It is hard to imagine life without your Smartphone – you have come to rely on it so much – for your work; to stay in touch with family and friends; to capture and share those special moments; to find your way around in a new neighborhood. Did you ever wonder how and when all this happened? Or how and when GPS sensors came to be in your cell phone?
About this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
50%
25%
11%
Learner Career Outcomes
50%
25%
11%
Offered by

University of California San Diego
UC San Diego is an academic powerhouse and economic engine, recognized as one of the top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Innovation is central to who we are and what we do. Here, students learn that knowledge isn't just acquired in the classroom—life is their laboratory.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Welcome
Welcome to the first course in the Internet of Things specialization! We hope you’re just as excited as we are to begin this fascinating journey! Before getting started with the material, we would like to introduce you to the team that made this all possible, as well as give you a preview of what to expect throughout the entire specialization.
Circuit Switched Networks
In order to answer the big question, “how did we get here?” we must start from the beginning. The beginning of what you may ask, well the beginning of telecommunication! In this course we will cover the birth of the telephone and its gradual evolution through different networks. Humans love to talk, which might explain the speedy growth of telephony networks.
Packet Switched Networks
Now that we have looked at circuit switched networks, we will begin to talk about packet switched networks. Digital networking will change in the telephone industry is what allowed all of the exciting new features we see on mobile phones. In this course, we will clarify differences between circuit and packet switched networks, as well as reveal what digital networking allows us to do.
Computer Telephony
The convergence begins! Computers and telephones start working together which served a great opportunity for business in many ways. Imagine a world without caller ID or voicemail, scary isn’t it? Telephony begins to take the digital route, which brings a whole new experience in telecommunications. The digitization of telephones wasn’t all positive, for it created the possibility of hackers accessing personal information.
Wireless Technologies
Telephones eventually become a new entity which we might recognize as the cell phone. Phone mobility revolutionizes the telecommunications market, phones are no longer apply to homes but rather to people. Cell phones were a game changer for telephone companies.
Features and Apps
Phone applications are born! This is probably the greatest contribution to the telephone industry because now phone don’t just make phone calls and take messages, but also handle finances, entertain, educate, control your home, turn on your car and anything you can imagine! The limits of a technology have never been more endless, if you can think it you can sure build an app for it.
Future Outlook
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the last module in this course! At this point, you should know the history of the internet and many innovations that it has advanced with, but what is the Internet of Things anyway? That question and many more will be answered in this final course!
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM INTERNET OF THINGS: HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Pretty loaded with information on how we got to here technology-wise. Lacks on some more in-deep info, even being a introductory course, it could have a bit more info on the state of the art of IoT.
Hello Everyone, I really enjoyed this course and definitely this is great learning experience for me..I am heartily thankful to Both Professors for given me this knowledge..\n\nThanks a lot..
Great base for the incoming session in this specialization. I've learned about lot of things what i am using every day dut i had no idea how it was developed. Useful base knowledge.
The course was pretty interesting and helpful, but however, the quizzes are oftentimes not relevant to the taught material. External sources have to be consulted to do the quizzes.
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