A financial information system (金融情報システム) is any of the information systems that banks, securities firms, insurers and other financial institutions use to process money transactions such as deposits, transfers and settlements.
How bank systems are divided (example)
Core accounting: updates account balances
Information (analytics) systems: use transaction data for analysis
External systems: connect to other banks and payment networks
A bank's systems are often described in three parts: the core accounting system (勘定系) that rewrites account balances directly, the information (analytics) systems (情報系) that analyze stored transaction data, and the external systems (対外系) that link to other banks and outside payment networks. Even a small error or outage can affect a great many customers and transactions, so these systems secure high reliability and security through measures such as duplicated equipment. Transfers between banks go through a shared network called the Zengin System (全銀システム).
AnalogyThink of a giant counting house that logs every coin going in and out of town and can never close for a day.
How to rememberThe Japanese 勘定 (kanjō) means bookkeeping accounts, so 勘定系 is literally the part that books money in and out at the core.
Exam points
Mix-upThe core accounting system (勘定系) is the heart that updates the account balances themselves, a different role from the information (analytics) systems (情報系) that analyze stored data to support sales and management decisions.
GPS (Global Positioning System, 全地球測位システム) is a system in which a receiver picks up signals from several satellites orbiting the Earth and works out its own position.
Each satellite sends a time-stamped signal
The receiver picks up the signals
The time difference gives the distance to each satellite
Several distances together fix the position
Once the distances to several satellites are known, latitude, longitude and altitude narrow down to a single point.
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Each satellite keeps sending signals stamped with the exact transmission time, and the receiver computes its distance to the satellite from the gap between that time and when the signal arrived. Combining the distances to several satellites fixes latitude, longitude and altitude to a single point. Japan also uses quasi-zenith satellites (準天頂衛星, the Michibiki system) to supplement GPS; their orbits keep them high in the sky over Japan for long stretches.
AnalogyIt works like counting the seconds between a lightning flash and the thunder to judge how far away the storm is: the signal's travel time becomes a distance.
How to rememberG = Global, P = Positioning: the name itself says it fixes your position anywhere on the globe.
Exam points
ExamA GPS device only receives satellite signals and calculates: it turns each signal's travel time into a distance to that satellite and derives its position from them.
ExamQuasi-zenith satellites (準天頂衛星) stay high over Japan for long periods, and combining them with GPS improves positioning accuracy even where buildings block the view of other satellites.
GIS (Geographic Information System, 地理情報システム) is a system that overlays many kinds of location-linked data on a map so they can be displayed and analyzed.
Base map
Layer: flood-prone areas
Layer: shelter locations
Areas short of shelters become visible
The combined view shows which parts of the flood zone are far from any shelter.
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GIS keeps data such as roads, buildings, population and elevation in separate layers (レイヤー) and stacks the ones needed for comparison. Laying a shelter layer over a flood-risk layer, for instance, reveals on the map which areas lack shelters. Besides disaster planning, GIS supports choosing store locations and managing facilities like water mains.
AnalogyPicture several maps drawn on clear sheets, stacked to suit the task and held up to the light.
How to rememberShort for Geographic Information System: a system for geographic information, exactly as the words say.
Exam points
Mix-upGPS measures where you are, while GIS uses location-linked data on a map, and many products such as car navigation systems combine the two.
GPS vs. GIS
Aspect
GPS
GIS
Key differenceRole
Measures your own position
Displays and analyzes location-linked data on a map
Main mechanism
Derives distance from how long satellite signals take to arrive
ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems, 高度道路交通システム) is the umbrella term for initiatives that link people, roads and vehicles through information and communication technology to improve safety, ease congestion and more.
Systems within ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) (examples)
VICS: delivers congestion and traffic-restriction information
ETC: collects tolls automatically
Driving safety support: prevents accidents
ITS is not the name of one device but a framework that groups many systems together. It includes, for example, VICS, which sends congestion and traffic-restriction information to car navigation units, ETC, which automates toll payment, and driving safety support (安全運転支援) to prevent accidents. Because in-car equipment talks to roadside facilities, drivers learn about conditions ahead that they cannot yet see.
AnalogyIt is like running nerves through the whole road network so that cars can feel what is happening far ahead.
How to rememberShort for Intelligent Transport Systems; the plural "Systems" is there because ITS is a collection of many systems.
Exam points
Mix-upITS names the whole effort to bring information technology into transport, and ETC is one system inside it that handles toll payment.
ETC (Electronic Toll Collection, 電子料金収受システム) lets a car pay tolls on toll roads without stopping, through radio communication between an on-board unit and the toll gate's antenna.
A car approaches the ETC lane
The antenna and on-board unit exchange data by radio
The toll is set and the gate bar opens
Billed later as a card charge
No cash changes hands; the toll is billed later together with other card charges.
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With an IC card inserted in the on-board unit, entry and exit data and the toll are exchanged as the car passes the gate, and the toll is billed later as a card charge. No one has to stop and hand over cash, so queues at toll gates shrink and the staff's workload drops.
AnalogyIt is like tapping a transit card at a station gate without opening your wallet, except the whole car is the card. The radio method differs from a tap card, though: the car talks to an antenna some distance away while moving.
How to rememberShort for Electronic Toll Collection; a toll is a road fee, so the name means collecting road fees electronically.
ITS vs. ETC
Aspect
ITS
ETC
Key differenceScope
Umbrella term for all efforts to bring IT into transport
A toll-payment system that is part of ITS
Purpose
Road safety, easing congestion and more
Letting cars pass toll gates without stopping
Technology used
ICT in general, linking people, roads and vehicles
Radio link between the on-board unit and the toll-gate antenna
A smart grid (スマートグリッド, next-generation power grid) builds communication functions into the power network so that electricity supply and demand can be tracked and controlled in detail.
Conventional power grid
Smart grid
Flow of information
Mainly one-way delivery of power from plants to homes
Usage data moves both ways between the utility and homes
Tracking usage
Meters are read periodically by inspectors
Smart meters send readings automatically at short intervals
Power sources with variable output
Hard to adjust to changes in supply and demand
Easier to adjust while watching supply and demand
Smart meters (スマートメーター) in homes and businesses measure and report electricity use at short intervals, and the utility uses that data to adjust generation and transmission. This also makes it easier to keep supply and demand in balance when connecting solar and wind power, whose output changes with the weather.
AnalogyImagine putting a flow meter on every tap in town and letting the water plant decide how much to pump by watching how the water is used.
How to rememberA grid is a network of crossing lines, so a smart grid is a power-line network made smart.
Exam points
Mix-upA smart meter (スマートメーター) is the device that measures and reports usage, while the smart grid (スマートグリッド) is the whole power network that uses that data to balance supply and demand.
A CDN (Content Delivery Network, コンテンツ配信ネットワーク) copies web content such as images and videos onto cache servers (キャッシュサーバ) in many locations and serves it from a server near the user.
A user requests content
A nearby cache server takes the request
If it lacks the content, it fetches it from the origin server
Delivers it to the user and keeps a copy
It delivers the content and keeps a copy for the next request.
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The server that holds the original content is the origin server (オリジンサーバ). Because a nearby cache server answers each request, content arrives sooner and traffic does not pile up on the origin server. When a cache server lacks the requested content, it fetches it from the origin server, passes it to the user and stores it for the next request.
AnalogyIt is like stocking a head store's goods in branches everywhere so customers can pick them up at the nearest one.
How to rememberShort for Content Delivery Network; delivery is the same word as in parcel delivery, so it is a network that delivers content.
Exam points
Mix-upRather than making a single server more powerful, a CDN places copies of the same content in many places, shortening the distance to users and speeding up delivery.
Key points
Financial information systems secure high reliability through duplication and similar measures, because an outage would affect a great many customers and transactions.
A GPS receiver fixes its position by turning the travel time of signals from several satellites into distances to each one.
Quasi-zenith satellites supplement GPS and raise positioning accuracy even in city streets where satellites are hard to see.
A smart grid uses smart-meter readings to balance electricity supply and demand, including power sources whose output fluctuates.
A CDN serves content from cache servers near users, gaining speed while easing the load on the origin server.