Delivery: Online
College Credit: 3 credit hours
Estimated Length: 18 seat hours
Price: $705
Course Assessment/Equivalency Exam: $115.00
Digital technology is all around us, from the clocks on our coffee makers to our mobile phones and computers. Broadband cable technicians are trained to install and service digital customer premises equipment (CPE) such as set-top boxes (STB) and cable modems that connect to digital televisions and computer devices. The NCTI® Digital Technician course elevates the broadband cable technician’s knowledge of digital technology beyond CPE. To put the significance of digital communications into context, the course begins with a review of several applications of digital technology in communications. Binary and hexadecimal numbering systems including Boolean algebra, which are digital fundamentals, are explained as well as how analog signals are converted to digital signals. Techniques to identify, omit, and recover redundant data in a digital signal are described before presenting details of various digital modulation schemes and methods for overcoming bandwidth limitations. The compression and transport standards from the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) are reviewed, followed by explanations of the Internet protocol (IP) and IPTV. After completing the Digital Technician course, technicians can apply what they have learned to troubleshoot and resolve problems as well as prepare for career advancement.
Completion Time:
The estimated completion time for this course is 18 hours. The maximum allotted time is four months from enrollment.
Benefits:
- earn three hours of college credit
- receive an industry-recognized NCTI certificate of graduation
- receive credit toward NCTI Master Technician certification
Upon completing this course, students will be able to:
- explain both the present and future of digital technology
- recognize how digital technology is applied in applications pertaining to state-of-the art techniques in broadband cable network operations and inside the customer premises
- identify services that are enabled by digital communications
- describe the fundamentals of digital communications
- describe how digital information is modulated onto a carrier for transport and distribution over a network
- describe how measurements of digital modulation channel power differ from analog amplitude measurements, why it is of concern, and how these power measurements are executed
- interpret measured digital modulation channel parameters to determine if, and what, corrective action needs to be taken
- describe how digital modulation technology is used to maximize the use of RF spectrum and channel bandwidth
- identify the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) and the role it has in the development of digital television
- describe the Internet protocol suite and how it works
- explain how digital TV has enabled the delivery of TV content to devices other than stationary television sets
Outline:
Applying Digital Communications Technology
Identifying interactive network models, examining telephone services, and discussing trends in television
Fundamentals of Digital Communications
Reviewing digital communications, examining character codes and data compression, and presenting logic gates
Digital Modulation
Diagnosing the continuous wave carrier, delving into pulse code modulation, describing digital modulation schemes, highlighting digital vestigial sideband modulation, and modulating OFDM subcarriers
Digital Channel Amplitude Measurements
Defining digital modulation measurement values, adjusting amplitude levels for channel bandwidth, loading the downstream frequency spectrum, and assessing return channel levels
Quantifying Digital Channel Quality
Defining digital measurements, considering digital modulation test instruments, and interpreting digital modulation measurements
Network Capacity Management
Improving spectrum efficiency, compressing TV signals, and controlling source content
MPEG Standards and Data Streams
Identifying the Moving Pictures Expert Group, describing the MPEG-2 Systems Layer, and assessing digital TV quality
The Internet Protocol Suite
Moving data over the Internet, discussing the Transport Layer of the Internet protocol suite, and integrating television into the Internet protocol suite
Concepts of IPTV
Disrupting legacy television service delivery, distributing IPTV content, and addressing Internet protocol TV distribution challenges