surlily that his might have been
stronger.

The servant, watching from inside a window, judged by the angle

at which the glasses were tilted that they were empty: she returned
and asked whether she should bring 'one more all around.'

"More lemonade, Aleck?"

"Thank you, no more for me—but it was good, better than yours."

"Another for you, Downs?"

Downs thought that he would not have another just for the
moment: the servant disappeared.

The nephew returned to his paper. The turfman took from the turf
a piece of whittling wood, split it, and handed the larger piece to the
minister. The minister produced his penknife and began to whittle. In
those days a countryman who did not carry his penknife with a big
blade well sharpened for whittling as he talked with his neighbor
stood outside the manners and customs of a simple cheerful land.
And now the two friends were ready to enjoy their afternoon—the
vicar of souls and the vicar of the stables.

The minister began to speak of his troubles—with that strange

leaning we all have to let our confidences fall upon people who are
not too good: the vicar of the stables was not too good to be
sympathetic. It was all summed up in one sentence—
discouragement about his growing boys. From the beginnings of
their lives he had tried to teach them the things they were not to do;
and all their lives they had seemed bent on doing those things. He
felt disheartened as the boys grew older and their waywardness
increased. What not to do—morning and night what not to do. Yet
they were always doing it.
 Out under the trees the peaceful happy sounds of summer life in
the yard came to the ears of the minister as nature's chorus of
happiness and indifference. The breeder of thoroughbreds, as his
friend grew silent, laughed with his peaceful nature, and remarked
with respect and gentleness:—

"I never train my colts in that way."

"My sons are not colts," said the minister, laughing. "Nor young
jackasses!"

"Yes, I know they are not colts; but I doubt whether their
difference makes any difference in the training of the two species of
animal."

After a pause which was filled with little sounds made by the
industrious penknives, the master of the stables went into the
matter for the pleasure of it:—

"You tell me that you have tried a method of training and that it is
a failure. I don't wonder: any training would be a failure that made it
the chief business in life of any creature—human or brute—to fix its
mind upon what it is not to do. You say you are always warning your
boys; that you fill their minds with cautions; that you arouse their
imagination with pictures of forbidden things; make them look at life
as a check, a halter, a blind bridle. So far as I can discover, you have
prepared a list of the evil traits of humanity and required your boys
to memorize these: and then you tell them to beware. Is that it?"

"That is exactly it."

The youth lying on the grass laid aside his newspaper and began
to listen. The two men welcomed his attention. The minister always
found it difficult to speak without a congregation—part of which
must be sinners: here was an occasion for outdoor preaching. The
turfman probably welcomed this chance to get before the youth in
an indirect way certain suggestions which he relied upon for his:—
 "Well, that is where your training and my training differ," he
resumed. "I never assemble my colts at the barn door—that is, I
would not if I could—and recite to them the vicious traits of the wild
horse and require them to memorize those traits and think about
them unceasingly, but never to imitate them. Speaking of jacks,
Aleck, you know our neighbor stands a jack. And he would not if he
could compel his jack to make a study of the peculiarities of
Balaam's ass. But you compel your boys to make a study of Balaam
and his tribes. You teach them the failings of mankind as they
revealed themselves in an age of primitive transgression. I say I
never try to train a horse that way. On the contrary I try to let all the
ancestral memories slumber, and I take all the ancestral powers and
develop them for modern uses. Why, listen. We know that a horse's
teeth were once useful as a weapon to bite its enemies. Now I try to
give it the notion that its teeth are only useful in feeding. You know
that its hoofs were used to strike its enemies: it stood on its forefeet
and kicked in the rear; it stood on its hind feet and pawed in front.
You know that the horse is timid, it is born timid, dies timid; but had
it not been timid, it would have been exterminated: its speed was
one of its means of survival: if it could not conquer, it had to flee
and the sentinel of its safety was its fear; it was the most valuable
trait it had; this ancestral trait has not yet been outlived; don't
despise the horse for it. But now I try to teach a horse that feet and
legs and speed are to serve another instinct—the instinct to win in
the new maddened courage of the race-course. And I never allow
the horse to believe that it has such a thing as an enemy. He is not
to fear life, but to trust life. I teach him that man is not his old
hereditary enemy, but his friend—and his master. I would not
suggest to a horse any of its latent bad traits. I never prohibit its
doing anything. I never try to teach it what not to do, but only what
to do. And so I have good colts, and you have—but excuse me!"

The minister stood up and brushed the shavings from his lap and
legs; then as he took his seat he covered his side of the discussion
with one breath:—
 "I hold to the old teaching—good from the foundation of the
world—that the old must tell the young what not to do."

"Aleck," replied the vicar of the stables with his quaint sunniness,
"don't you know that no human being can teach any living thing—
man or beast or bird or fish or flea—not to do a thing? you can only
teach to do. If there is a God of this universe, He is a God of doing.
You can no more teach 'a not' than you can teach 'a nothing.' Now
try to teach one of your sons nothing! This world has never taught,
and will never teach, a prohibition, because a prohibition is a
nothing; it has never taught anything but the will and desire to do:
that is the root of the matter. Do you suppose I try to keep one of
my cows from kicking over the bucket of milk by tying her hind legs?
I go to the other end of the beast and do something for her brain so
that when she feels the instinct to kick which is her right, what I
have taught her will compel her to waive her right and to keep her
feet on the ground. That is all there is of it."

They were hearty and good-humored in their talk, and the

minister did not budge: but the boy listened only to his uncle.

"Do you remember, Aleck, when you and I were in the school over
yonder and one morning old Bowles issued a new order that none of
us boys was to ask for a drink between little recess and big recess?
Now none of us drank at that hour; but the day after the order was
issued, every boy wanted a drink, and demanded a drink, and got a
drink. It was thirst for principle. Every boy knew it was his right to
drink whenever he was thirsty—and even when he was not thirsty;
and he disobeyed orders to assert that right. And if old Bowles had
not lowered his authority before that advancing right, there would
not have been any old Bowles. There is one thing greater than any
man's authority, and that is any man's right. Isn't that the United
States? Wasn't that Kentucky country school-house the United
States? And don't you know, Aleck, that as soon as a thing is
forbidden, human nature investigates the command to see whether
it puts forth an infringement of its liberties? Don't you know, Aleck,
that the disobedience of children may be one of their natural rights?"

At this point the uncle turned unexpectedly toward his nephew:—

"Does this bore you, Downs?"

Downs remarked pointedly that half of it bored him: he made it

perfectly clear which was the objectionable half.

The uncle did not notice the discourtesy to his guest, but
continued his amiable observation:—

"To me it all leads up to this—and now the road turns away from
colts to the road you and I walk in as men. It leads up to this: the
difference between failure and transgression. Command to do; and
the worst result can only be failure. Command not to do; and the
worst result is transgression. Now we all live on partial failure: it is
the beginning of effort and the incentive to effort. We try and fail;
with more will and strength and experience we wipe out the failure
and stand beyond it. Long afterwards men look back and laugh at
their failures, love them because they are the measure of what they
were and of what they have become. It is our life, the glory of more
strength, the triumph of will and determination. It is the crowning
victory of the world. And it is the road that leads upward.

"But transgression! No transgression ever develops life; it is so

much death. You can't wrest victory out of transgression: it's a thing
by itself—a final defeat. And what has been defeated is your last
safeguard—your will. Every transgression helps to kill the will. It
weakens, discourages, humiliates, stings, poisons. The road of
transgression is downward."

He stood up, and his guest with him. As he lifted his alpaca coat
from the grass and put it on, there was left lying his bowie-knife,
and he put that on. It was the bowie-knife age.
 "Will you come with us, Downs?"

Downs thought he would now read the newspaper.

"Where is Fred Ousley?" asked the minister of him, knowing that

the two boys were inseparable.

"He has gone to a picnic."

"Why didn't you go to the picnic?"

"I wasn't invited: it's his cousins'."

"And haven't you any cousins who give picnics?"

"I don't like my cousins: I hate my cousins: Fred hates his

cousins: it's a girl that goes with his cousins."

"And what about a girl with your cousins?"

"Well, while you're talking, what about your sons and their
cousins? We're running this farm very well, and we're all pleased.
From what I have been hearing, it's more than can be said about
yours."

The minister laughed good-naturedly at this rudeness as the two

friends walked away; but the vicar of the stables observed mildly:—

"You gave him the wrong kind of suggestion, Aleck. It wasn't in

your words exactly; I don't know where it was; but I felt it and he
felt it: somehow you challenged him to employ his manly art of self-
defence; and part of that art is to attack. But never mind about
Downs. Now come to the stable: I am going to show you a young
thoroughbred there that has never had a disagreeable suggestion
made to him: he thinks this farm paradise. And the five great things
I tried to teach him are: to develop his will, to develop his speed, to
develop his endurance and perseverance, to develop his pride, and
to develop his affection: he is a masterpiece."
 In the green yard that summer afternoon, under the white locust
blossoms and with the fragrance of rose and honeysuckle and lilac
all about him, the youth lay on the grass beside the newspaper—
which he forgot. A new world of thinking had been disclosed to him.
And he made one special discovery: that as far as memory could
reach his uncle had never told him not to do anything: always it had
been to do—never not to do.

And he was a good deal impressed with the difference between

failure and transgression. He did not at all like that idea of
transgression; but he thought he should like to try failure for a
while; then he could call on more strength, tighten his will, develop
more fighting power. He rather welcomed that combat with failure
which would end in success.

He wished Fred were there. It was Saturday he came to stay all

night; and the two were getting old enough to talk about their
futures and at what ages each would marry. They described the
desirable type of woman; and sometimes exchanged descriptions.

And then suddenly he rolled over the grass convulsed with

laughter: his uncle was raising him as a thoroughbred colt. He
approved of the training, but somehow he did not feel complimented
by the classification. Fred would have to hear that—that he was
being trained as for a race-course.

The next morning he was sitting in church; and the minister read
the Commandments.

Hitherto he had always listened to them as the whole

congregation apparently listened: as to a noise from the pulpit that
drew near, lasted for a while, and then rumbled on—without being
meant for any one. But this morning he scrutinized each
Commandment with new thoughtfulness—and with a new
resentfulness also; and when a certain one was reached he made a
discovery that it applied to men only: "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife."

Why should not wives be commanded not to covet their

neighbors' husbands? he wondered. Why was the other half of the
Commandment suppressed? Moses must have been a very polite
man! Perhaps there was more involved than courtesy: otherwise he
might have found life more tolerable among the Egyptians: he might
have been forced to make the return trip across the Red Sea when
the waters were inconveniently deep. Those Jewesses of the
Wandering might have seen to it that he was not to have the
pleasure of dying so mysteriously on Nebo's lonely mountain: his
sepulchre would have been marked—and well marked.

He sat there in the corner of the church, and plied his insolent
satire. Fred Ousley must hear about the second discovery also—the
Commandment for men only.

Then three years passed and he was eighteen; and from fifteen
to eighteen is a long time in youth's life; things are much worse or
things are much better.

It was one rainy September night after supper, and he and his
uncle were sitting on opposite sides of the deep fireplace.

Some logs blazed comfortably, and awoke in both man and youth
the thoughtfulness which lays such a silence upon us with the
kindling of the earliest Autumn fires. Talk between them was never
forced. It came, it went: they were at perfect ease with one another
in their comradeship. The man's long thoughts went backward; the
youth's long thoughts went forward. The man was smoking, at
intervals serenely drawing his amber-hued meerschaum from under
his thick mustache. The youth was not smoking—he was waiting to
be a man. Once his uncle had remarked: "Tobacco is for men if they
wish tobacco, and for pioneer old ladies if they must have their
pipes. Begin to smoke after you are a man, Downs. Cigars for boys
are as bad as cigars would be for old ladies."

The way in which this had been put rather captured the youth's
fancy: he was determined to have every inward and outward sign of
being a man: now he was waiting for the cigar.

He had been hunting with Fred Ousley that afternoon, and just
before dark had come in with a good bag of birds. A drizzle of rain
had overtaken him in the fields and dampened his clothing. The
truth is that he and Ousley had lingered over their good-by; Fred
was off for college. Supper was over when he reached the house,
and he had merely washed his hands and gone in to supper as he
was, eating alone; and now as he sat gazing into the fire, his boots
and his hunting-trousers and his dark blue flannel shirt began to
steam. He was too much a youth to mind wet garments.

The man on the opposite side sent secret glances across at him:
they were full of pride, of a man's idolatry of a scion of his own
blood. He was thinking of the blood of that family—blood never to
be forced or hurried: death rather than being commanded: rage at
being ordered: mingled of Scotch and Irish and Anglo-Saxon—with
the Kentucky wildness and insolence added. Blood that often
wallowed in the old mires of humanity; then later in life by a process
of unfolding began to set its course toward the virtues of the world
and ultimately stood where it filled lower men with awe.

September was the month for the opening of schools and

colleges. The boy's education had been difficult and desultory. First
he had gone to the neighborhood school, then to a boys' select
school, then to a military school, then to a college. Usually he quit
and came home. Once he had joined his uncle in another State at
the Autumn meeting of a racing association—had merely walked up
to him on the grounds, eating purple grapes out of a paper bag and
with his linen trousers pockets bulging with ripe peaches.

"Well, Downs," his uncle observed by way of greeting him, as

though he had reappeared round a corner.

"Who won the last race?" inquired the boy as though he had been
absent ten minutes.

Now out of the silence of the rainy September night and out of
the thoughtfulness of the fire, the imperious splendid dark glowing
young animal steaming in his boots and flannel suddenly looked
across and spoke:—

"If I am ever going to do anything, it is about time I began."

The philosopher on the other side of the fire grew wary; he had
given the blood time, and now the blood was mounting to the brain.

"It is time, if you think it is time."

"One thing I am not going to do," said the arbiter of his fate, as if
he were drawing a surprise from the depths of his nature and were
offering it to his uncle; if possible, without discourtesy, but certainly
without discussion—"one thing I am not going to do; I am not going
to breed horses."

The fire crackled, and no other sound disturbed the stillness.

"Some one else will breed them," replied the vicar of the stables,
with quietness: the sun always seemed to remain on his face after it
had gone down. "They will be bred by some one else. The breeding
of horses in the world will not be stopped because some one does
not wish to breed them. It will come to the same thing in the end.
Even if it does not come to the same thing, it will come to something
different. No matter, either way."

The young hunter had unbuttoned one of his shirt sleeves and
bared his arm above the elbow; and he now stroked his forearm as
he bent it backward over the biceps and suddenly struck out at the
air as though he would knock the head off of an idea.

"My notion is this: I don't want to stand still and let my horse do
the running. If I have a horse, I want it to stand still and let me do
the running. If there is any excitement for either of us, I want the
excitement. I don't care to own an animal that wins a race: I want to
be the animal that wins a race."

"Then be the animal that wins the race! The horse will win his
races: he will take care of himself: win your race."

"I intend to win my race."

There was silence for a while.

"As it is not to be horses, then, I have been thinking of other

things I might do."

"Keep on thinking."

"You might help me to think."

"I am ready to think with you; you can only think for yourself."

"What about going into the army?"

"You just said you wanted excitement. There is no excitement in

the army unless there is war. We have just passed through one war,
and I don't think either of us will live to see another. Still, if you
wish, I can get you to West Point. Or, if you prefer the navy, I can
get you to Annapolis."
 "No Annapolis for me! I wouldn't live on anything that I couldn't
walk about on and sit down on and roll over on. No water for me. I'll
take land all round me in every direction. I guess I'll leave the sea to
the Apostle Peter. Life on land and death on land for me. Hard
showers and streams and ponds and springs—that will do for water.
No Annapolis, thank you!"

"West Point, then."

"If I went into the army, wouldn't I have to leave the farm here?"

"You'd have to leave the farm here unless the Government would
quarter some troops here for your accommodation. In case of war,
you might arrange with the enemy to come to Kentucky and attack
you where you would be comfortable."

The future officer of his country did not smile at this: his manner
seemed to indicate that such a concession might not be so absurd.
He did not budge from his position:—

"I'd rather do something that would let me live here."

"You could live here and study law: some of the greatest
members of the Kentucky bar have been farmers. You could live
here and practise law in the country seat."

"Suppose I studied law and then some day I were called to the
Supreme Bench: wouldn't that take me away?"

"It might take you away unless the Supreme Court would get
down from its Bench and come and sit on your bench—always to
accommodate you."

"I don't know about law: I'll have to think: law does make you
think!"

"There is the pulpit: some of the greatest Kentucky divines have

been bluegrass farmers—though I've always wished that they
wouldn't call themselves divines. It's more than Christ did!"

"The pulpit! And then all my life I'd be thinking of other people's
faults and failings. A fine time I'd have, trying to chase my friends to
hell."

The next suggestion followed in due order.

"There's Oratory; some of the great Kentucky orators have been

bluegrass farmers. There is Southern Oratory."

"Oratory—where would I get my gas?"

"Manufacture it. It always has to be manufactured. The consumer

always manufactures."

"If I went in for oratory, you know I'd come out in Congress; you
know they always do: then no farm for me again."

"That is, unless—you know, Congress might adjourn and hold its
sessions—that same idea—to accommodate you—!"

"I'd like to be a soldier and I'd like to be a farmer, if I could get

the two professions together."

"They went together regularly in pioneer Kentucky. The soldiers

were farmers and the farmers were soldiers."

"And then if I could be a doctor. That's what I'd like best. To be a

soldier and a farmer and a doctor."

"Men were all three in pioneer Kentucky. During the period of

Indian wars the Kentucky farmer and soldier, who was the border
scout, was also sometimes the scout of Æsculapius."

"Æsculapius—who was he? Trotter, runner, or pacer?"

"He set the pace: you might call him a pacer."

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