Introducing the Pipeline

Abstract

The electronic world today is full of (a) sensors collecting data from various sources and (b) applications using this data for various uses. Our smart phones contain cameras, motion sensors, temperature sensors, microphones, GPS sensors, etc. Smart watches contain these sensors and more, like heart rate sensors, body temperature monitors, etc. The devices that we do not carry with us have sensors that monitor the environment, like the smart thermostats that can monitor if people are home for automatic temperature control, and cameras, including face detection for intrusion monitoring. While the world of sensors and associated sense-making seems to be getting crowded, intelligent, and highly complex, to understand the inner structure of this world one needs to know a few fundamental principles and flows. This book will use a few specific examples to illustrate these concepts in detail. In this chapter we present a high-level view and a taste of things to come later in this book.