Selected publications in English

1949

'Multiplex Radiotelephone Relays with Pulse-Modulated Micro-Waves', Brown Boveri Review, no. 12, pp. 379-386

1949

'Micro-Wave Measurement Techniques', Brown Boveri Review, no. 12, pp. 401-405

1959

'Selective Fading Effects on UHF Tropospheric Scatter Paths', Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), vol. 47, pp. 2021-2022, November

1962

Royal Commission on Government Organization (Glassco Commission), Vol. II, Chapter 8, Telecommunications, pp. 211-268

Analyzed methods of message handling, as well as data and voice communications, used by federal departments, making recommendations for major improvements.

1963

'Band Limitation and Error Rate in Digital UHF-FM Transmission', IEEE Transactions on Communications Systems, vol. CS-11, pp. 110-117, March

The literature on systems design for the transmission of high-speed digital data in the "megabits per second" range over UHF links is scarce and somewhat contradictory. Essentially the designer is confronted with an optimization problem of finding the best compromise between radiated bandwidth, power balance, and output SNR, the latter being directly related to the error rate. Confining the analysis to frequency modulation, the available parameters are: transmitter frequency deviation and transmitter band limitation in video and RF stages, receiver pre-detection band characteristic and noise bandwidth, degree of amplitude limiting and finally receiver post-detection band limitation. The mutual relationship between these parameters and their optimization is analyzed. The effect of inter-symbol interference, FM transient characteristics, and FM improvement threshold are discussed, and a simple mathematical expression for strong signal conditions developed by assuming quasi-static conditions in which the carrier is kept at a constant off-tune position. The results are discussed and possible ways of improvements are indicated. [from the journal]

1966

'Effects of Pulse Shaping on Digital FM Spectra', with Tjeng T. Tjhung, Proceedings of the National Electronics Conference, vol. XXII, pp.363-368

The article provides a quantitative illustration of the fact that pre-modulation pulse shaping in digital FM transmission is useful as a tool for frequency band conservation only as far as the reduction of low-level components of the tail ends of the spectrum is concerned, and only when applied in a judicious selection of systems parameters, particularly the relationship between frequency deviation, pre-modulation bandwidth, and specified percentage of signal power. Specific parameters are suggested that form an advantageous combination meeting overall objectives for the limitation of radiated bandwidth while still allowing for sufficient freedom for receiver band limitation for the optimization of the final signal to noise ratio.

[While employed at InterTel Consultants, Tjhung produced 'Band occupancy of digital FM signals', IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology, vol. COM-12, No. 4, December 1964. With technological guidance from Dr von Baeyer, Tjhung wrote a Master's Thesis at Carleton University in 1965 entitled 'Power spectra and power distribution of digital signals in direct and FM transmission'. This led to Tjhung's 'Power spectra and power distribution of random binary FM signals with premodulation shaping', Electronic Letters, August 1965.]

1967

'Tropospheric Scatter Wideband Communication Systems – their recent evolution and their role in the Canadian North', Papers Presented at the Congress of Canadian Engineers, May 29 to June 2, Series 'E', sheets 131-139

The technique of using the tropospheric scatter mode of UHF propagation for wideband radio transmission over distances of several hundred miles had its origin in the difficulties of establishing communications in the Canadian North. The technology of tropospheric scatter systems, their development, fundamental limitation, and present trends are discussed and illustrated on major systems applications in Canada. A cost and performance comparison is then made with satellite systems with an indication of the possible future use of both types of systems.

1969

'Economics.' Chapter 7, Part II, Scientific and Technical Information in Canada. Science Council of Canada. Ottawa: Queen's Printer

The spread of scientific and technical knowledge is one of the main factors in the process of economic growth.... Projections into the future are based on the estimated growth rates of scientific and technical manpower, scientific and technical literature, and demand patterns in Canada. Today's information transfer systems, in spite of steadily increasing costs, are also increasingly incapable of coping with the situation. However, available new technology, together with appropriate organizational measures based on a coordinated network evolution, promises substantial benefits at costs which, on a per user basis, are easily justifiable.... The main thesis of the report is that the transfer of scientific and technical information must be recognized as an important sector of resource allocation related to the support of the individual user's work. Since the user's needs are of an infinite variety and subject to continuous change, the information transfer system must perform a true service function with a strong feedback interaction between the user's demands and the system's offerings.... For overall coordination, a national focus is recommended which, in the political, administrative, and economic senses, recognizes the independent jurisdictional and institutional characteristics of the components of the national information complex and acts as a point of contact for international activities... Overall estimated cost figures were derived for both the growth rates of existing establishments and the addition of a computer-based network intended to tie together existing facilities of federal, provincial, and municipal governments, industry, and educational institutions. [From the chapter summary]

1972

Canadian Computer/Communications Task Force, Branching Out / L'Arbre de vie, Vols. I and II

This ~450-page report presents the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations derived from the mass of information collected by the Canadian Computer / Communications Task Force over an 18-month period. The Report covered: concepts of computer/communications services; Canadian background; benefits and effects on society; scope and prospects for the computer/communications industry; needs and problems of suppliers and users; Canadian policy issues and recommendations; competition and regulation; data processing in relation to telecommunications carriers, and banks, universities, Crown corporations, and computer equipment suppliers; data services issues, including data banking, north-south dataflow, and maintaining a Canadian presence; stimulation of development of the computer/communications industry through government actions; education and training; computer/communications standards; government as a user; Federal-provincial relationships; relationships between government and industry; jurisdictional and legal aspects of computer/communications in Canada; regulatory agencies; foreign attachments and interconnections; line sharing and resale; entry of common carriers into data processing; Proposed New Competition Act; computers and privacy; data processing and liability; protection of computer software; constitutional considerations. The report then considers applications of computer/communications in Canada in three fields of social significance: (A) Automation of payments and credit by banks (in Canada and several other countries); line of credit, online retail terminals, and online banking networks; (B) Applications in education, including administration, computer aided learning systems; information retrieval systems; social and pedagogic aspects; (C) Computers and communications in Canada's health care delivery system; hospital computer applications; patient care and patient records; clinical laboratories; scheduling; computer-assisted diagnosis; medical audit services; health insurance plans; medical databanks; resource planning and management; future technology.

See also overview and summary of recommendations in CIPS Computer Magazine, Oct 1972: Link to full text.

1972

'Conflicts in Computer Communications', Address to International Conference on Computer Communications, Washington, D.C. October 24-26

A lively look at issues in the new field of computer / commmunications. Link to full text.

1974

'The Quest for Public Policies in Computer/Communications – Canadian Approaches', Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Communications, Stockholm, Sweden

The paper gives first an overview of the policy issues which arise from the newly emerging technologies of computers and communications. After that, the particular mechanisms are described which were adopted in Canada for the process of computer/communications policy development in the federal government. Some examples are presented for specific approaches to cope with specifically Canadian conditions.

1978

'The Politics of Worldwide Telecommunications', Telephony, July, pp. 97-100

The article describes the author's experience as a consultant to the International Telecommunication Union in developing plans for an international network of linking some 27 countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and the eastern Mediterranean area. "Political motives play such a strong role in the configuration of international networks that routing and switching hierarchies have become critical points in the debates on network design... The debate about the principle of free flow of information is a highly emotional one. Many consider it a matter of faith and a principle worth fighting for with all one's resources. Others are convinced that unimpeded free flow of information leads to serious abuses and enhances the unevenness of the distribution of economic power.... With increasing availability of communication media, more and more countries feel the need for protective measures to have some control over the flow of information and to express their sovereignty rights. Where this is going to lead, to a decrease or an increase in political tensions in the world, to a more inspired mode of international cooperation or to increased isolation, one cannot foresee.... The problem no longer is how to make it technically possible to communicate, but how to make use of what we have created for the greatest benefit of everyone concerned."

1979

'A Decade of Ups and Downs in Computer/Communications Policy', Canadian Datasystems, November, p. 57

The article traces developments in computer communications policy through the 1970s. Branching Out, the 1972 report of the Computer/Communications Task Force, provided 39 recommendations of which four were acted on. By the end of the decade, the Computer Communications Secretariat in the Department of Communications had fallen victim to federal cost cutting, but Canadian technological expertise vastly increased. "Rather than assuming that government should take the initiative and lead in formulating more effective policies, it is the community of concerned Canadian suppliers of goods and services together with the community of users that should recover lost ground and take the initiative, expecting government to listen and react rather than to lead."

1983

Telecommunications and Development, report produced for a joint project of the Canadian International Development Agency and the Department of Communications, pp. 1-116

Defines telecommunications services to include telephone, telegraph, radio, television, computer and information systems, navigational aids, satellites, fibre-optic systems, and others. Reviews contributions of telecommunications services to the following sectors: transportation (efficiency, safety); health (educational presentations, links from remote areas to health professionals); agriculture (information systems to enhance production and distribution); major construction projects (engineering and logistics); electric power utilities; tourism; formal education (addresses problems with supply of teachers, schools, and material via broadcasting); fisheries; mining; meteorology; manufacturing; marketing; and mass media. Addresses the problem of fragmentation, that is, different services being provided by different, unrelated organizations, each investing in its own facilities without reference to the possibility of sharing scarce resources. To avoid this, national development-oriented telecommunications agencies are required. Discusses demand analysis in relation to growth patterns, user attitudes, and tariff structures. Outlines Canadian telecommunication resources which could be applied to international development, listing a number of areas of particular excellence.

1983

'Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) has served well, but biggest challenge is ahead', CIPS Review, January/February, pp. 4-6

Link to full text

"Twenty-five years of CIPS: that takes me back to the time when the word "computer" conjured up the early military monsters of SAGE vintage, with tens of thousands of power-consuming and heat-producing vacuum tubes; when the concepts of satellite communications had not yet reached beyond Arthur Clarke's visionary speculations and when Sputnik was just about to appear on the horizon; when transistors as a practical replacement for vacuum tubes began to be a dream in the designer's head; and when microwave radio relay systems were still a novelty, barely a few years old." The article reviews the rapid development in computers and communications in applications such as banking and home computers. It points out the increasing difficulty of collecting statistical information on which to base future public policy.