(NOTE:
Each chapter begins with an Introduction and ends with a Summary and Try These Exercises.)
I. INTRODUCTION.
1. What is the Information in the Information Revolution? Information, Messages, and Signals. Examples of Information Systems. Representing and Quantifying Information. Analog and Digital Information. The Move Toward Digital Information Technology.
2. The World Wide Web: A Unique Product of the Information Age. Why Introduce the Web This Early in the Book? What Is the Web, and Why Was It Created? The Origin of the Web. How the Web Solves Our Document Distribution Problem. How the Web Was Won. The Success of the World Wide Web. The Structure of the Web. Technologies That Enhance the Power of the Web. Java and the Web.
II. FUNDAMENTALS OF BINARY REPRESENTATION.
3. Representing Information in Bits. Information and Its Representation. The Search for an Appropriate Code. Bits as Building Blocks of Information. Convenient Forms for Binary Codes.
4. The Need and Basis for Data Protocols. Using Protocols to Organize Information. Saving Information: Tapes, Disks, and CDs. Protocols for Sending Data. Word Processor and Web Protocols.
III. GRAPHICS AND VISUAL INFORMATION.
5. From Real World to Images and Video. Images: Information Without Words or Numbers. Cameras and Image Formation. Human Visual Discrimination and Acuity. Other Types of Image Formation. Converting Images to Bits. Binocular Vision and 3D Displays. From Images to Video.
6. Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality. Synthesizing Images. Two Ways to Store Images. Displaying the Bit-Mapped Image. Display Device Formats. From Numbers to Images. Virtual Reality Modeling Language. The Organization of a VRML Scene. Placing a Surface on a Virtual Object.
IV. DATA COMPRESSION.
7. Compressing Information. Why Can Information be Compressed? Messages, Data, and Information. Information Theory. Probability-Based Coding. Variable Length Coding. Universal Coding.
8. Image Compression. Image-Specific Compression Methods. Lossless Image Compression. Virtual Lab Demonstrations of Lossless Compression. Lossy Compression.
9. Digital Video. Video Compression. MPEG Video Compression. Digital Television.
V. BANDWIDTH AND INFORMATION THEORY.
10. Audio as Information. The Physical Phenomena Underlying Sound. From Sound to Signals. Limitations on Human Hearing. Sinusoidal Frequency Components. The Frequency Content and Bandwidth of Audio Signals. Frequency Content of Audio Signals.
11. Sampling of Audio Signals. Sampling an Audio Signal. Reconstructing Audio from Samples.
12. Digital Audio. Digitization of Audio Samples. The Process of Quantization. Quantization Noise. Adding Up the Bits: Home CD Players. Reconstruction. Other Applications, and a Few Tricks.
13. The Telephone System: Wired and Wireless. The Original (Analog) Telephone System. The Digital Telephone System. Cellular Telephone Systems. Satellite Telephones.
VI. TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGY.
14. What Is Bandwidth and How Is It Used? Real-Time Data Transmission. Delay Time and the Speed of Light. Finite Data Rate and Real-Time Transmission. Physical Origin of Bandwidth Limitations. Fiber-Optic Transmission. Human Laws Set Limits Too! Pulse Transmission Limits and Bandlimits. Information Rates above the Pulse Rate.
15. Wire and Fiber Transmission Systems. Wire as a Transmission Medium. Fiber-Optic Cable.
16. Radio Frequency and Satellite Systems. Overview of Radio Communications System Design. Satellite and Other Long-Distance Communications Systems. The Global Positioning System.
17. Large Capacity Storage. Magnetic Disks and Tapes. The Compact Disc. Digital Versatile Disk. Future Digital Data Storage Media.
VII. NETWORKS AND THE INTERNET.
18. Telephone and Data Communications Networks. Circuit-Based Networks. The Packet-Switched Connection.
19. The Local Area Network. Datagram Packet Switching. The Ethernet.
20. Organization of the Internet. How Would You Organize Universal Mail Delivery? What Makes up the Backbone of the Internet?
21. Electronic Commerce and Information Security. Threats to Information Security. Security Services. Data Security and Cryptosystems. Computationally Secure Symmetric Key Cryptography. Public Key Cryptography. Digital Signatures. Digital Certificates. Electronic Commerce.
22. Voice Over IP and the Convergence. Circuit-Switched Telephone Systems. The IP Packet Connection. How to and Why Move to VoIP?
Appendix A: ASCII Character Codes. Appendix B: Related Organizations. Appendix C: Example Projects. Glossary. Index. 