tec.News - Harting

tec.
F o c u s
I
n high-tech countries discussions on the topic of the information
society more often than not concentrate on the vast potential
of optical communications and the virtually unlimited possibilities
offered by the Internet. It is easy to overlook the fact that a large
proportion of the world population still does not even have access
to a mere telephone.
China is a good example of a country
that has recognised the opporbile
communication systems are
trend. The "third generation" motunities
for economic development
that can result from an effi-
already on the horizon.
cient communications infrastructure.
For long-term success, however,
foreign investors wishing
to participate in the enormous
growth have to share their expertise
and know-how with their local
partners.
power lines. The growth of the Internet
is inexorable and with it
the number of regular users. Information
and communication
are considered to be the driving
forces of growth in the twentyfirst
century. But as far as the
acceptance and the social effects
of the immeasurable multimedia
options are concerned, even Deutsche
Telekom AG finds it hard to
make forecasts.
(Fig. IBM)
tec. GUEST CONTRIBUTION P. 19
(Fig. China-Contact)
tec. MARKET P. 10
The development of mobile communications
(Fig. Nokia)
is making speedy pro-
tec.
gress in Europe. The integration of
efficient data services in the wellproven
VIEWPOINT P. 16
GSM system will lead to
another developmental leap. NOKIA
sees the transition from the "mobile
phone" to the "personal multimedia
system" as the general
All available media are mobilised
for conveying electronic information:
the good old telephone line,
radio links, fibre optic cables, the
television cable and even mains
The demands made on transmission
media and switching stations
increase with the growing volume
of contents to be transported in a
communication system. Digital television
allows the parallel transmission
of numerous programme
channels, but at the same time
makes extremely high demands on
the speed of signal processing. It
can be seen from the example of a
digital video router, how system
manufacturers and suppliers collaborate,
to be able to keep up
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HARTING tec.News 4-II-1999