Aims

The course develops the following skills:
an understanding of the mechanisms of interactions (and their various issues) between the
development of techniques and social means of communicating;
the ability, particularly among students of communications, to interact with engineers
(who design equipment) and technicians (who install them and make them work);
the ability, particularly among student engineers, to interact with practitioners in audio
scripto visual communications (who design media messages).

Main themes

Principles of the functioning of the main social communications technologies.
Theories used in the evaluation of transmission measures.
The conversion, coding and compression of analogue and digital audio scripto visual
signals.
The architecture of networks.
Measures for ensuring safety and carrying out authentification procedures.
The social appropriation of communications technologies.

Content and teaching methods

Content
Elementary notions of electricity and electronics.
The mathematical theory of information, a model for the issue of technology.
The coding of a signal: analogue and digital.
Applications of digital coding to audio, video and information technology.
The storage and processing of documents by analogue and digital procedures.
Procedures for transmitting signals.
Introduction to interactive audio scripto visual communications networks.
Approach to a range of interpretations of the notion of technical quality.
The communications issue of technological evaluation.
Methodology
Lectures, and a demonstration and analysis of instruments. Eliciting knowledge that the students have acquired in their experience of using technology.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

No pre requirements: this is a general introductory course.
Assessment through a review of the subjects taught during the course, by application to concrete cases, and by personal in depth study. Duplicated notes, bibliographical references, and a website.

Other credits in programs