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1 From Smoke Signals to the Internet: The History of Communications Infrastructures Randy H. Katz UMC Distinguished Professor Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Dept. University of California, Berkeley © 2000
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2 History of Communications The Dream Early state-sponsored R&D Creative destruction Scientific discoveries to practical application Brilliant inventors and large corporations The legal system
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3 Presentation Outline Communications in Antiquity Napoleon’s Secret Weapon “What Hath God Wrought?” “Look, No Wires!” “Mr. Watson, Come Here. I need you!” Broadcast Entertainment: Radio and TV “When Wizards Stayed up Late”
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4 Muscle Powered Communications Human messengers on foot or horseback –“Command and Control” between capital and field –490 BC: Phidippides—Marathon to Athens with news of victory over Persians (26.2 miles) –14 AD: Roman relays—50 miles per day for regular mail, 100 miles per day for express mail –1280 AD: Kublai Khan—200-250 miles per day “Poste Haste”— “Fast Post” —riders signal by horns
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6 Visual Communications Heliographs Flags
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7 Fire Beacons 150 BC: Polybius 1 2 3 4 5 1234512345 A B C D E F G H IJ K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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8 The Optical Telegraph Claude Chappe, 1763-1805 Early Defense Contractor
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9 Emergence of a Network
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10 Scientific Advances Late 18th—Early 19th Century –Relationship between electricity and magnetism –Oersted (Copenhagen): electricity’s ability to deflect a needle –1831, Faraday (Royal Institution, London): electromagnetic induction Politician: “But what’s the use of it, Mr. Faraday?” Faraday: “Ah, but what use is a baby?”
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11 The Electrical Telegraph Wheatstone and Cooke Railroad Telegraph 1837
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12 Samuel Morse Morse Code 1837
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13 Dots and Dashes Span the Globe –1852: First international telegram –Reuters establishes TNN –1858: Cyrus Field lays first transatlantic cable—Line fails! –1866: New cable & technology by Prof. W. Thompson (Lord Kelvin)
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14 Dots and Dashes Span The Globe Communications “arms” race Strategic necessity: circumventing the tyranny of the telegraph lines owned by nation states
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15 Scientific Background James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) "... we have strong reason to conclude that light itself -- including radiant heat, and other radiations if any -- is an e/m disturbance in the form of waves propagated through the e/m field according to e/m laws." 1864. Heinrich Hertz (1857 - 1894) –1880s: Demonstrated wave character of electrical transmission in space
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16 Wireless Telegraphy Guglielmo Marconi
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17 Wireless and Warfare
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18 The Zimmermann Telegram 16 Jan 1917, Foreign Minister Zimmermann to Ambassador in Washington: “We make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support, and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.”
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19 The Telegraph Learns to Speak Alexander Graham Bell
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20 Bell’s Early Telephones
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21 Building the Network Almon Brown Strowger (1839 - 1902)
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22 “Ma Bell” Bell’s patents expire in 1890s; over 6000 independent operators emerge –1910: Bell System controls 50% local phone market –1913: AT&T & U.S.—Kingsbury Agreement: Regulated monopoly promising "universal” telephone service; Controls “toll” services in U.S. –Long distance interconnection— a competitive weapon –1950: Bell System—84% of local phone access
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23 Bell Telephone Equipment
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24 Making the Airwaves Sing John Fleming (1849-1945) Lee DeForest (1873-1961)
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25 Scientific Genius of Radio Edwin Howard Armstrong
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26 Commercial Genius of Radio David Sarnoff and RCA
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27 Early Comms Devices
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28 Seeing at a Distance: Television John Logie Baird
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29 Electrical/Mechanical Systems
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30 Forgotten Genius of Television Philo T. Farnsworth
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32 Vladimir K. Zworykin
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33 Packet Switching Paul Baran Donald Davies ARPANet
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34 ARPANet Becomes Internet Robert Kahn & Vint Cerf
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35 What Comes Next? Deregulation Convergence Divergence
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