Information engineering is the

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

discipline that deals with the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information, data, and

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

in electrical systems. The field first became identifiable in the early 21st century. Intersection over Union - object detection bounding boxes

The components of information engineering include more theoretical fields such as

Electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

control theory Control theory is a field of control engineering and applied mathematics that deals with the control system, control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the applic ...

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...

, and microelectronics, and more applied fields such as

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of computer science and especially artificial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with providing computers with the ability to process data encoded in natural language and is thus closely related ...

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

, medical image computing,

cheminformatics Cheminformatics (also known as chemoinformatics) refers to the use of physical chemistry theory with computer and information science techniques—so called "'' in silico''" techniques—in application to a range of descriptive and prescriptive ...

, autonomous robotics, mobile robotics, and

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

. Many of these originate from Computer Engineering , as well as other branches of engineering such as

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and bioengineering. SLINK-density-data

The field of information engineering is based heavily on Engineering and mathematics, particularly

probability Probability is a branch of mathematics and statistics concerning events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an e ...

,statistics,

calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

linear algebra Linear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as :a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n=b, linear maps such as :(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \mapsto a_1x_1+\cdots +a_nx_n, and their representations in vector spaces and through matrix (mathemat ...

optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...

, differential equations, variational calculus, and

complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic ...

. Information engineers often hold a degree in information engineering or a related area, and are often part of a

professional body A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology or Institute of Measurement and Control. They are employed in almost all industries due to the widespread use of information engineering.

History

In the 1980s/1990s term information engineering referred to an area of software engineering which has come to be known as data engineering in the 2010s/2020s.

Elements

Machine learning and statistics

Machine learning is the field that involves the use of statistical and probabilistic methods to let computers "learn" from data without being explicitly programmed. Data science involves the application of machine learning to extract knowledge from data. Subfields of machine learning include deep learning,

supervised learning In machine learning, supervised learning (SL) is a paradigm where a Statistical model, model is trained using input objects (e.g. a vector of predictor variables) and desired output values (also known as a ''supervisory signal''), which are often ...

, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, semi-supervised learning, and active learning. Causal inference is another related component of information engineering.

Control theory

Control theory refers to the control of ( continuous) dynamical systems, with the aim being to avoid delays, overshoots, or instability. Information engineers tend to focus more on control theory rather than the physical design of control systems and circuits (which tends to fall under electrical engineering). Subfields of control theory include classical control, optimal control, and nonlinear control.

Signal processing

Signal processing refers to the generation, analysis and use of signals, which could take many forms such as

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

, electrical, or biological. Use of Fourier transformation chest radiography

Information theory

Information theory studies the analysis, transmission, and storage of information. Major subfields of information theory include coding and data compression.

Computer vision

Computer vision is the field that deals with getting computers to understand image and video data at a high level.

Natural language processing

Natural language processing deals with getting computers to understand human (natural) languages at a high level. This usually means

text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory) In literary theory, a text is any object that can be "read", whether this object is a work of literature, a street sign, an arrangement of buildings on a city block, or styles of clothi ...

, but also often includes speech processing and recognition.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the field that deals with the analysis, processing, and use of biological data. This usually means topics such as genomics and proteomics, and sometimes also includes medical image computing.

Cheminformatics

Cheminformatics is the field that deals with the analysis, processing, and use of chemical data.

Robotics

Robotics in information engineering focuses mainly on the

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for per ...

and computer programs used to control robots. As such, information engineering tends to focus more on autonomous, mobile, or probabilistic robots. Major subfields studied by information engineers include control,

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

, SLAM, and motion planning.

Tools

In the past some areas in information engineering such as signal processing used analog electronics, but nowadays most information engineering is done with digital computers. Many tasks in information engineering can be parallelized, and so nowadays information engineering is carried out using CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators. There has also been interest in using quantum computers for some subfields of information engineering such as

and

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

References

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