Term
| what is the relationship between a diode and binary numbers? |
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Definition
| A diode is a device that transmits one way, and has an asymmetric property which provides a basis for manipulating binary numbers based on phsyical logic satisfaction. |
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Term
| What is the difference between phone and CD grade digitization? |
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Definition
| Phone grade digitization is lower quality, has lower bits/sec, and less frequent sound wave sampling than CD grade technology |
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Term
| Name and very briefly discuss another technology based on IC technology miniaturization. |
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Definition
| Taste, smell, DNA, nontechnology, light and electrity measurements |
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Term
| What is a client-server computer network? |
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Definition
| Network of workstations connected to a main server that supplies them huge disk drives, databases, or connections to the network. It is known as downsizing because it allows each workstation to only have a basic computer rather than their own server near them. |
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Term
| What are two differences between computer (packet or asymmetric) and voice (continuous or symmetric) communication? |
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Definition
| Continuous communication requires a dedicated channel capacity, packets do not. Also, the rate at which packets are sent through the channel depends on the channel capacity with continuous comm. There is no noticeable time delay on earth. |
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Term
| What is compression and how is compression related to Shannon's law? |
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Definition
| Shannons law provided a method by which a string of bits could be transmitted without sending each and every 0 and 1 in order. The method involves identifying the length of the strand of bits, gives a base composition of all 1s, then sends the message of where the random 0s have been placed. Shannons law defines the message composition in terms of randomness from a consistent monotone, and compression theory has branched from it. |
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Term
| Define discovery, invention and innovation. |
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Definition
| Discovery: A new increment to knowledge; Invention: A new device or process; Innovation: A better way of doing things. |
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Term
| Give an incentive for discovery, invention, and innovation (one for each). |
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Definition
| Discovery: Fame; Invention: Intellectual property; Innovation: Better performance. |
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Term
| Give an example of a standard. Why are standards necessary with information technology? What are the economics of setting standards? Why does the industry as a whole benefit, but individual players do not have identical interests. |
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Definition
| The ASCII convention is an example of an industrial standard. without standards interaction among machines or even among software packages for a single machine is impossible. Standards expand the market and allow the small firms to seek niches knowing their specialty can be meshed with other equipment. Some individual players intentionally change the standards so they will have an edge in future technology development. |
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Term
| What his been the trend in the number of electronic components on a chip since 1960? What economic factor limits the rate at which firms can profitably increase the number of components on a chip? How do firms expand this limit? What ultimately limits the number of components on a chip? |
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Definition
| The number of components on a chip has followed Moore's law, doubling each year. The economic factors include time, complexity, and difficulty in processes (i.e. clean room). Physics ultimately limits space - we are now getting into molecular and, eventually, atomic ICs that go even smaller in terms of components. Closer components means faster computing, more components means more powerful computing. |
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Term
| Briefly discuss with two examples how economic forces promote software firms to create software that increases the efficiency of the final user. |
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Definition
| The final user will be more likely to purchase from this company because (1) they don't have to spend hours over manuals to accomplish a simple task (labor can be replaceable as well), and (2) the programs are integrated so they can interact with each other via standards (i.e. office suites) |
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Term
| Define teleconferencing and telecommuting and explain the difference. What are the economics? |
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Definition
| Teleconferencing allows people to have a meeting together, with voice and sometimes video, from different areas. Telecommuting allows people to work at home by receiving assignments and handing in work over a network |
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Term
| How competitive is local communication in Austin, TX? |
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Definition
| There is VOIP, DSL, Vonage over cable lines, skype, cell phones, Nextel. If the rates have gone down from 10 to 15 years ago, there has been more competition |
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Term
| What three factors determine the quality of a computer monitor? |
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Definition
| Colors that the human eye can see, pixels the human eye can see, flicker rate needed to avoid the flicker to the human eye |
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Term
| Briefly discuss: Our eyes are digital and our ears are analog. |
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Definition
| Eyes measure light waves, and translate to images digitally in mind for viewing. Ears are analog because the waves are interpreted directly by the eardrum - not digitzed. |
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Term
| What is the important property of a transistor lacking in a diode. |
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Definition
| A transister is two diodes connected together asymmetrically. If it is missing a diode, it is technically just one diode. |
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Term
| What is a byte? How many colors can you represent with a byte? |
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Definition
| A byte is a string of 8 bits. It can display 256 colors at any one time. |
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Term
| What is an artificial neural network? |
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Definition
| ANN is software simulation of a biological neural network (or brain) that can be run on a conventional computer. |
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Term
| How far from the center of the earth and in what orbit do you place a satellite such that it appears stationary with respect to the earth? Is such a satellite good for long distance communication. |
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Definition
| 22,000 miles and in orbit with the equator of the earth. Not good for long distance communication because of ½ second delay. |
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Term
| What is Shannon's measure of information and how does that relate to the meaning of the message. Briefly discuss: You must communication all the information in a message to communicate its meaning? |
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Definition
| Randomness - or entropy - has nothing to do with message, except it both deals with the same data. |
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Term
| Briefly point out six facts about the evolution of institutions promoting discovery, invention, and innovation since 1790. |
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Definition
| 1. During the first hundred years of US, most adapted from England. 2. Educational developments/institutions for research did create the foundations in the US during this period, 3. Second hundred years of US had corp. R&D, 4. Gov. started funding research, esp. after WWII, 5. Powerful incentives for startups to succeed in US during 1900s, 6. 1984 antitrust laws relaxed to allow consortia to promote invention |
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Term
| Why use binary numbers instead of decimal in information technology? What phenomenon can be represented by binary numbers. What is the economic advantage of being able to represent many as opposed to one phenomenon. |
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Definition
| Binary numbers can represent any letter in any language in the world via combinations, economic advantage is a world market edge |
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Term
| How did the Japanese compete in the IC memory market in the 80s? How did the US respond? What was the role of Sematech? What type of IC does the US specialize in? What type of IC does Japan specialize in? Who did a number on Japan in this type of IC? Who sells the most ICs today. |
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Definition
| To gain a strategic hold on the memory market, Japanese firms in the 80s sold memory integrated circuits below cost until most of all but two US firms abandoned the memory market. US firms concentrated their research efforts in more profitable types of ICs such as microprocessors, communication ICs and specialty ICs. the US set up a research facility for improved integrated circuit production here in Austin called Sematech. Recently the US electronics industry has regained the worldwide lead in microelectronics sales and now Samsung of South Korea is the number one manufacturer of memory chips (beat out Japan). |
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Term
| What sense does man use the most? Use Moore's law to discuss the evolution of hardware and software to provide man with what he wants using personal computers as an example. Start with grade school. |
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Definition
| Man uses sight the most. The evolution of hardware and software has been becoming smaller, more powerful, and cheaper over the years - as Moore's law generally predicts. Personal computers have become a standard for even young students in grade school - computers are in the school labs, and most papers must be turned in typed. Many math or design based classes use computers as well. Schools can now afford to use these personal computers, and use many of them to fit most of their students needs. |
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Term
| Discuss the deregulation of communication over the past twenty years. Has competition increased in the (1) long distance market (2) local market (you can use Austin as an example). |
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Definition
| Long distance competition increased from creation of fiber optic networks with tremendous excess capacity rates should continue a downward trend. Cell towers are also much easier to build than wire systems. In the local market, competition is beginning as cable firms can offer phone service over the internet. |
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Term
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Definition
| Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent representation and manipulation of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. |
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Term
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Definition
| A transistor, which consists of two diodes placed end to end, provides an asymmetric device which amplifies the input signal. |
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Term
| What is an expert system? |
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Definition
| A computer program that provides specialized information services to give opinions or answers based on input data and the prediction/logic process of the programmer(s). |
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Term
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Definition
| As compared to HTML, the tags are unlimited (versus HTML which is very limited in design). XML encourages groups to create special purpose collections of tags for special purposes. For example, a set of math tags in XML has been created so that math can be displayed on a browser page with the same detail as a math textbook. |
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Term
| Can a robot have economic value with no intelligence? Use an example to discuss. |
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Definition
| Yes, ATM machines or online flight reservations provides an automated service but uses humans to make intelligent decisions. These systems have economic value with no artificial (or genuine) intelligence. |
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Term
| What is a neural network and at what is it efficient? |
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Definition
| It is a software simulation of biological neural network that can be run on a conventional computer, and it is efficient at learning from decisions made by humans and simulating those decisions in situations in the future given different environmental variables. |
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Term
| Why are standards necessary for technology and how are they created? |
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Definition
| Standards are essential for advances in computing, communication and automation because without standards interaction among machines or even among software packages for a single machine is impossible. Firms frequently try to set proprietary standards to get customers locked into using their products. However, if each firm were to adopt its own standard, communication between equipment from different vendors would be difficult. In a growing market, one way that standards are set is that participants tend to follow the dominant firm or coalition of firms. Another way standards are set is by consortia and other organizations. |
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Term
| What economic (SHORT RUN) and physical (LONG RUN) factors limit the number of electronic components that can be placed on a chip? When might the industry reach the physical limit and what happens then? |
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Definition
| SHORT RUN: mass production capabilities, costs of materials, current technology, demand, temporarily limited by the resolution distance of light. Using X or Gamma rays it is physically possible to pack even more components per integrated circuit. LONG RUN: physical limits of fitting more components on a chip, i.e. atomic or molecular |
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Term
| Define and discuss the economics of EDI. Why move from private networks to the Internet? |
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Definition
| EDI is the computer-to-computer exchange of structured information, by agreed message standards, from one computer application to another by electronic means and with a minimum of human intervention. EDI is currently shifting from private networks, VANs, to the Internet to reduce cost. Again all players must agree to the same standard to get universial compatibility. |
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Term
| Why has communication moved from a regulated monopoly towards a competitive market? To what extent is a competitive market possible in local communication? Is competition conservative wishful thinking? |
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Definition
| Communication has moved from regulated monopoly towards a competitive market because there are new ways to transfer voice and other data other than telephone lines. Communication=Computation. For instance, fiber optics and cell towers helped increase competition in the long distance market. In local markets, there is now competition thanks to cable firms beginning to offer phone service over the cable wires (rather than the Baby Bells merely letting other firms borrow their infrastructure for a price). Competition is not conservative wishful thinking. As technology increases, so will competition, as it becomes easier to compete with less infrastructural investment. |
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Term
| Discuss: The best way to improve manufacturing competitiveness is to advance automation as fast as possible just like GM. |
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Definition
| Reorganization (innovation) in manufacturing is much more than simply substituting machines and software for humans in the production process. As automation advances, firms must also constantly innovate by reorganizing their human-machine production process to achieve an edge in international competition. |
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Term
| What are two differences between computer (packet or asymmetric) and voice (continuous or symmetric) communication? |
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Definition
| Continuous communication requires a dedicated channel capacity, packets do not. Also, the rate at which packets are sent through the channel depends on the channel capacity with continuous comm. There is no noticeable time delay on earth. |
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Term
| What is compression and how is compression related to Shannon's law? |
|
Definition
| Shannons law provided a method by which a string of bits could be transmitted without sending each and every 0 and 1 in order. The method involves identifying the length of the strand of bits, gives a base composition of all 1s, then sends the message of where the random 0s have been placed. Shannons law defines the message composition in terms of randomness from a consistent monotone, and compression theory has branched from it. |
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Term
| Briefly discuss: An FMS is a fully automated factory. |
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Definition
| The buzz word here is flexible manufacturing systems, FMS, which are also called manufacturing cells. It is very important for the student to realize that a FMS is really a computer-controlled machine shop and is not a complete automated manufacturing plant. |
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Term
| Why did information technology initially increase the use of paper? |
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Definition
| Prior to EDI, a major inefficiency in business paperwork processes was that documents were being transferred back and forth between paper and electronics between firms. There wasn't integration of programs either. |
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Term
| What is CAD and CAE and give an example showing how they improve efficiency? |
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Definition
| Buzz words - CAD, computer assisted design; CAE, computer assisted engineering. They can help humans verify appropriate parts allocation, parts manufacture, improvement of quality control, assembly line arrangement, and reorganization of the machines in the entire process. |
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Term
| What is a computer bus and how is it evolving over time? |
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Definition
| Connects the electrical components of computer together. Evolving over time to be larger, so it can transmit more bits at one time (faster). |
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Term
| Discuss: Discovery leads to invention leads to innovation. |
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Definition
| Discovery - broadcast new knowledge. Incentive created to capitalize on new knowledge first. Invention - apply new knkowledge in specific form to garner rights to it (and license, sell it). Incentive to improve process to max. income. Innovation - Improve on the process to create more profit, less cost. |
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Term
| What is the economics of backwards compatible? Give an example. |
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Definition
| Running all software that can be run on the previous generation of computers is important because (1) no one will purchase the new computer until new software is out, and (2) no one will program for the new computer until people purchase it. Its a catch 22 that backwards compatibility solves. |
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Term
| Can a computer think and is thinking necessary for applications? |
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Definition
| No, computers cant think, but they can be quasi intelligent. It can only make educated guesses based on correlations of logic in humans, or take commands from humans. Not necessary, though. Humans use as tools, can be economically helpful. Some do argue that there are programs are based on a variety of quasi-intelligent software and optimization techniques that can be used on a computer, but in the end they are just complex logic programs that choose the best option from criteria. |
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Term
| Discuss the shift of communication from regulated monopoly to competition. |
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Definition
| Telecommunications Act of 1996 says all communication up for competition. Baby Bells tried to get around it by squelching competition locally, so they can entire long distance market. Now, they are trying to get into fiber optics. Long distance has become more competitive because they can get free long distance. Locally, Baby Bells were supposed to be required to let competitors use their infrastructure. Never happened, no incentive because they got around not being able to be in long distance market. |
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Term
| How did firms improve the efficiency of ordering parts and inventory since 1980? |
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Definition
| They have done three things: order parts from suppliers as needed, move their operations closer to their suppliers factories, or - if they are important enough an orderer for the supplier - force the suppliers to build or house products near them. |
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Term
| Give an example of quasi intelligent software and discuss its economics. |
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Definition
| ANN is software simulation of a biological neural network (or brain) that can be run on a conventional computer. Can be used to make decision or optimization decisions quick and easy if based on criteria. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A diode is a device which transmits a current only one way. |
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Term
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Definition
| Startups are financed by another US institutional innovation, venture capital. Venture capitalists pool their resources and invest in a large number of startups with the expectation that all it takes is one success to become rich. |
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Term
| What is the difference between an operating system and a computer language such as Java? |
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Definition
| Operating systems allow computer languages such as Java to interface with the hardware, and for the end user to control the machine from Java via the operating system. |
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Term
| Why place a satellite at 22,000 miles around the equator? |
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Definition
| Good for broadcast TV and multiplexed phone conversation. |
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Term
| How does a robot identify different products coming down the assembly line? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| What is a client server network? |
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Definition
| Network of workstations connected to a main server that supplies them huge disk drives, databases, or connections to the network. It is known as downsizing because it allows each workstation to only have a basic computer rather than their own server near them. |
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Term
| What is HTML and XML and what is the difference? |
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Definition
| Pages in browsers were first composed in a language called HTML. This language had tags that controlled the layout of a page. The number of tags was about 6000 and they resided in the browser. XML has more tags and will send commands to the browser, instead of having the code lay within the browser, to elicit certain display responses. |
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Term
| Briefly discuss: Discovery always leads invention in the development of new products. |
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Definition
| Discovery does not always lead to new products, as a new increment to knowledge is not always marketable as a product in a certain form. (unless you count textbooks). |
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Term
| Binary numbers: What two factors determine the quality of the binary representation of voice and discuss the difference between phone and CD grade quality? |
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Definition
| Frequency of wave sampling and bits/second (also, obviously, what humans consider as quality level needed in each) |
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Term
| Chips: What has been the trend in the number of electronic components on a chip since 1960? What are the economics of this trend? What has been the impact of the cost of a bit of memory? What is the economic limit of the number of components on the chip? How steps do firms take to relax this limit? |
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Definition
| As a student, you need to distinguish between (1) the decline in cost when the number of components is doubled and (2) the decline in cost when output is doubled. For example, when technology moved from a 1M memory to the 4M memory, the number of components increased by 4, but the cost of producing 4M memory integrated circuits was less than 4 times the cost of producing 1M memory integrated circuits. When the output of 4M devices increased by 2, the cost of 4M devices fell by 20 to 30% as efficiencies in production were obtained. Consequently, the fall in cost of a bit of memory has been greater than 30% per year since 1960. This falling cost can be attributed to both cost effects. The physical limit to the number of components per integrated circuit is temporarily limited by the resolution distance of light. Using X or Gamma rays it is physically possible to pack even more components per integrated circuit. Ultimately, the physical limit is determined by the number of atoms required to construct a circuit. But before that limit is reached the physics of ICs will shift from classical to quantum mechanics. |
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Term
| Describe two types of parallel processors. What are the problems and promise of developing compilers for parallel processors? |
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Definition
| Parallel processes can get around limit of having to process sequentially, can now perform different tasks at same time. TWO TYPES: SIMD (same instruction on different data), MIMD (different instructions on different data) |
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Term
| Define and discuss the economics of intranets? |
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Definition
| Intranets are within a small area that connect a certain amount of computers, for example, together. Traffic (users) can greatly slow communication, so LANs are subdivided and connected via bridges to keep inter-LAN speed fast. WANs can also connect in a smaller network size than the Internet, but the speed is determined in part by the amount of routers in use, which each must take time to process each packet. |
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Term
| Give an example of a company organized through telecommuting? Briefly discuss who benefits and who loses in telecommuting? What are towns doing to attract telecommuters? |
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Definition
| Amazon.com is apparently organized via telecommuting. People who want to work from home benefit, but at a pay cut most likely and a benefit cut to the worker. The employer would cut cost and generally win all the time, if quality could be maintained. Towns are attempting to make an infrastructure of internet availability, i.e. broadband |
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Term
| What is JIT? What limits the application of JIT in the US? What approach has been taken in the US? Why does JIT require quality control? Discuss two important factors of modern quality control. |
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Definition
| The most advanced plan, which was developed by Toyota, is JIT, just-in-time, where the order for a final product generates the orders for parts as they are needed (demand pull). US can't do it because suppliers are not really near each other, as in Japan where suppliers may be across town. US has tried MRp, manufacturing resources planning - schedules flow of parts according to a forecasted manufacturing plan. Quality control is necessary in JIT because the suppliers parts are not very well examined (as they are not in inventory for long, or technically at all), so the supplier must be sure that the parts they supply are not faulty. Two important factors of modern quality control are (1) constant observation to improve the manufacturing process over time and (2) designing products to have performance not be affected by minor defects. |
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Term
| What is CAE, give and example, and briefly explain its economic advantage. |
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Definition
| Computer Assisted Engineering helps humans engineer certain products based on possible additions. It can measure real word magnitudes or vectors in certain tests. An example is finite element analysis that computes stress on physical objects. The economic advantage is to be able to get more information out of every product test for better design purposes. |
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Term
| What is a consortia and what are the economic incentives to form one. |
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Definition
| Since 1984 innovators have created numerous consortia to promote research on joint projects and the development of industry standards, which can in itself progress technology to a point of profitability and integration. |
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Term
| Why are good strategies for innovation generally more difficult to implement than strategies for invention? Give an example to illustrate your point. |
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Definition
| Inventions are more straightforward examples of taking knowledge and applying it in a unique way to create a new product. Innovation is more difficult to implement because innovation creates competitive advantage, and competitive advantages are usually firm-specific. Otherwise, everyone could copy it easily and it most likely would have already been implemented instinctually. |
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Term
| What is the economics behind Moore's law? |
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Definition
| The empirical rate of growth of electronic components on an integrated circuit is known as Moore's Law, which has doubled somewhere around every year and a half. The cost of production has also been cut by more than a half each year, in general. So it is decrease of cost, increase of components (speed + power) |
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Term
| What is the Memory Pyramid and why does it exist. |
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Definition
| Fundamental bottleneck in computer design is the flow of information back and forth from memory to the CPU. You cant transmit more information even if you have a CPU that is very powerful, because the channel isnt advanced enough to handle that much data transmission. |
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Term
| Man is a visual animal: How has the evolution of hardware and software reflected this fact and how is this evolution related to Moore's law? |
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Definition
| The limit of hardware and software performance has been what the human eye can see. Moore's law says the number components on an IC will double each year, and the cost will more than half. This, however, is not true if humans have no need (i.e., cannot take advantage of) the increased components on an IC. This would apply to quality of a computer monitor, etc. |
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Term
| Can data and voice be combined in the same communication network and is it economic to do so. Who might win in the long run. |
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Definition
| All communication systems will eventually merge, so yes it is possible. It is economical to do so because data traffic is growing so much faster than voice traffic, and since data traffic is demanding more development it is economical to use what is developed for that type of transfer for voice transfer as well. In the long, a broadband digital communications system will be available capable of connecting home and office and carrying any media. |
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Term
| Give two examples that clearly show that the profitability of manufacturing is as much a function of better organization as better technology. |
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Definition
| (1) Robots need to be organized in a better way to replace human workers, such as the innovation of bar codes. (2) An innovation in the design of a car is a great asset if the design is desirable to consumers, but the cost of giving up old parts is high. Via reorganization, one can alter old parts and reduce the cost because new parts cost more than simply changing old parts to fit the new design. |
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Term
| Discuss the pros and cons of airline reservation software. |
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Definition
| Pros: can't process volume of traffic without them, also allows easy price comparison, Cons: distinct competitive advantage, so any firm without the system failed. Also, no more labor costs of booking flights or travel planners - lost jobs!! |
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Term
| Explain. Name and briefly discuss two developments in creating software more efficiently. |
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Definition
| 1. Subroutines (libraries) that programmers can call upon that are already present, instead of writing a new routine within the program 2. Creating software that can be integrated with other software so the end user can be more productive. |
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Term
| What is an artificial neural network, give an example and discuss the economics. |
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Definition
| It is a software simulation of biological neural network that can be run on a conventional computer, and it is efficient at learning from decisions made by humans and simulating those decisions in situations in the future given different environmental variables. Ex: fingerprint identification. Economically, faster to make decisions based on quick logic. Cuts down labor costs and time. |
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Term
| How do you represent touch with binary numbers? |
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Definition
| 0 means area not touched, 1 means it was touched. |
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Term
| How do you represent taste with binary numbers? |
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Definition
| Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and their combinations. |
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Term
| How do you represent smell with binary numbers? |
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Definition
| Hard, many many different combinations required for every different molecule you can smell. |
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Term
| Difference between smell and taste? |
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Definition
| Smell more complicated, receptor for every molecule - taste easier to gauge bluntly. |
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Term
| why do electrical engineers create logic circuits, economics of it. |
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Definition
| Logic of "and", "or" and "not" can be made into ICs, and design can be improved upon in theory via diodes and transistors. Less costly to design first, general theory for later innovations. |
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Term
|
Definition
| true false, 0,1 logic statements |
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Term
| What are the different types of circuits? |
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Definition
| Light circuit (quicker, faster ways of transferring info in circuits), logic circuit or boolean circuit (0,1) true false circuits, integrated circuit (boolean upon boolean upon boolean) |
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Term
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Definition
| allows users to buy computing power and space on decentralized servers, more efficient, cheaper for all |
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Term
| What is case based reasoning? |
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| search through knowledge base on rules of (if, then). |
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Term
| What is difference between sound spectrum and electromagnetic spectrum? |
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Definition
| sound must travel through a medium, while electromagnetic waves can travel through a vacuum. Electromagnetic spectrum can carry more info because there is a larger range of frequences humans can use or assign for use. |
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Term
| What is fundamental difference between voice commmunication thru bell and VOIP? |
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Definition
| That circruit could have inefficiency, VOIP more efficient via packet transfer. |
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Term
| Fiber optics, why switch to digital from analog? |
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Definition
| digital has a generally higher sample rate of the wave frequency, allow for more information integrity. Also, it generally uses a higher bitrate. |
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