Page 17 - Intelligent Communication Systems

2 INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
Figure 11.2 depicts a schematic of telesensation. A camera takes a picture of
a street scene in Munich. The picture is then sent from Germany to Japan through
a broadband integrated services digital network (ISDN). The picture is displayed
stereoscopically by means of VR technology, and a viewer in Japan enters and
walks through this virtual scene. He can go to the entrance of the building and walk
inside. Or he can go behind the building and see what it looks like from there.
In 1996, the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) world
congress '96 was held in Canberra, Australia, for which I was conference chair. The
theme of the conference was IT—Global Horizon. The IT topics discussed included
information processing, mobile communication, and teleteaching. In this context IT
meant the combination of information processing and telecommunication.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, a historian from Australia referred to three
epochs in human experience, spanning the past and the future. The first epoch was
the agricultural revolution. Through the invention of agriculture, humans could pro-
duce foods. The second was the industrial revolution, by which engines and auto-
matic machines were invented. The invention of powerful machines enabled the
evolution of heavy industries such as the steel and power industries. The third epoch
is the IT revolution, which will come in this millennium. Through the IT revolu-
tion, new industry will emerge. Electronic commerce on the Internet, manufactur-
ing on demand, telecommuting, virtual school and virtual university, newspaper
distribution via the Internet, and desktop publishing on the Internet will arrive soon.
In this chapter technologies that will further push the IT frontier are discussed.
As stated before, IT is the integration of information processing and commu-
nication technologies. Automatic telecommunication technologies began with
step-by-step switching systems, followed by crossbar switching systems and then
by switching systems controlled by computers with stored memory. Information
processing and data processing were enhanced with the invention of computers,
and then the more advanced technologies, such as AI and knowledge engineering,
were developed. Communication technology and information processing technol-
ogy are also based on computers with stored memory. Thus advances in computer
technology have advanced both information technology and communication tech-
nology. This has led to the integration of information processing technology and
telecommunication technology—in other words, information technology.

I.I INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONCEPT

With the invention of new telecommunication services, telecommunication net-
works for the services have been developed. The conventional telecommunication
services, such as telephone and facsimile services, have been provided via the
public telephone network. Video conferencing service has been provided by using
the public network or dedicated lines. Data communication service has been pro-
vided by the public network or high-speed dedicated lines. Generally speaking,
each service is provided by constructing a network suitable for the service. It takes