ST Report: 8-Mar-96 #1210
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 03/31/96-06:00:00 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 8-Mar-96 #1210
Date: Sun Mar 31 18:00:00 1996
Silicon Times Report
The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
(Since 1987)
March 08, 1996 No. 1210
Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
A subsidiary of
STR Worldwide CompNews Inc.
R.F. Mariano, Editor
Featured in ITCNet's ITC_STREPORT Echo
Voice: 1-904-268-3815 10am-4pm EST
STReport WebSite http://www.streport.com
STR Publishing Support BBS
THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS
Featuring: * 5.0GB * of File Libraries
Mustang Software's
WILDCAT! Client/Server BBS
Version 5 95/NT
Fully Networked within the following Nets:
ITCNet 85:881/250 JAX HUB
FIDO Net 1:112/35 ~ Prowl ~ USPOLNet ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:301/3
Delivered via Subscriber List through Internet
MULTI-NODE Operation 24hrs-7 days
Analog & ISDN BRI Access 904-268-4116
2400-128000 bps V. 120-32-34 v.42 bis
ISDN V.34 USRobotics I-MODEM
FAX: 904-292-9222 24hrs
The Bounty STReport Support Central 1-904-268-2237
FNET. 620 : Leif's World 1-904-573-0734
FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS 1-206-284-8493
FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS 1-908-920-7981
MNET - Toad Hall BBS 1-617-567-8642
03/08/96 STR 1209 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine!
- CPU Industry Report - ISDN Series #3 - Caldera News
- Key Finder - D. W. Boles' Book! - ProCom+ 3 Ships
- PC Price War Rages - Kid's Computing - Gemulator 4.15
- Bushnell "Tried" - People Talking - Atari Moved!
Apple KILLS eWorld!
Intel Admits New Pentium Flaw!!
Michelangelo Virus Fizzles!
STReport International OnLine Magazine
Featuring Weekly
"Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
STReport's BBS - The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to
participate in the ITC, Fido, Internet, PROWL, USENET, USPOLNet, NEST, F-Net,
Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176.
Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information
relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent
International Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are
welcome to join STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is
85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:112/35, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead
Node" is #620. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial, on all
platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate.
WEB SITE: http//www.streport.com
CIS ~ PRODIGY ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX ~
USENET USPOLNET CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ PROWL ~ FNET ~ AOL
IMPORTANT NOTICE
STReport, with its policy of not accepting any PAID advertising, has over the
years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When it
comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we
shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in
mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has
been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we
ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know
exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we
shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of
straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue.
The Staff & Editors
SYSOP NEWS & CYBERWORLD REPORT
"The Leading Hard Copy News Source
in
the BBS & Online Telecommunications World"
Your own personal copy mailed to your home every month; STReport's special
offer! Annual Subscription Rate of $15.00!! (normally 20.00). Please,
Include the STR offer number (STR-21) for your discount.
Send your subscription to:
BBS Press Services, Inc.
8125 S.W. 21st Street
Topeka, KS 66615
Or, to order by phone, Please Call:
1-913-478-3157 (Voice)
1-913-478-9239 (Data)
1-913-478-1189 (FAX)
Checks, Mastercard, Amex, Discover & Visa ok, Please include Full Name,
Address, home Number, Card type, number & expiration date when ordering. If
by mail, please _sign_ your personal order.
Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 3/2/96: 2 of 6 numbers with 0 matches in 0 plays
>From the Editor's Desk...
Looks like Old Man Winter wanted to make certain we all knew it was
March. Here, in the South, (Florida) it dropped to about 40f for a few
hours and then climbed to 55f. Its expected to be seasonably cool for a day
or two and then. back to the 80's. I was getting nervous, after all, all my
flowers are in bloom. The Banana Plants are already showing new shoots and
the Elephant Leafs are opening. Glad it didn't hit another frost or freeze.
I know, who cares!! Well, for those of you who can do so there is nothing
like the north Florida climate. Eden-like year round.
In this week's issue we have another installment of the ISDN series.
more preliminary info getting everyone ready for the specific hardware
installs and usage. Also another of our very special Book Review Series
begins. Don't miss this one its going to get interesting. Besides, the book
itself is excellent. Every Win95/Plus user NEEDS this book.
Talk about changing times. Take Canon's performance RE: 32 bit Windows
95/NT Scanner Twain drivers. There was a time when the mere mention of the
Name Canon precipitated nods of approval from every direction. Lately
though, they're trotting very thin market ice. If ever a support scene was
bungled. the act of such was perfected by Canon with their lack of producing
a 32bit driver on time for their very popular IX-40XX Color Scanner lines.
Its not, as everyone says, that Microsoft kept the pending release of
Windows 95 a secret. The entire World and more than likely, a few ETs knew
well in advance about the pending release of Windows 95 being August 24 1995.
That is.. apparently, all but CANON! They're still stumbling,
stuttering, fumbling and offering nothing but stale flatulence in regard to
the delivery date of the 32 bit Twain for these scanners. Support for
Windows 95 is superb from the very largest of companies to the smallest of
mom & pop operations. Canon, on the other hand, seems more comfortable
offering excuses and promises that they are going to (incredibly) CHARGE
shipping for the update!!
The individual that's running the show in this area must have something
on the Chairman of the Board at Canon. Otherwise common sense dictates a
personnel change is very much in order. In plain English, whomever at Canon
who is responsible for "DRIVERGATE" should .simply put; BE FIRED!
Ralph.
Of Special Note:
http//www.streport.com
STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the Networks,
Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and userbase. We
now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although its in its early
stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see. Since We've received
numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet
addressees, we were compelled to put together an Internet
distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive STReport on a
regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED. Unfortunately, we've also
received a number of opinions that the UUENCODING was a real pain to deal
with. So, as of October 01,1995, you'll be able to download STReport
directly from our very own SERVER & WEB Site. While there, be sure to join
our STR list. In any case, our current Internet mailing list will continue
to be used for at least the next eight weeks. Each of our readers will have
by then, received their information packet about how they may upgrade their
personal STR News Services.
STReport's managing editors
DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor
Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
PC Section Mac Section Atari Section
R.F. Mariano J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
Portable Computers & Entertainment Kid's Computing Corner
Marty Mankins Frank Sereno
STReport Staff Editors
Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin
John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando
Doyle Helms John Duckworth Jeff Coe
Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur Melanie Bell
Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins
Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Vincent P. O'Hara
Contributing Correspondents
Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Clemens Chin
Eric Jerue Angelo Marasco Donna Lines
Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller
Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt
Patrick Hudlow Leonard Worzala Tom Sherwin
Please submit ALL letters, rebuttals, articles, reviews, etc...
via E-Mail to:
CompuServe 70007,4454
Prodigy CZGJ44A
Delphi RMARIANO
GEnie ST.REPORT
BIX RMARIANO
FIDONET 1:112/35
ITC NET 85:881/253
AOL STReport
Internet rmariano@streport.com
Internet CZGJ44A@prodigy.com
Internet RMARIANO@delphi.com
Internet 70007.4454.compuserve.com
Internet STReport@AOL.Com
WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.streport.com
STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Apple Closing eWorld
Apple Computer Inc. is declining comment on reports it will begin next week
dismantling its troubled eWorld online service, saying instead that the
company still plans its transition to Internet services. From the Cupertino,
California, headquarters, an Apple spokeswoman told the Reuter News Service,
"We said last fall and have been saying that we are going to get out of the
commercial online business. It is how and when to transition eWorld that's
under review. ... Our plans are still under review."
She noted Apple already has begun to move content to the Internet, such as a
recent webcast of the Grammy Awards. The San Jose (California) Mercury
reported yesterday Apple executives had confirmed the service could begin
turning away new subscribers on Monday and be shut down on April 1. While
the spokeswoman said a final decision had not been reached, the newspaper
cited sources inside Apple as confirming the company is seeking agreements
with one or more online providers to take over eWorld's 147,000 subscribers.
America Online provided software on which eWorld was initially built, but an
AOL spokeswoman had no comment on whether the companies had been in
discussions over its future. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones News Service reports
Apple has distributed a memo to firms that provide information, such as
sports scores, saying that eWorld will cease operation on March 31.
An Apple spokeswoman told Dow Jones she was unaware of the memo, adding the
company plans to a public announcement about the service next week. As
reported, Apple last fall said eWorld, which launched in 1994, would not
continue as a traditional online service, leading many customers and analysts
to think it would be altered to work closely with the Internet's World Wide
Web.
However, Dow Jones reports the memo to its partners said, "Apple has made the
decision not to move eWorld to an Internet-based service, but rather to
discontinue the eWorld on-line service and greatly expand Apple's presence on
the Web."
Fears of Online 'Pearl Harbor'
Fearing prospects of an "electronic Pearl Harbor," U.S. defense and
intelligence officials reportedly are drafting plans to defend against enemy
attacks that arrive via computer. Military and private security analysts
tell the French Agence France-Press International News Service the U.S.
Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency are drafting an
"information warfare" strategy that is becoming an integral element to
national security.
The news service notes Robert Ayers, information security project director
for the Pentagon's Defense Information Systems Agency, last year commented
the U.S. was "not prepared for an electronic version of Pearl Harbor." He
made the remark after a 1994 experiment using digital intruders took control
of 88 percent of military computers, most without being noticed. Others
dispute the claim. The Defense Department says over the course of several
years only four percent of 26,000 computers have been identified as
vulnerable, and that a"robust" security program had resulted in "a much more
secure infrastructure."
A senior White House official told AFP, "The idea that we're not prepared for
an electronic Pearl Harbor is completely exaggerated and inaccurate. We
obviously recognize the threat to our information systems. That is why we're
working very hard on a policy." Assistant Defense Secretary Emmett Paige
acknowledged recently that security of networks including the Internet have
suffered from "15 to 20 years of neglect."
He noted that because civilian and military communications networks are
interlinked, the system has become an "attractive and high payoff target for
attack by virtually anyone with a computer and modem." As reported, the
federally funded Computer Emergency Response Team says the number of security
incidents reported rose from 250 in 1990 to more than 2,400 last year.
Meanwhile, a Defense Science Board report comments, "Even though the effect
of information warfare is nonlethal, such 'spoofing' of adversary information
systems can render their weapons and platforms harmless ... and can even
provide lethal effects" such as loss of aircraft control. It added that more
than 50 nations may have the ability or desire to use information warfare as
"an inexpensive (and even surgical) means of damaging an adversary's national
interests."!
Report Says Hate Growing on Net
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League says hate groups more than ever
are using the Internet to bring their messages into millions of American
homes. The report, called "The Web of Hate: Extremists Exploit the
Internet," concludes that dropping costs of technology and rising use of the
Internet's World Wide Web have made the computer an inexpensive organizing
and recruiting tool for far-right extremists.
ADL National Director Abraham Foxman told reporter Michael McAuliff of United
Press International, "Extremists are peddling their hate down a new road, the
information superhighway, and the millions traveling that same road are
unwittingly finding signs that lead them to sites filled with racist and anti-
Semitic propaganda." Foxman added, "Peddling hate is not new, but being
confronted with it as you sit in your home or office brings it to a new
level.
This is hate up close and personal; it is technology perverted." Says
McAuliff, "Among those listed in the 60-page report as having home Web pages
are the Ku Klux Klan, whose site recounts such things as a supposed speech by
Benjamin Franklin calling Jews vampires who feed on Christians." The report
details numerous other racial separatists and extremists, including Tom
Metzger's White Aryan Resistance, the National Alliance, "Pastor" Pete
Powers, Ernst Zundel and Bradley Smith -- who deny the Holocaust -- and
Resistance Records, which distributes skinhead-produced music.
Particularly troubling to the ADL was the appeal many of these groups have to
the young. Said Foxman, "Newcomers to the propagation of prejudice and
hatred, initially independent of an organization, are college students who
have unlimited access to the Internet through school facilities established
to encourage the exchange of knowledge." The ADL, in an effort to counter
the surge in extremist computer activity, plans to launch its own Web site to
provide opposing views.
SurfWatch Blocks White House Page
Did you hear the one about the obscenity-screening program that blocked
access to the White House's Word Wide Web site on the Internet? Actually,
it's not a joke. SurfWatch, designed to prevent children from seeing indecent
text and pictures on the Net, recently blocked access to the White House's
page because it contained a dirty word: "couples."
The Associated Press reports, "The program searches for words commonly found
on sexually explicit Web sites, and 'couples' is one of them. But on the
White House kids page, the word referred to Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al
and Tipper Gore." Susan Larson, director of technical support for SurfWatch
Software Inc., acknowledged the word "has many different connotations on the
Internet," adding her Los Altos, California, company fixed the problem soon
after a White House computer systems operator got electronic mail from a
youngster who couldn't see the kids page because her parents put the
SurfWatch program on their computer.
Notes the wire service, "Similar mistaken blocks have been reported because
words and phrases often have both salacious and innocent meanings. But the
company's customers, who can turn off blocks through a password, prefer to
play it safe."
Computerist Threatens Newspaper
Reportedly enraged over stories about his alleged harassment of a
Massachusetts Internet provider, an online computerist known only as "u4ea"
is threatening a Boston newspaper. United Press International quotes a
report in today's Boston Herald as saying u4ea also is threatening
"electronic terrorism" to cripple computer networks around Boston.
UPI quotes the paper as saying the computerist "vows that the FBI will have
more luck finding Elvis than finding him."
Michelangelo's March Madness
Chances are your computer hasn't been infected by the Michelangelo virus.
Remember the scare of 1992? Nothing happened to most people, despite all the
media hype. Still, Michelangelo does pose a threat to IBM and compatible
systems. It is a destructive virus that hides on your hard drive all year,
then wreaks havoc on March 6, the artist's birthday. Worried? Computer
columnist Hiawatha Bray of The Boston Globe notes there's a fast, easy way to
do a self test. Do this:
z Start your computer and bring up MS-DOS.
z Enter CHKDSK. Your computer will give you a handy guide to the current
state of your hard drive.
z Look near the bottom and you should see a line that reads, "655,360
total bytes memory." That's the amount of memory your computer is supposed to
reserve for running old-fashioned DOS programs. "If you see exactly this
number, you can face next Wednesday with a smile," says Bray, "but if the
number is different, it's time to get slightly nervous."
Notes Bray, "Because Michelangelo always alters the amount of memory that can
be seen by the CHKDSK program, the little trick I described above is a simple
way to see if your machine is infected. If the number doesn't match, your
machine still may not be infected; there are some other legitimate programs
that can cause a different reading. But you should play it safe and install a
good antivirus program." Bray also notes that Michelangelo first popped up
in 1992, and these days, every good antivirus program can detect and
eliminate it.
As reported, Symantec Corp. is making a copy of its Norton AntiVirus scanner
for DOS/Windows, Windows 95 and Windows NT available free online (GO
SYMANTEC). And to learn more about viruses, including the Michelangelo
virus, and other related issues, visit the NCSA InfoSecurity Forum (GO
NCSAFORUM), the McAfee Virus Forum (GO VIRUSFORUM) and the Intel
Communications and Networking Forum (GO INTELFORUM).
Bray warns not to ignore a suspect disk. "If you boot an infected computer
on March 6, Michelangelo erases a
sizable chunk of the hard drive, including the file allocation table," the
columnist comments. "And once the table is gone, your machine can no longer
find any of the other files on your disk. The data can be recovered only by
expert technicians at a cost of hundreds of dollars."
Michelangelo Virus Fizzles
The Michelangelo computer virus has failed to live up to its apocalyptic hype
-- again. The anti-virus researchers at software publisher S&S Software
International Inc. have been able confirm just one attack by the virus, which
triggers each year on March 6, the birthday of the master sculptor and
painter. In the one incident, Michelangelo triggered on eight of 110
computers at a company in London.
S&S says this year's statistics corroborate similar totals for 1995, when the
company confirmed three Michelangelo infections -- less than four percent of
150 calls made that day to S&S. Confirmed Michelangelo attacks reported by
S&S peaked at 26 in 1992, the year that warnings of catastrophe by other
vendors of anti-virus software first generated front-page coverage,
widespread panic and a spike in sales of anti-virus software.
"The dire warnings are hype," says Alan Solomon, the company's founder. "The
best anti-virus software ... already protects users from Michelangelo. Users
do not need to be frightened into purchasing or downloading a special
Michelangelo killer.
The Michelangelo code destroys data by overwriting part of a hard disk. An
attack starts when a PC is booted from a Michelangelo-infected floppy. The
virus becomes memory resident and infects the partition sector of the hard
disk. The virus then becomes active each time the system is booted from the
hard drive. It also infects any new floppy disk as it is inserted in a drive
and accessed.
Bill to Attack Abortion Data Ban
Look for a bill to be introduced in Congress this week to repeal a provision
of the new telecommunications law that could make it a crime to put
information about abortion on the Internet. Reporting from Washington, the
Reuter News Service says the U.S. Senate bill will be introduced by Sens.
John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, and Olympia
Snowe, R-Maine. A similar House of Representatives bill will be offered by
Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colorado, Reuters says. As noted, the abortion
provision was little noticed until President Clinton signed the
telecommunications bill into law last month.
Added to the sweeping telecommunications act at the last minute by Rep. Henry
Hyde, R-Illinois, the provision extends a rarely enforced law -- the 1873
Comstock Act -- to users of interactive computer services. That act makes it
illegal to send material on abortion across state lines or through the mail.
The Hyde move prompted abortion-rights groups such as the National Abortion
and Reproductive Rights Action League and other groups to join civil
libertarians, computer users groups and publishing organizations in federal
suits challenging the telecommunication law's controversial provisions on
"obscenity" in cyberspace.
At issue is the act's defining indecency as "any comment, request,
suggestion, proposal, image or other communication that ... describes, in
terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards,
sexual or excretory activities or organs." Reuters notes the Clinton
administration has said it will not enforce the abortion provision in the new
law.
Intel Admits New Pentium Flaw!!
Some of Intel Corp.'s new high-end Pentium Pro microprocessor chipsets have a
problem that does not affect the accuracy of the data being processed, but
does severely slow the chip's computing speed for some high-end software.
"In a worst case scenario," Intel spokesman Howard High acknowledged, "it was
probably operating at about 10 to 20 percent of what people would expect."
Associated Press writer Richard Cole, reporting from San Francisco, quotes
industry analysts as estimating Intel has sold about 100,000 of the Pentium
Pro chip sets to manufacturers. High says 1,000 or 2,000 of those may contain
the flaw. The Pentium Pro is the successor to the Pentium, and computers
containing it usually sell for $8,000 to $10,000. Most buyers are engineers
or companies that are evaluating it for bigger purchases later. High says the
slowdown is more likely to show up in high intensity uses, such as when the
computer functions as a server for many users. Actually, he adds, the flaw is
not in the Pentium Pro microprocessor itself but in the chip set that
surrounds it.
AP says the company has included the problem in a list of "errata" --
performance glitches -- that it routinely sends to manufacturers who use its
chips. Intel also recommends ways to fix the trouble. "But Intel cannot
guarantee that manufacturers will fix there errors, and in some cases,
smaller companies don't have the expertise or money for further engineering,"
Cole adds. Intel said people who believe their computer may suffer from the
bug should call the manufacturer. If that doesn't work, Intel customer
service representatives can be contacted at 1-800-628-8686.
Gates Sees Net as Biggest Breakthru
Microsoft Corp. chief Bill Gates says the Internet is "the greatest
phenomenon that I have ever seen since the original PC." Speaking this week
to a computer conference in Mexico City, Gates said, "There's no doubt that
the biggest thing is this Internet," adding that faster communications are
likely in the future to allow Net users to view "any movie, anytime" or to
send family photos around the globe instantly to friends and relatives. But,
reporting for the Reuter News Service, writer Michael Stott says the
Microsoft founder/chairman also observed that for the Net to achieve its full
potential as a video medium, communications need to be 60 times faster than
those now available through the telephone lines used by computer users across
the world to view its pages.
Said Gates, "Making it very, very fast is crucial so that it's the most
competitive way of getting different types of information. It won't be
possible to go much faster using the phone line." And when the new
technology does arrive, it will pose a major challenge to traditional
broadcast media like television and cable channels because of the tremendous
choice it offered. "It's very important," said Gates, "to distinguish
between broadcast technology -- where many, many, many people are seeing the
same thing -- and the interactive technologies like the Internet, where each
user is receiving only what they are interested in which might not be the
same as anyone else on the network."
In addition, Gates warned his audience that despite the opportunities offered
by the Internet, converting what started as a university learning tool into a
profit center won't be easy, that "it'll be a long time before a lot of
people make money on this. It will require patience and some people will not
figure out how to establish a business around the Internet." Gates sees a
high level of investment in the Internet and fierce competition before any
winners emerged. The gold is there, he says, but probably not in the most
obvious places.
WOW!, Lycos Announce Agreement
CompuServe Inc. reports that WOW! from CompuServe, its new family-focused
online service, has become the first service to license the Lycos a2z
cyberguide. The agreement also includes WOW!'s integration of Lycos World
Wide Web search technology and Point Communications Web site ratings system
into its Internet access capabilities.
CompuServe notes that the integration of Lycos' search tools will allow WOW!
members to benefit from Internet access throughout the service. For example,
members visiting a WOW! community, such as food or education, will be able to
instantly create a Point Communication "Top 5%" description list of popular,
relevant Web sites. By using the a2z directory, WOW! users will be able to do
category searches for Web sites and get comprehensive site content
descriptions. WOW! users will also have the power to conduct broad Internet
searches using a Lycos software tool customized for WOW!
"Incorporating features from Lycos and Point helps our members quickly find
high-quality information on the topics they choose regardless of where the
information resides -- on the Internet or WOW!" says Scott Kauffman,
CompuServe's vice president of consumer markets and general manager of WOW!.
The new online service will debut later this month. Windows 95 users can
reserve their copy of WOW! by calling 1-800-9GETWOW (1-800-943-8969).
WOW!, Tandy Ink Deal
WOW! from CompuServe, CompuServe Inc.'s new home-oriented online service,
says it has signed an agreement with Tandy Corp. that gives exclusive retail
launch rights to the company's 99 Computer City and 17 Incredible Universe
stores. According to WOW!, Incredible Universe and Computer City customers
purchasing Windows 95 or a multimedia PC system will receive a free WOW! CD-
ROM. Individuals signing up with WOW! before June 30 will become charter
members of the service. WOW! says it will announce details of its charter
membership program at a New York press preview on March 13.
"Incredible Universe and Computer City are key strategic distribution
channels for WOW!," says Scott Kauffman, CompuServe's vice president of
consumer markets and general manager of WOW! "At WOW!, our goal is to deliver
more value to our members, not only through a high performance service that
puts users in control, but also by developing dynamic retail promotions that
give something back to the consumer."
"Today's consumers purchasing new multimedia PCs have come to expect high-
performance systems that add utility to their daily lives," says Henry
Chiarelli, vice president and general manager of Incredible Universe.
"Coupling WOW! with these systems will let users maximize the enjoyment of
their PC with an online service created just for them." Windows95 users can
reserve their copy of WOW! from CompuServe now by calling I-800-9GETWOW (1-
800-943-6989).
New Procomm Plus Ships
Datastorm Technologies Inc. has begun shipping the latest release of its
Procomm Plus for Windows communications program. The Columbia, Missouri,
firm states that Procomm Plus 3.0 is the first PC communications software to
seamlessly integrate Internet, fax and data communications. The program
offers a Connection Directory with a new "tabbed" design to give users
control of their communications tasks. According to Datastorm, the feature
eliminates need for users to maintain separate dialing directories or learn
different programs to access the Internet, send or receive a fax or transfer
a data file.
The package also offers a new Web Zeppelin browser that incorporates a
enhanced version of Spyglass's Mosaic software. "A major advantage of
Procomm Plus 3.0 is the underlying architecture and powerful ASPECT script
language, which allows Datastorm to completely integrate faxing, data and
Internet tools into one easy to use product," says Robert Elliott,
Datastorm's director of marketing communications.
Corel Unveils WordPerfect Products
Corel Corp. has unveiled its first line of WordPerfect products since
acquiring the software series from Novell Inc. earlier this year. The new
titles include the Corel WordPerfect Suite, Corel Office Professional, Corel
Quattro Pro and Corel Presentations. All of the Windows 3.1-compatible
products are scheduled to ship in April. Versions for Windows 95 are
scheduled to become available in May and June.
"We expect an enthusiastic response to our new WordPerfect offerings," says
Michael Cowpland, Corel's president and CEO. "The new Corel WordPerfect Suite
gives our customers a value-packed collection of business applications for
the price of a word processor while Corel Office Professional adds the
strength of Paradox, GroupWise and InfoCentral to meet all of their database
and information management needs."
Corel WordPerfect Suite, which includes WordPerfect 6.1, Corel Quattro Pro
6.0, Envoy, Netscape Navigator, Corel Presentations 3.0, CorelFLOW 2 and
Starfish Software's Sidekick and Dashboard, will sell for $395 on CD-ROM and
$449 on floppy disk CD-ROM).
Corel Office Professional includes Corel WordPerfect 6.1, Corel Quattro Pro
6.0, Corel Presentations 3.0, Envoy, Netscape Navigator, InfoCentral,
Paradox, GroupWise, CorelFLOW 2 and Sidekick and Dashboard. It will be priced
at $695 on CD-ROM. Corel Quattro Pro 6.0 and Corel Presentations 6.0 will be
available on CD-ROM only for $99 each.
Corel also says it plans to incorporate "new features, functionality and
added value" into an upcoming Macintosh version of WordPerfect. Additionally,
versions of Corel WordPerfect for UNIX will be available on five major UNIX
platforms including Sun Solaris and SunOS, HP/UX, SCO UNIX and IBM AIX. Also,
Corel WordPerfect for DOS will be supported with regular fixes and driver
updates.
Caldera NewsWire STR Infofile
CALDERA TO PORT SUNSOFT'S WABI
TO CALDERA'S LINUX PLATFORM
Wabi and the Caldera Network Desktop provide solid, low-cost solution for
running the most popular Microsoft Windows applications on UNIX workstations
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. March 5, 1996 Caldera, Inc. and SunSoft, Inc., the
Internet company, today announced a strategic technology alliance in which
Caldera has licensed Wabi , SunSoft's Microsoft Windows API translation
solution, to enhance the Caldera Network Desktop. Wabi ported to Caldera's
Linux will allow customers to run the most popular Microsoft Windows
applications on the Caldera Network Desktop.
Wabi will allow customers to continue using familiar productivity
applications while benefiting from the robust, low-cost client and server
Internet and networking protocols provided by the Caldera Network Desktop.
Because the Caldera Network Desktop runs on Intel-based 386 or higher
machines and does not require a dedicated system, most Linux customers will
be able to use existing computers to author, navigate and publish to the
Internet; run Microsoft Windows and UNIX applications; and interact with
networks and private Intranets.
"UNIX is the Internet. Windows is the desktop," said Bryan Sparks, President
of Caldera, Inc. "By combining Caldera and Sun technologies, customers can
create a low-cost information system that includes the best Internet and
networking products and services based on UNIX and the most popular desktop
applications based on Windows. This low-cost solution is perfect for
individuals running a small business from home or who want a high-speed
connection to their office applications and files from the road or home."
Paula Sager, Vice President of SunSoft Desktop Technologies, added, "UNIX
customers have had the ability to run Windows applications on their
workstations since Wabi was introduced. By licensing Wabi, Caldera now gives
those same capabilities to Caldera's customers."
Bill Willis, Associate Provost for Academic Computing at North Carolina State
University, was one of many customers that asked Caldera to port Wabi.
Willis said, "NCSU plans to use the Caldera Network Desktop as an operating
system and desktop for students and faculty. Wabi, ported to Caldera's
platform, will allow the use of Windows applications required by our users
simultaneous with complete, secure access to the distributed file systems and
user services offered on campus. With Caldera, this is all possible at a
price point that both the University and the students can afford."
More than one million copies of Wabi have been shipped by a host of industry
vendors that have licensed the product, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM and
SCO. Caldera now joins these companies in an effort to provide Microsoft
Windows computing on UNIX workstations.
"We have been working closely with SunSoft over the past several months to
define and implement an industry standard that will benefit all vendors
working with Microsoft Windows products," said Ray Noorda, NFT Management,
Inc. "Wabi is a complementary product that enhances the Caldera Network
Desktop with access to applications that are not native on Linux."
The Caldera Solutions CD
Wabi will ship on the Caldera Solutions CD, which will be included with every
shipment of the Caldera Network Desktop. The CD-ROM contains mainstream
applications, including WordPerfect, CorelDRAW and Delrina Forms Flow
Filler, ported to Caldera's Linux platform by both Caldera and its
Independent Vendor Partners. Customers can easily purchase and unlock these
products, including Wabi, directly from the CD-ROM using GLOBEtrotter's
FLEXlm license manager software. By placing their products on the Caldera
Solutions CD, Caldera's third-party development partners can offer products
on the industry's first commodity-priced UNIX-based platform. These
applications will ship on a single CD-ROM, from which System Integrators,
VARs and consultants can purchase and install from the CD-ROM the
combination of software that meets the unique needs of each customer.
Channel Partners
Channel Partners who currently focus on either Microsoft Windows or UNIX
systems can now create complementary, low-cost computing environments that
maximize the best components and technologies of both Microsoft Windows and
UNIX products and services, providing Channel Partners with additional
revenue opportunities. The Caldera Network Desktop also allows Channel
Partners to remotely manage and support a combined Microsoft Windows and UNIX
environment.
Availability and Pricing
Caldera plans to ship Wabi on the Caldera Solutions CD during the next
quarter. Wabi on the Caldera Solutions CD will sell for less than $200.
This commodity pricing and availability meets growing customer demand in the
small office/home office/telecommuting environment, where customers want to
use popular desktop applications and interact from home or on the road with
the Internet and with private networks and Intranets, while reducing out-of-
pocket costs. This pricing also meets the needs of organizations of all
sizes that want to begin interacting with the Internet or private Intranets
without the need to purchase additional hardware and software or have
dedicated routers, servers and gateways.
The Caldera Network Desktop
The Caldera Network Desktop's complete set of protocols and technologies
allows customers to interact with all of the Internet's services, including
the World Wide Web (WWW), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Wide Area Information
Server (WAIS) and Gopher services. The product's features include a multi-
domain Web server / Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP) server, Simple Mail
Transport Protocol (SMTP) E-mail, Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP)
Usenet News, Network File System (NFS ), and dial-in server access via Point-
to-Point Protocol (PPP) / Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP). The Caldera
Network Desktop also supports full TCP/IP and IPX routing.
In addition, Caldera has licensed and included Netscape Navigator , the
widely popular client software for enterprise networks and the Internet,
providing customers enhanced World Wide Web browsing capabilities and the
ability to read Usenet news and E-mail, and run Java applets. In the Caldera
Network Desktop environment, the Netscape Navigator is also used for viewing
on-line help and documentation and for previewing HTML documents before they
are publicly served on the Web.
Caldera, Inc., a privately held company established in 1994, empowers the
Internet community, developers, OEMs, channel partners, ISVs, industry
partners, consultants and end-users to collaborate, innovate, build and
deliver meaningful computing alternatives to the business community. For
additional information, contact Caldera on the World Wide Web at
http://www.caldera.com or for orders and information call (800) 850-7779.
SunSoft, Inc. is the leading provider of Internet management, access,
application development and platform software. SunSoft's products, designed
for information technology professionals, systems integrators, value added
resellers, and computer manufacturers, are used to deliver Internet,
network, and desktop computing systems that improve a company's internal and
customer communications, and lets them quickly adapt to business change. The
products are licensed and distributed through computer manufacturers and
resellers worldwide. SunSoft is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc. For
more information, contact SunSoft on the World Wide Web at
http://www.sun.com/sunsoft/.
Caldera is a registered trademark and Network Desktop is a trademark of
Caldera, Inc., in the United States and other countries. Netscape
Communications, the Netscape Communications logo, Netscape, and Netscape
Navigator are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. NetWare is
a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other
countries. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, SunSoft, the SunSoft logo,
Connectathon, NFS, NC+, Solaris, Wabi, and PC-NFS are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and
other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open. Windows and
Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. All other trademarks
are trademarks of their respective companies.
Secrets? STR Book Review You bet there's SECRETS in THIS Book!
Windows 95
Communication
and Online
SECRETS
Author: David W. Boles
Publisher: IDG Books
ISBN 1-56884-837-4
CD included
by Ralph F. Mariano
Who is this guy. "David W. Boles" and what's this "gang" thing all
about? Better listen up kiddies. this guy has the knack. the chutzpah and
just enough shtick to deliver the kind. I have only one question for David.
WHO in heaven's name plastered that awful "moniker" on this book?? It
should've been something a lot shorter and more to the point. And..
Communication??? Communications is more like it. The book's content is hot,
the title on the other hand, is somewhat misleading. There's a great deal
more to this book than the title "alludes" to.
During the past week, while cautiously eyeballing this huge, six
hundred and fifty pages of book. I kept telling myself "the right thing to
do was to read it cover to cover, ..all the while ..taking notes."
Unfortunately, for me.. It wasn't to be as easy and relaxed as that.
Yesterday, I was dragged by miserable circumstance screaming and kicking
in frenzied resistance to first looking inside the book. Then, after
slowly realizing this book has a great deal to offer with its "to the point
answers" (without the usual "talk down to you" fluff often found in computer
related "how to" books) I began reading.
Screaming and kicking? You bet! ..compelled by my frantic need to get
my main system back up and running in tip top shape on time for this week's
issue. No, it wasn't Michael "what's his face" virus! It was, simply put;
Ralph's sheer "boneheadedness". Honestly, I cannot tell you which is more
formidable. Maybe, my affliction is a type of virus. To make a long story
short. Nah.. let's go the whole route.
As every week comes to a close, things tend to get pretty hectic around
here. This past week a number of major distractions evidenced themselves and
the work on this issue was put off for a few days. By the time I began I had
little time left to get the job done. I truly enjoy watching the X-Files and
its on in this neck of the woods on Friday evening 9pm. So, I simply must be
done before 9pm on Friday night. I began on this week's issue Wednesday
morning.
Everything was going great until the UPS man arrived. I should've
realized I was in for it when I saw it was a substitute driver and his last
name was MURPHY! At this point.. I will not divulge the name of the software
package he delivered and I subsequently installed. but I will say the
installation was very easy and the new goodies seemed to run rather well.
That is until I re-booted and got the DREADED .Registry File Error notice.
(reboot and take it on the snoot) I hate it when that happens!
Sitting back for a moment, I quietly told myself, "nothing to worry
about.. you have a tape backup of drive C". I tried to do a backup while
booted normally. Hmmm nice try but no cigar. I then took out my trusty
emergency recovery disk the Tape Backup Software thoughtfully generated for
me and slipped it in drive A. Ahhh, here we go . the system booted and
brought me to the recovery routine. As it was booting. you guessed it. The
disk had gone south. Only one option left. MAGIC! That's where David W.
Bole's Secrets Book came into play.
Chapter Eleven to the RESCUE! From pages 214 to 217, was just what I
needed. If your Registry Bombs, Bring it Back Alive. That's the ticket!
All I'll say is; "number two worked like a charm." In a matter of minutes I
was back up and running just fine. Kinda ..too easy?? You bet! But here I
am grinning like a Cheshire Cat ..still stormin' along just like Norman.
"Normal Norman" that is..
Now, that I am clearly out of harm's way, I have devised a plan. I'm
going to read this highly informative book cover to cover and offer a series
of reports over the next few weeks. You really NEED to have this book in
your library. This one works for me and will for you. Surprisingly, its
been entertaining to read, relate to and I might add, very easy to
understand. The kicker is. Boles has proven he's got a solid grip on the
"ins and outs" of Windows 95. "The operating system that put the fun back
into computing."
Take it from this old duffer, "hit the hip" and buy this book. This one
is indeed a worthwhile investment. I am confident that, by the time you're
finished with your excursion through Boles-Land, you'll have as firm a grip
as David and every other reader has. Be sure to stay with us as we explore
Windows 95 Communication and Online Secrets by David W. Boles. How else are
you going to find out what the "The Gang" is all about! We'll have a few
"secrets" of our own to ultimately share with you.
ISDN Series STR Focus "Fully Understanding ISDN"
Article III
Base Graphic by 102714,3461
ctsy CompuServe's Computer Graphics Forum
A Basic Introduction to ISDN
ctsy MSN
Introduction
This document is designed for new users of ISDN. It explains the basic terms
and concepts of ISDN. At the end of this document there are two important
sections: a glossary and a Question and Answers section. If you want more
information about ISDN, read the ISDN FAQ in the Easy ISDN Access Forum.
ISDN, which stands for Integrated Services Digital Network, is a new digital
network using existing phone lines. ISDN is purely digital, which means that
the signal is always represented as zeros and ones and never translated into
tones. This makes ISDN much more reliable than previous types of phone
lines, allows much higher bandwidth, and greatly reduces susceptibility to
noise.
Analog vs. Digital Phone Service
Digital allows more numbers per line
A regular phone line has only one phone number attached to it and never can
be shared at the same time by two different applications (such as two
different telephone calls) ISDN lines are different. A single ISDN line can
use many different applications at the same time, such as a phone, computer,
fax, and other applications.
To keep track of all these different applications, ISDN uses an SPID (Service
Profile Identifier) to identify each application. One or more SPIDs is
assigned to each application on the ISDN line.
Therefore, a major difference between an ISDN line and a "plain old telephone
service line" (POTS) is that a POTS line has only one directory number, but
an ISDN line may have many.
No modulation means faster, but not always available
Another difference between POTS and ISDN is that ISDN is purely digital. It
transmits all its information in zeros and ones. No translation (modulation)
between the computer and phone line occurs.
This means that an ISDN line can transmit data more quickly, but that the
phone company's switches must also be digital. Most phone switches are now
digital, but there are a few that still cannot interpret purely digital
signals. This explains why ISDN service is not available in some areas.
End User Equipment
Required Equipment
End-user ISDN equipment includes the NT1 and any number of terminal adapters.
NT1: The Line Terminator
The NT1 is the ISDN line terminator. Its function is to act as the bridge
between the phone company wiring and the end user wiring. A single NT1 can
support multiple terminal adapters.
Terminal Adapter
A terminal adapter is the final piece of equipment that is used as the
application. A good example of a terminal adapter is an ISDN phone, a fax
machine, and an ISDN modem.
A terminal adapter refers to any device that is used to generate traffic on
an ISDN line. An ISDN modem is a terminal adapter. Some experts would
argue that an ISDN modem is a misnomer because that device does not MOdulate
or DEModulate signals. For our purposes, the term ISDN modem is a good
description of terminal adapters that are external and include modem
commands.
Understanding the Parts of an ISDN Line: The ISDN Reference Model
To make life easier, the phone companies devised a lettering reference model
to refer to the different points of an ISDN line. The U interface is the
interface that comes into your house and extends out of the wall outlet.
This U interface is terminated at an NT1 which converts it to a T interface.
This T interface is used by most terminal adapters (including some ISDN
modems).
ISDN modems specify if they use a U interface (which means they have built in
NT1) or if use a T interface. More and more ISDN modems are incorporating
NT1's and now connect directly to the U interface. The disadvantage of this
is that you can only then use the ISDN modem and cannot chain more terminal
adapters off a single ISDN line.
How an ISDN Line is Structured
Part of the reason that multiple devices may share the same ISDN lines is
because of how an ISDN line is structured. A single ISDN line actually
consists of three channels. There is a single D (data) channel which handles
all of the out -of-band signaling. This out-of-band signaling negotiates how
the ISDN calls connect and what resources they use.
Also in an ISDN line are two B (bearer) channels. Each B channel can
transport either 56Kbps or 64Kbps (depends on your telephone company). These
are the channels that actually send out the data.
The Phone Companies Role
Setting up the ISDN Network
The phone company developed this service during their push to upgrade to all
digital switches.
Reasons for Limited Availability
At this moment ISDN support is not available everywhere, since special setup,
sometimes including bringing ISDN wires to users' houses and businesses, is
required. And the phone company must install repeaters to boost the ISDN
signal when IDSN wiring exceeds 18,000 feet from a telephone company central
office.
Switch Types
When you make an ISDN call or a POTS call, you connect to a telephone company
switch. This switch is basically a powerful computer specifically designed
to route calls.
There are many different switch types in use with ISDN. The two most popular
switch types are the NT and AT&T 5ESS switch. These switches are very
similar in functionality, but the AT&T has a few more features.
Unfortunately some of these switches are incompatible with each other. To
resolve this problem, a national standard was created. NI1 stands for
National ISDN 1 which allows different switch types to communicate with each
other.
Pricing and Availability
Pricing and availability depend on your carrier vendor.
Ordering ISDN
Order codes
Since ordering ISDN lines is a very tricky thing to do, ordering codes were
developed. These codes bundled a certain set of parameters under code
names. The most important of these is "Intel Blue" which is the code most
commonly used in ordering ISDN for computer use.
Order times
Ordering times vary widely on carrier. In worst case scenarios it may take
up to 6 weeks to get a line installed. However, this may also take as
little as 3 weeks.
Provisioning the lines
To successfully order an ISDN line, the customer must know what types of
traffic they want to transverse the ISDN line. The customer must also know
if they want multipoint connections and what types of switches they are
connected to. When the customer knows all this information they are said to
provision the line.
Telecommuting & Other Applications
Remote LAN Access
The main use of ISDN today is remote access. Studies have shown that users
believe that they are "on" the network when the bandwidth is as little as
200Kbps. Since ISDN is 128Kbps it comes very close to achieving this. This
fast bandwidth allows users to connect to remote LANs from home and to
actually start working from home. This is a trend which is still growing
rapidly.
Video Conferencing
Another application of ISDN is in the use of video conferencing. This allows
people to remotely see people. Currently the bandwidth of ISDN doesn't allow
for th proper implementation of video conferencing, but look for this
application in the near future.
Future Developments of ISDN
Windows support
Windows and Microsoft have committed to ISDN support now and in the future.
This support includes ISDN access to MSN and also support for ISDN adapters
that act as network adapters.
Question and Answers:
When will Windows 95 have internal ISDN adapter support?
Now
Will it support multiple channels? compression?
Not at that time, but soon afterward.
Where can I find out about the ISDN support in Windows?
Check out the Easy ISDN Access Folder on MSN.
Can I run video over ISDN?
Yes, but the quality is very poor over ISDN BRI.
Glossary
AT5ESS
A very common switch used to route ISDN calls in the Phone companies CO.
B channel
The Bearer channel of an ISDN line. The B channel transports the data at
either 56 or 64kbps.
Bonding
The method of combining both B channels together to increase bandwidth
capacity. Usually the
BRI
Basic Rate Interface. This is a standard ISDN line mostly used for
residential or single user configurations. BRI contains 2 B channels and
one D channel and is sometimes called 2B +D.
D channel
The signalling channel. This is the channel that negotiates the call.
LEC
Local Exchange carrier. Usually the same as the local phone company.
Loopback Qualification
This is the first step of installation of an ISDN line. The LEC checks
the physical ines to make sure they will work with ISDN.
MP, MPPP, MulitiLink PPP
This is a protocol for PPP that allows multiple ISDN channels to be
combined into one large pipe.
NI-1
Short for National ISDN 1. Its a national standard for ISDN
interoperability between switches.
NT-1
A terminator for an ISDN line. It coverts traffic between a U interface
and a T interface.
Ordering Code
Short hand notation for provisioning an ISDN line with all the correct
settings. A good example is "Intel Blue" which is usually used for
setting up desktop systems
POTS
Plain old telephone Service. Its the standard telephone service which is
administer by the baby bells.
PPP
Point to Point IP protocol. Basically this protocol allows for IP to be
run over a phone or ISDN line.
PRI
A multi-user line which holds 23 B channels and 2 D channels.
RBOC
Regional Bell Operating Company. Your "Baby Bell" that provides local
phone service.
SPID
Service Profile IDentifier. This SPID uniquely identifies the device on
the ISDN line so that traffic may be routed to it and also so that that
capabilities of the ISDN device may be identified..
T Interface
This is the part of the ISDN line that comes out of the NT1 headed for the
computer.
Telco
See RBOCH.
U interface
The interface that comes out of the wall in most ISDN installations. This
interface usually needs an NT1 before you may attach ISDN devices to it.
However, many ISDN Modem makers are designing their ISDN devices with
built in NT1 so that they may hook directly to a U interface.
comp.dcom.isdn Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
These questions and answers have (almost entirely) been extracted from
comp.dcom.isdn. Please post any comments or new material that you have, or
email them to the current FAQ editor, cherkus@unimaster.com. In particular,
the vendor equipment chart is incomplete. If you want to share vendor
equipment info, just cut and paste the headers from the chart below and
create a new entry for the new information, and send it to me.
This FAQ consists almost entirely of information posted to this group. There
are a fair number of holes and there may be some outdated information in it.
There is no claim of completeness or guarantee of accuracy of any kind, or no
warranties for merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. If you
have some useful information that you would like to share, email it to me.
My goal is to have the FAQ mirror the information provided to the newsgroup
itself. The next-to-last section of this FAQ gives references that provide
much more information than this FAQ does.
2.01) What is ISDN?
ISDN stands for "Integrated Services Digital Networks", and it's a ITU-T
(formerly CCITT) term for a relatively new telecommunications service
package. ISDN is basically the telephone network turned all-digital end to
end, using existing switches and wiring (for the most part) upgraded so that
the basic "call" is a 64 kbps end-to-end channel, with bit-diddling as needed
(but not when not needed!). Packet and maybe frame modes are thrown in for
good measure, too, in some places. It's offered by local telephone
companies, but most readily in Australia, Western Europe, Japan, Singapore,
and portions of the USA, and with other portions of USA asomewhat more
behind. In France, ISDN is known as "RNIS".
------------------------------
2.02) What does an ISDN network connection look like?
A Basic Rate Interface (BRI) is two 64K bearer ("B") channels and a single
delta ("D") channel. The B channels are used for voice or data, and the D
channel is used for signaling and/or X.25 packet networking. This is the
variety most likely to be found in residential service.
Equipment known as a Terminal Adapter (TA) can be used to adapt these
channels to existing terminal equipment standards such as RS-232 and V.35.
This equipment is typically packaged in a similar fashion to modems, either
as standalone units or as interface cards that plug into a computer or
various kinds of commmunications equipment (such as routers or PBXs). TAs do
not interoperate with the modem; they replace the modem.
There may be cases where there is no need to interface to existing terminal
equipment or to emulate exisiting terminal equipment, or there may equipment
with synchronous interfaces present. In these cases, standalone units or
computer interfaces can provide high speed synchronous connections to the B
channels without converting to an asynchronous standard.
Another common type of equipment can be used to implement a bridge between
local area networks using the ISDN channel to transport the data. These
devices typically provide features such as demand dialing and/or data
compression.
Of course, more traditional devices such as telephones and fax machines can
be attached to the BRI, assuming they have the proper interface hardware and
software.
Another flavor of ISDN is Primary Rate Interface (PRI). Inside North America
and Japan, this consists of 24 channels, usually divided into 23 B channels
and 1 D channel, and runs over the same physical interface as T1. Outside of
these areas the PRI has 31 user channels, usually divided into 30 B channels
and 1 D channel and is based on the E1 interface. It is typically used for
connections such as one between a PBX (private branch exchange, a telephone
echange operated by the customer of a telephone company) and a CO (central
office, of the telephone company) or IXC (inter exchange carrier, a long
distance telephone company).
------------------------------
2.03) What will Basic Rate (2B+D) ISDN look like in my house/office?
An ISDN BRI U-Loop is 2 conductors from the CO (telephone company central
office) to the customer premises. Its maximum length may be 5.5 km (18000
ft). The equipment on both sides of the U loop has to be carefully designed
to deal with the long length of the U loop and the noisy environment it
operates in.
At the customer premises the U-loop is terminated by an NT1 (network
termination 1) device. The NT1 drives an S/T-bus which is usually 4 wires,
but in some cases it may be 6 or 8 wires. In these optional cases, the extra
wires are used provide power to operate telephones when normal power fails.
Alternately, 'phantom' power may be derived from the standard four wires.
Outside of North America emergency mode operation provides power for basic
voice service only in the case of loss of local power. In emergency mode
operation the NT1 receives up to 1.2W from the central office. In North
America there is no provision for emergency mode operation.
The name of the S/T bus comes from the letters used in the ISDN
specifications used to refer to two reference points, S and T. Point T
refers to the connection between the NT1 device and customer supplied
equipment. Terminals can connect directly to NT1 at point T, or there may be
a PBX (private branch exchange, i.e. a customer-owned telephone exchange).
When a PBX is present, point S refers to the connection between the PBX and
the terminal. Note that in ISDN terminology, "terminal" can mean any sort of
end-user ISDN device, such as data terminals, telephones, FAX machines, etc.
This picture shows what a residential ISDN connection looks like.
Point T Point U |
+--------+ 4-8 wires +-------+ 2-4 wires |
|Terminal|-----+-----| NT1 |-------------[| wall (to telco CO)
+--------+ | +-------+ |
+--------+ | |
|Terminal|-----+
+--------+ |
:
+--------+ |
|Terminal|-----+
+--------+
The T bus is a multipoint bus in this configuration. It is sometimes called
the passive bus because there are no repeaters on the line between the NT1
and the devices. It can be implemented using the same cable and connectors
as is 10 base T Ethernet. There may be up to 8 devices on the S/T bus. The
bus may be formed with splitters and T connectors - it is a bus, not a star.
The D channel is used to control the attachment of the one to eight devices
to the two B channels. No two devices attach to the same B channel at the
same time.
In this configuration, the major function of the NT is to allow more than one
device to have access to the 2 B channels provided by the ISDN BRI. For
instance, you may have an ISDN telephone, an ISDN fax and an ISDN computer
interface attached to the BRI. Each device can listen for calls and only
connect to a B channel when it identifies a message requesting a service it
can provide.
The NT1 only implements part of the channel sharing scheme; the other devices
participate as well, and the communication protocol used by the NT1 and the
other devices is an integral part of the scheme. The NT1 also performs other
functions; it translates the bit encoding scheme used on the lines between it
and the telephone company (the U loop) to the encoding used between it and
the devices. These schemes are different because the device to NT encoding
was designed to enable channel sharing whereas the NT to telco encoding was
designed to allow transmission across long distances.
In the United States, the customer pays for the NT device, so don't forget to
include the cost of this unit in your cost estimates, or if you don't need
the multiple device attachment feature, try to find a device that does not
require the NT device (i.e. it attaches directly to the U loop). If you are
not in the United States the telephone company provides the NT device, but
remember there is no such thing as a free lunch - you are probably paying for
it through increased rates, or increased taxes, etc. (flames to sci.economics
or alt.talk.politics).
Unfortunately, the NT1 is not an inexpensive device. It has to convert
between the signalling used on the U loop (which is operates over long
distances (5.5 km, 18000 ft) in a noisy environment and does not have to deal
with contention between devices) and the signalling of the S/T bus (which
operates over shorter distances in a quieter environment but it does have to
deal with contention between devices and other protocol functions). It also
provides diagnostic functions such as loopback mode, and it may have to
provide power, as descibed above.
This picture shows what an ISDN connection looks like when a PBX is present.
Point S Point T Point U |
+--------+ 4-8 wires +-------+ 4-8 wires +-------+ 2-4 wires |
|Terminal|-----------| NT2 |-----------| NT1 |-----------[| wall
+--------+ | (PBX) | +-------+ |
Point S +---+---+ |
+--------+ _________/ |
|Terminal|/ | Point S
+--------+ |
+---+----+
|Terminal|
+--------+
In this configuration, the wires at points S and T are point-to-point links.
Electrically, the S and T points are the same, which is why the name S/T bus
is almost always used. This makes sense; the terminal should see the same
physical interface whether it is hooked up with or without a PBX. But,
logically they are different. The telephone company needs to know that there
is a PBX between itself and the user so that it can coordinate its efforts
with the PBX. So, in cases where the difference is important, the
specifications use the S and T terminology.
When there is no PBX in the configuration, the NT1 device is usually a
standalone device that is packaged a lot like a modem: in a small box when
there are only a few, and in a rackmount when you need a lot of them. In the
United States, the customer buys the NT1 but in most of the rest of the world
the telephone company provides the NT1. When there is a PBX the rackmounted
NT1s are quite common. Also, when there is a PBX the use of PRI lines
instead of BRI lines is common.
------------------------------
2.04) What is a NT1? Who sells them?
[ Ed Note: Some may feel that there's a bit of overlap between the
preceding sections and this one, but the preceding sections are hard to
write without integrating NT1 information and this one is so informative
and well-written that it can stand on its own so I think I should leave it
as is. Comments? ]
Reply: What's an NT1, why do I need one, and where do I get one?
An NT1 (network terminator 1) is a device which provides an interface between
the two-wire twisted pairs used by telephone companies in their ISDN Basic
Rate (BRI) network and an end-user's four-wire terminal equipment. The NT1
also provides power for the terminal equipment if necessary (most ISDN phones
need power from the NT1, but most data terminal adapters--TAs--don't).
Most ISDN central office equipment (including AT&T 5ESS and Northern Telecom
DMS-100 switches) sends data to your home or office via what's known in ITU-T
lingo as a U interface on a single twisted pair. The NT1 hooks up to this
twisted pair, and converts the signals from the U interface to the four-wire
S/T interface. Most terminal equipment (for example, the IBM Wave Runner add-
in-card TA and most telephones) offers the S/T interface.
In North America, you have to buy and maintain your own NT1 device. The
telephone company offers end-users a U interface. In Europe and Japan, the
telephone company provides the NT1, owns it, and offers end-users a S/T
interface directly. In North America, some ISDN equipment vendors offer
devices which connect directly to the U interface (for example, the Combinet
CB160). If you have one of these devices, you don't need to buy a separate
NT1. The U interface can't be built in to the device when it's offered for
sale in Europe or Japan. (This is unfortunate for vendors, who must build
and test separate products for the relatively small North American market if
they want to offer the convenience of a U-interface.)
Many types of NT1s require an external power supply, although some include a
built-in supply. There are typically two classes of external power supplies.
One class provides ten to twelve watts--enough power for both the NT1 and for
the terminal equipment. The other class provides about two watts--enough
power for the NT1 alone. Many good power supplies offer at least a few
seconds of battery backup, to cover for glitches in line power.
Physically, the NT1 is a little plastic box with LEDs on it which can be
screwed to a wall. The external power supply (if one is included) is a
typical plug-wart. If you're using a lot of BRI lines, you can buy a rack
holding a dozen or so NT1s with a built in power supply.
It's a good idea to install your NT1 in a permanent fashion. If you unplug
the ISDN line (the U interface twisted pair) from the NT1, it shows up as a
sign of line trouble in the central office. Some telephone companies respond
to this so-called "trouble" by disabling your ISDN line at the central
office, and require you to place a service call on your analog telephone to
get your ISDN service restored.
All the vendors shown here accept credit card orders and ship promptly. All
the vendors have well-organized telesales operations with friendly and
reasonably knowledgeable sales people. Prices are in US dollars, as of
10/26/94, for single-unit purchases. Pricing is becoming volatile;
competition seems to be heating up.
AT&T, Northern Telecom, and Tone Commander NT1s can be ordered from:
Bell Atlantic Teleproducts
West Building, Suite 150
50 E. Swedesford Rd
Frazer Pa, 19355
tel +1-215-695-2300 or 800-221-0845
Maker Description Part No. Price
----- ----------- -------- ------
Northern Telecom NT1 standalone IN51000 108.00
Northern Telecom 10w power supply IN61000 72.00
Northern Telecom 2w power supply IN61005 36.00
AT&T NT1U-220 IA51007 276.00
AT&T NT1U-230 IA51009 165.00
AT&T 10w power supply IA61000 105.00
Tone Commander manufactures a variety of standalone and rack-mount NT1s and
racks. The NT1U-100 series is intended for locally powered terminal adapters
- no power is provided through the NT1. The NT1U-200 series provides PS1 and
PS2 power for voice terminals and also has additional status indicators.
Specific features, pictures, and more detailed information is available at
the Tone Commander home page: http://www.halcyon.comm/tcs/
Tone Commander Systems
11609 49th Place West
Mukilteo, WA 98275
voice: (800)524-0024 or (206)349-1000
fax: (206)349-1010
Prices listed below are Dealer List Prices. Additional 5% discounts are
provided for VISA/MC sales; 8% discounts for COD sales. Tone Commander
products are also available through various distributors.
Maker Description Part No. Price
-------------- -------------------------------- ------------- ------
Tone Commander Standalone NT1 with power supply NT1U-100TC 169.00
Tone Commander Rack-mount NT1 circuit card NT1U-110TC 159.00
Tone Commander 16 card rack for NT1U-110TCs NT1U-100 Rack 399.00
Tone Commander Standalone or rack-mount NT1 NT1U-220TC 195.00
Tone Commander Power supply for NT1U-220TC 901034 30.00
Tone Commander 12 unit rack for NT1U-220TCs NT1-220 Rack 595.00
Tone Commander UPS for NT1-220 Rack NT1-200 Backup 450.00
Tone Commander Add-on battery for NT1-200 Backup NT1-200 Add-on 385.00
Adtran offers their own NT1 products for sale.
Adtran, Inc.
901 Explorer Blvd Huntsville, AL 35806-2807 USA
+1 205 971 8000
fax +1 205 971 8030
Maker Description Part No. Price
----- ----------- -------- ------
Adtran NT1 NT1 ACE 395.00
Adtran Power Supply PS2 150.00
Adtran Power Kit 74.00
Adtran Standalone NT1 NT1/T400 575.00
(incl 7W supply)
Adtran Rackmount NT1 NT1/T400 395.00
IBM sells the RoadRunner, an NT1 device with added value: it can operate
either as a standard NT1 or in extended mode. In extended mode it provides an
intergrated voice terminal adapter and a connection to which POTS telephone
devices (including modems, FAXs, and answering machines) can be attached.
This allow a home POTS line to be replaced with an ISDN line.
When operating with a DMS-100 switch, one B channel is devoted to the analog
phones and one B channel is devoted to the data terminal adapter. When
attached to a 5ESS switch, the B channels may be allocated dynamically. The
analog phones may use either B channel that is available, and the data
terminal device may use either or both B channels.
The device includes a built in power supply and a back up battery, providing
up to 18 hours of on-hook, or 6 hours of off-hook operation during a local
power failure.
IBM
800-426-2255
+1-404-238-2157
Maker Description Part No. Price
----- ----------- -------- ------
IBM 7845 Network 82G6060 350.00
Terminator
Extended
Motorola UDS offers the NT100 Network Termination Unit. This is an NT1 with
added value: a series of diagnostic tests can be chosen via a front-panel
rotary switch.
Motorola UDS
5000 Bradford Drive
Huntsville AL 35805-1993
+1 205 430 8000
800 451 2369
fax +1 205 830 5657
Maker Description Part No. Price
----- ----------- -------- ------
Motorola UDS Net. Term. Unit NT100
------------------------------
2.05) Can the existing local loop lines be reused for ISDN?
The ISDN pairs are the same wires as used for regular telephone service. If
you became an ISDN user at home, the same wire pair that now provides your
telephone service would be used to provide ISDN (assuming you no longer have
the regular line).
Most of the lines do not require any special conditioning. Yes, if a line
has load coils on it they must be removed, BUT load coils are usually only
found on existing lines that are 15,000 feet or longer. As to lines with
bridge taps, the 2B1Q line transmission scheme (not to be confused with 2B +
D channelization) is tolerant of a certain amount of bridge taps and,
therefore it is only a minimal subset of existing lines (lines with bridge
taps whose total length is greater than 3000 feet for the bridge taps) that
would require special "de-conditioning."
With those things as the criteria, (in North America) we find than generally
around 90% or so of existing telephone lines need no "de-conditioning" in
order to be used for ISDN BRI service.
------------------------------
2.06) How does this compare to regular phone lines?
The ISDN line may act like two independent phone lines with two numbers.
Depending on the CO equipment, conferencing features etc. may be available
(conferencing in the telephone switch). BRI ISDN phones can support key-set
features such as you would expect to get on an office PBX like:
z - multiple directory numers per line.
z - multiple lines per directory number.
z - conferencing features.
z - forwarding features.
z - voice mail features.
z - speed call.
z - call park.
z - call pickup.
z - ring again.
z - textual status displays.
------------------------------
2.07) Is caller ID available on ISDN?
Caller ID (name or number display) may be supported (depending on the CO
setup). The availability of caller ID for residential phones would depend on
the capabilities of the local phone network and legislation allowing or
disallowing caller ID. The availability of Caller ID relies on the
underlying switching protocol used by the switches that make up the telephone
system (e.g. SS7).
------------------------------
2.08) What do I get above and beyond plain old telephone service?
Plain old telephone service is transmitted between the central office to your
home or office telephone set (or modem, or fax) in analog form. At the
central office, the analog signal is converted to a series of digital samples
at a rate of 8000 samples per second. Each sample is seven or eight bits in
length. As the signals for a telephone call move around the central office,
or between central offices, they are transmitted in digital form. Thus, a
telephone call consumes a transmission bandwidth of either 56 or 64 kilobits
per second. The theoretical (Nyquist) limit for the frequency response of a
signal sampled 8000 times per second is 4kHz. However, due to various losses
in the telephone system, the frequency response of an ordinary telephone call
is usually quoted as 3.1kHz. Ordinary modem-based data transmission uses
schemes for encoding data in an analog signal so it fits in this 3.1kHz
bandwidth. 14.4kbps is a commonly available transmission rate at the high
end of the scale. With this transmission rate, over three-quarters of the
bitrate handled by the central office is wasted.
Notice that in telephony, 64kpbs means 64000 bits per second, whereas in
computer engineering 64k bytes typically means 65536 bytes.
ISDN brings the digital signal all the way to your home or desktop. With
ISDN, you can place a data call which uses all 56kbps or 64kbps, because
there is no need to convert the signal to analog in your modem and back to
digital at the central office. The availability of the full bandwidth
presents some interesting technological opportunities:
z -- transmission of high-fidelity compressed audio
z -- transmission of encrypted audio
z -- transmission of lots of data
z -- transmission of other compressed signals, such as video
Basic-rate ISDN (BRI) offers two channels of this service. In BRI, the
connection between your site and the central office offers 64kbps
bidirectionally on each channel. Each of these channels may be used for a
voice call, for circuit-switched data, or for X.25 packet switched data.
Thus, the existing POTS circuit [POTS: Plain Old Telephone Service, i.e.
traditional analog telephony] can be conditioned to carry two calls at the
same time. (Your mileage may vary; you have to specifically order and pay
for the various services from your telephone company, just as you have to
order and pay for Call Waiting for an ordinary phone line. Also, not all
services are available everywhere; X.25 connectivity between COs is a notable
problem in the Greater Boston area as of 9/93, for example.)
Incidentally, ISDN brings another interesting service to your home or
desktop: a highly reliable 8000Hz clock signal. In most cases, the central
office switches, long-distance carriers, and ISDN terminal equipment all
operate with exactly the same clock frequency. In a real-time communications
environment (like a voice phone call) this means that there's no need to
compensate for differences between the sampling rates at each end of the
call.
One of the other features is that instead of the CO sending an AC ring signal
to activate your bell, it sends a digital packet that tells WHO is calling
(if available), WHAT TYPE of call (speech, datacomm?), the NUMBER DIALED
(maybe one of your aliases) and some other stuff. Your equipment can then
analyze this stuff and make an "intelligent" decision what to do with it.
For example, a phone (with speech-only capacity) would completely ignore a
datacomm call while a Terminal Adapter (ISDN "modem") or a phone with built-
in datacom functions would respond to it. If you have several "aliases" tied
to your line, you can program certain phones to answer calls for certain
numbers only. Datacomm calls contain baud rate and protocol information
within the setup signal so that the connection is virtually instantaneous
(no messing around with trying different carriers until both ends match).
------------------------------
2.09) What do ISDN phones cost?
The ISDN sets can cost between $180 for an AT&T 8503T ISDN phone from Pacific
Bell up to $1900 depending on what/how many features are needed.
A recent report states that the price is $536.90 for an AT&T 7506 with the RS-
232 port on the back and $102.70 to get the 507A adaptor to hook analog
devices to my 7506.
Recent quotes were "$200" for a Coretelco 1800 and "$600" for a Fujitsu SRS
1050.
------------------------------
2.10) Can you use existing telephone equipment with the voice portion?
Terminal Adapters (TA's) are available that will interface non ISDN terminal
equipment (TE), called TE2, to the S/T interface. At least one RBOC provides
a modem pool to allow for interchange of data with POTS subscribers.
Bellcore may approve a standard to allow a analog pair to interface to POTS
sets from a NT1. Also w/o a NT2 only one set can be connected to a B
channel at a time. This prevents 2 sets from participating in the same voice
call.
------------------------------
2.11) What is National ISDN?
Because of the breadth of the international ISDN standards, there are a
number of implementation choices that vendors of ISDN equipment can make.
Given the number of choices vendors can make, different vendors equipment may
not interoperate. In the United States, Bellcore has released a series of
specifications to try to avoid these interoperability problems. These are
the National ISDN specifications. Contact the Bellcore ISDN hot line listed
below for more information.
------------------------------
2.12) What is the NIUF?
North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF) is an org. of ISDN-interested parties,
coordinated by NIST (National Institute of Stds. and Tech.) Contact:
NIUF Secretariat
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Building 223, Room B364
Gaithersberg, MD 20899
(301) 975-2937 voice
(301) 926-9675 fax
(301) 869-7281 BBS 8N1 2400 bps
Bellcore has made the PostScript files for "A Catalog of National ISDN
Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications, Second Edition" accessable via
anonymous ftp from the machine info.bellcore.com. This document has a
tremendous amount of information about ISDN products and vendors, among many
other things. See the item below for details.
The currently approved documents for the Application Software Interface (ASI)
from the North American ISDN User's Forum (NIUF) are available via anonymous
FTP from dsys.ncsl.nist.gov. The documents are in Postscript and found in
uncompressed ASCII (foo.ps), compressed (foo.Z) and zipped (foo.zip) files.
These documents describe the Implementation Agreements made by the NIUF for
an API to ISDN services.
The file sizes are approximate and intended to help determine space
requirements for transfer.
Part 1: Overview and Protocols - Approved: 10/4/91, Updated: 10/30/92
~ftp/asi/docs/part1.ps - 347853 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part1.Z - 119655 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part1.zip - 89545 bytes
Part 2: MS-DOS Access Method - Approved: 6/5/92
~ftp/asi/docs/part2.ps - 146474 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part2.Z - 44450 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part2.zip - 31599 bytes
Part 3: Enhanced DOS/Protected Mode Shell Access Method -
Approved: June 5, 1992, Updated: 10/30/92
~ftp/asi/docs/part3.ps - 285344 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part3.Z - 91273 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part3.zip - 68331 bytes
Part 4: UNIX Access Method - Approved: 10/30/92
~ftp/asi/docs/part4.ps - 151809 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part4.Z - 47765 bytes
~ftp/asi/docs/part4.zip - 33465 bytes
For further information regarding these documents please contact Robert
Toense (rtoense@nist.gov) (phone: +1 301 975 2930).
2.16) Data Encapsulation for IP over ISDN
A decision was made at the Amsterdam IETF to state that all systems wishing
to guarantee IP interoperability should implement PPP. Such systems may also
implement the Frame Relay or X.25 encapsulations, and an RFC will be
published delineating how, when it is known that the encapsulations are
limited to that set of three, they may be distinguished by examination of the
first correctly checksummed and HDLC bit-stuffed packet.
Many implementations are using PPP so that they can negotiate compression
and/or multilink operation.
There is an Internet Draft from the Point-to-Point Protocol Working Group of
the Internet Engineering Task Force that describes the use of PPP over ISDN.
This draft is named draft-ietf-pppext-isdn-NN.txt in the internet-drafts
Shadow Directories on nic.ddn.mil, nnsc.nsf.net, nic.nordu.net,
ftp.nisc.sri.com, munnari.oz.au, Germany.EU.net and on many, many other
mirror archives. This is also discussed in RFC 1356 by Malis, et. al.
A common practice in most European countries is raw IP packets delimited by
HDLC flags. Another common practice is an encapsulation using simple HDLC in
layer 1, X.75 (LAPB, usually I-frames) in layer 2 and, sometimes, T.70 in
layer 3. PPP is used instead of HDLC/X.75/T.70 when the network doesn't
provide the callers telephone number eg. when emulating a modem or the
callers number is lost on telephone company borders. In this case, caller
authentication is done via PAP/CHAP instead.
------------------------------
2.17) Full Motion Video over ISDN
In ISDN, video isn't a "service being offered" - at least not for
low/midrange quality. You buy the proper equipment for both subscribers, plug
it in, and place the call. Just like speaking French on ISDN isn't something
being offered - it is something you just do, yourself.
Video telephony over narrowband ISDN is governed by a suite of ITU-T
(formerly CCITT) interoperability standards. The overall video telephony
suite is known informally as p * 64 (and pronounced 'p star 64'), and
formally as standard H.320. H.320 is an "umbrella" standard; it specifies
H.261 for video compression, H.221, H.230, and H.242 for communications,
control, and indication, G.711, G.722, and G.728 for audio signals, and
several others for specialized purposes. A common misconception, exploited by
some equipment manufacturers, is that compliance with H.261 (the video
compression standard) is enough to guarantee interoperability.
Bandwidth can be divided up among video, voice, and data in a bewildering
variety of ways. Typically, 56kbps might be allocated to voice, with 1.6kbps
to signalling (control and indication signals) and the balance allocated to
video.
An H.320-compatible terminal can support audio and video in one B channel
using G.728 audio at 16 kb/s. For a 64 kb/s channel, this leaves 46.4 kb/s
for video (after subtracting 1.6 kb/s for H.221 framing).
The resolution of a H.261 video image is either 352x288 (known as CIF) or
176x144 (known as quarter-CIF or QCIF). The frame rate can be anything from
30 frames/second and down. Configurations typically use a 2B (BRI) or a 6B
(switched-384 or 3xBRI with an inverse multiplexer) service, depending on the
desired cost and video quality. In a 384kbps call, a video conferencing
system can achieve 30 frames/second at CIF, and looks comparable to a VHS
videotape picture. In a 2B BRI call, a standard video phone can achieve 15
frames/second at CIF.
Those who have seen the 1B video call in operation generally agree that the
quality is not sufficient for anything useful like computer based training -
only for the social aspect of being able to *see* Grandma as well as hear her
(sort of like the snapshot pictures you make with that $5 camera with no
controls).
A 2B picture, on the other hand, is for all practical purposes sufficient for
remote education, presentations etc. Rapidly changing scenes are still not
very well handled, but as soon as the picture calms down, the sharpness and
color quality are impressive (considering that only two plain phone channels
are being used). With 2B+D being the standard BRI, this kind of picturephone
will be usable "everywhere" (including private homes).
However, it should still be noted that 6xB or H0 does allow for dramatic
improvement in picture quality compared to 2xB. In particular, H.320
video/audio applications will often allocate 56kbps for audio, leaving only
68.8kbps for video when using 2xB. On the other hand, using H0 would get you
326.4kbps for video with 56kbps for audio. Alternative audio algorithms can
improve picture quality over 2xB by not stealing as many bits. Note that 6B
is not identical to H0; the latter is a single channel which will give you
80kbps above that of six separate B channels. Inverse multiplexors can be
used to combine B channels.
------------------------------
2.18) What is a SPID? How come my ISDN device won't work without one?
SPIDs are Service Profiles IDs. SPIDs are used to identify what sort of
services and features the switch provides to the ISDN device. Currently they
are used only for circuit-switched service (as opposed to packet-switched).
Annex A to ITU recommendation Q.932 specifies the (optional) procedures for
SPIDs. They are most commonly implemented by ISDN equipment used in North
America.
When a new subscriber is added, the telco personnel allocate a SPID just as
they allocate a directory number. In many cases, the SPID number is
identical to the (full ten digit) directory number. In other cases it may be
the directory number concatinated with various other strings of digits, such
as digits 0100 or 0010, 1 or 2 (indicating the first or second B channel on
a non-centrex line), or 100 or 200 (same idea but on a centrex line) or some
other, seemingly arbitrary string. Some people report SPIDs of the form
01nnnnnnn0 for AT&T custom and 01nnnnnnn011 for NI-1, where n is the seven
digit directory number. It is all quite implementation dependent.
The subscriber needs to configure the SPID into their terminal (i.e. computer
or telephone, etc., not their NT-1 or NT-2) before they will be able to
connect to the central office switch.
When the subscriber plugs in a properly configured device to the line, Layer
2 initialization takes place, establishing the basic transport mechanism.
However if the subscriber has not configured the given SPID into their ISDN
device, the device will not perform layer 3 initialization and the subscriber
will not be able to make calls. This is, unfortunately, how many subscribers
discover they need a SPID.
Once the SPID is configured, the terminals go through an
initialization/identification state which has the terminal send the SPID to
the network in a Layer 3 INFOrmation message whereby the network responds
with an INFO message with the EID information element (ie). Thereafter the
SPID is not sent again to the switch. The switch may send the EID or the
Called Party Number (CdPN) in the SETUP message to the terminal for the
purpose of terminal selection.
SPIDs should not be confused with TEIs (terminal endpoint identifiers).
TEIs identify the terminal at Layer 2 for a particular interface (line).
TEIs will be unique on an interface, whereas SPIDs will be unique on the
whole switch and tend to be derived from the primary directory number of the
subscriber. Although they are used at different layers, they have a 1-to-1
correspondence so mixing them up isn't too dangerous. TEIs are dynamic
(different each time the terminal is plugged into the switch) but SPIDS are
not. Following the initialization sequence mentioned above the 1-to-1
correspondence is established. TEIs are usually not visible to the ISDN user
so they are not as well known as SPIDs.
The "address" of the layer 3 message is usually considered to be the Call
Reference Value (also dynamic but this time on a per call basis) as opposed
to the SPID, so the management entity in the ISDN device's software must
associate EID/CdPN on a particular TEI and Call Reference Number to a SPID.
There are some standards that call for a default Service Profile, where a
terminal doesn't need to provide a SPID to become active. Without the SPID
however, the switch has no way of knowing which terminal is which on the
interface so for multiple terminals an incoming call would be offered to the
first terminal that responded, rather than to a specific terminal.
------------------------------
2.19) Will ISDN terminal equipment that works in one country work properly
when it is installed in another country?
There are four major problem areas.
The first has to do with voice encoding, and is only a problem if the
equipment is a telephone. Equipment designed for use in North America and
Japan uses mu-law encoding when converting from analog to digital, whereas
the rest of the world uses A-law. If the equipment has a switch for
selecting one or the other of these encoding types, then there will not be a
problem with the voice encoding.
The second has to do with the way the equipment communicates with the
telephone exchange. There are interoperability problems because
z there are so many different services (and related parameters) that them
user can request and
z each country can decide whether or not to allow the telephone exchange
to offer a given service and
z the specifications that describe the services are open to
interpretation in many different ways.
So, as with other interoperability problems, you must work with the vendors
to determine if the equipment will interoperate. This is a basic problem; it
impacts all ISDN equipment, not just voice equipment.
The third has to do with homologation, or regulatory approval. In most
countries in the world the manufacturer of telephone equipment must obtain
approvals before the equipment may be connected to the network. So, even if
the equipment works with the network in a particular country, it isn't OK to
hook it up until the manufacturer has jumped through the various hoops to
demonstrate safety and compliance. It is typically more expensive to obtain
world-wide homologation approvals for a newly-developed piece of ISDN
equipment than it is to develop it and tool up to manufacture it.
A fourth issue is in the US the TA and NT1 are both provided by the customer,
while in Europe the NT1 is provided by telephone company. Stated differently,
if you walk into a store in the US and buy something to plug into an ISDN
line it may be designed as a one-piece unit that connects to point U. In
Europe you would get something that plugs into point T. Thus you might take
a piece of US-originated equipment to Europe and find that it won't work
because the jack in Europe is a T interface and the plug on your US equipment
is a U interface.
There are attempts to remedy this situation, particularly for BRI ISDN. In
North America, the National ISDN User's Forum is coming up with standards
that increase the uniformity of ISDN services. In Europe, a new standard
called NET3 is being developed.
------------------------------
2.20) Will ISDN terminal equipment that works with one vendor's ISDN switch
work properly when used with another vendor's switch?
[Ed. Note: The title is edited from the previous faq to try to fit in with
the preceding question] [Also, this seems to imply that there are only two
implementations to worry about and it is very US-centric. This section
needs to be reworked]
When the National ISDN-1 standard is implemented, there will be a single
standard for how TE communicates with the CO (the call setup dialogue). Until
that time, you may encounter two different varieties of CO equipment, each
with its own call setup dialogue:
* ATT 5ESS
* Northern Telecom DMS100
Some ISDN TE equipment can be configured to communicate with either;
some works with only one variety.
------------------------------
2.21) Do different manufacturers' Terminal Adaptors interoperate when used
asynchronously?
There is a standard up to 19.2k (V.110) but above that there is no real
standard implemented. However, in practice there is a fair degree of
interoperability (even when the TA's manual tells you otherwise) because many
TAs use the same chip set (supplied by Siemens) which happily goes up to
38.4. TAs from different suppliers that are using the Siemens chips have a
fair chance of interoperating at up to 38.4k.
------------------------------
2.22) Why do I get only about 19.2k throughput from my TA?
The problems in using TA's are the same as those in using fast modems. You
only get the throughput that your serial port can handle. The serial ports of
many machines struggle to receive at 19.2k. Sending is easier to implement
efficiently. Many machines will happily send data to a TA at 38.4, but choke
down to around 19.2k or lower when receiving (with lots of retries on ZMODEM
file transfer).
------------------------------
2.23) How long should call setup take when using a TA?
The "less than a second" call setup sometimes claimed seems to be rare. TAs
have a negotiation phase and it typically takes around 4 seconds to get
through to the remote site.
--------------------------------
3.01) How do I find out about getting ISDN in my area?
EURIE contact data:
Country Company name tel / fax
=========== ================ ====================== ===================
Austria PTT Austria Mr Michael Schneider +43 1 317 30 39
+43 1 31 3.13.66.63
Belgium BELGACOM Mr Egied Dekoster +32 2/213.46.49
+32 2/921.02.13
Denmark Tele Danmark Mr Soren Christensen +45 3399 6940
+45 3314 5625
Finland Telecom Finland Mr Terho Salo +358 31 243 22 67
+358 31 243 23 83
Finland The ATC Finland Mr Matti Tammisalo +358 0 606 35 08
+358 0 606 33 22
France France Telecom Mr Pascal Meriaux +331 44 44 53 59
+331 44 44 75 50
Germany DBP Telekom Mr Volker Fink +49 6151 83 30 67
+49 6151 83 50 68
Greece OTE Mrs Vas. Danelli +30 1 611 89 96
+30 1 805 20 64
Ireland Telecom Eireann Mr John Lawler +353 1 790 10 00
+353 1 677 49 41
Italy Iritel Mr Rocco Gentile +39 65 494 52 56
+39 65 94 20 54
Italy Itacable Mr Rolando Bottoni +39 65 734 45 23
+39 65 7 34 48 05
Italy SIP Mr Bernardino de Rito +39 6 36 88 40 38
+39 6 36 44 88
Luxembourg EPTL Mr Hubert Schumacher +352 49 91 56 56
+352 49 12 21
Netherlands PTT Telecom Ms Corinne der Kinderen +31 70 34 32 473
+31 70 34 39 747
Norway Norwegian Telecom Mr Odd Egil Asen +47 22 77 71 22
+47 22 2 0 78 00
Portugal TLP Mr Antero Aguilar +351 1 147 797
+351 1 544 796
Portugal Telecom Portugal Mr Jose Brito +351 1 35 04 710
+351 1 35 04 197
Spain Telefonica Espana Mr Fernando Moratinos +34 1 584 96 81
+341 584 95 58
Sweden Telia Mr Peter Ostergren +46 8 713 17 99
+46 8 713 73 62
Switzerland PTT Telecom Mr Jean-Yves Guillet +41 31 62 72 27
+41 31 6 2 85 26
UK British Telecom Mr JM Pickard +44 171 356 8952
+44 171 796 9120
UK Mercury Mr Clive Curt is +44 171 528 2635
+44 171 528 2066
Australia:
Telecom: 008 077 222 (voice), (07) 220 0080 (fax)
Belgium:
As from 01/01/94 ISDN is available in belgium on demand. All major
switching nodes of the national telecom company BELGACOM are digital and
a very fast increasing number of sub-nodes are converted to digital
connections. BRA (Basic Rate Access) can be connected in less than a week
in over 75% of the country. PRA may take longer depending on geographical
location. Caller ID is available on ISDN in Belgium (using EURO-ISDN =
ISDN fase 2 in Belgium) but only between ISDN devices although it may be
hidden by the caller.
BELGACOM: departement van de communicatie, ISDN-cel
paleizenstraat 42 - 4de verdieping
1210 Brussel
tel: 078/11.66.77 (free of charge)
Canada:
Stentor
1-800-578-4736 (fax back service)
Germany:
Deutsche Bundespost Telekom
IfN - Ingenierubuero fuer Nachrichtentechnik
Haidelmoosweg 52
D - 78467 Konstanz
Tel: +49 7531 97000-0
FAX: +49 7531 74998
United Kingdom:
British Telecom ISDN Helpdesk
0800 181514 from within the UK,
+44 117 921 7764 from outside.
Mercury Data Communication
0500 424194 from within the UK,
+44 181 914 2335 from outside.
North America:
North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF): see item above
United States:
I suggest that you call the local telephone service center office and
ask for the name and number of the Marketing Product Manager for ISDN
services. If the service rep cannot make heads or tails of your
question, ask to speak to the local service center manager for complex
business services. This person should be able to direct you to the right
place. For the Bell companies, this position is normally part of the
telephone company's core marketing staff at their headquarters location.
Ameritech: 800-832-6328
Bellcore national ISDN information clearing house hotline:
800 992-4736
Bellcore's "ISDN Deployment Data", Special Report (SR) 2102.
Bellcore document ordering: US: 1-800-521-2673, other: 1-908-699-5800
Bell Atlantic: 1-800-570-ISDN (pricing, availablilty, tariffs,
applications
or ordering)
1-301-236-8163 (access to above for international callers)
BellSouth 1-800-858-9413
Cincinatti Bell 513-566-DATA
Pacific Bell:
800-995-0346 - ISDN Availability Hotline (automated audio response)
800-662-0735 - ISDN Telemarketing (ordering information)
800-4PB-ISDN - ISDN service center
Also, try the gopher servers at gopher.pacbell.com or gw.pacbell.com.
GTE: Menu-driven information service at [800] 4GTE-SW5.
Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky: 1-800-483-5200
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Penn. 1-800-483-5600
Oregon and Washington 1-800-483-5100
California 1-800-483-5000
Hawaii 1-800-643-4411
Texas 1-800-483-5400
Nevada Bell 702-688-7124 (contact Lyle Walters)
NYNEX: 1-800-438-4736, 800-GET-ISDN, 800-698-0817 or 212-626-7297.
Rochester Tele. 716-777-1234
Southwestern Bell (Texas)
Austin 512-870-4064
Dallas 214-268-1405
Houston 713-567-4300
San Antonio 512-351-8050
Southwestern Bell (Missouri)
St. Louis 800-SWB-ISDN (800-792-4736)
US West 303-896-8370 (contact Julia Evans)
Combinet "BBS":
By popular demand, the Combinet "BBS" providing information on ISDN
availability in many areas of the US is now available via the Internet.
The information is supplied by Bell Communications Research and various
Operating Companies and is updated periodically as new information
becomes available.
To access the service, you may use the World Wide Web interface:
http://www.combinet.com/deploy.html
or you may telnet to bbs.combinet.com and login as isdn
(no password is required). After entering an area code and
three-digit prefix, the service displays the availability of
ISDN. Also displayed is information about carrier installation
prices and monthly charges.
For those without direct Internet access, the service continues to be
available on a dialup basis using a 2400 bit/sec modem at (408) 733-4312.
Intel:
If you want to know if you can get basic rate ISDN in YOUR LOCAL AREA
(anywhere in the U.S>), call the helpful folks at Intel on
1-800-538-3373, and ask for extension 208. They have lots of good FREE
info on ISDN availability, pricing, etc.
------------------------------
4.01) Where can I find what all of these acronyms mean?
An archive of telecommunication related files are maintained on lcs.mit.edu
in the telecom-archives sub directory. There is a glossary of general
telecom acronyms, as well as an ISDN specific list.
------------------------------
4.02) What are the relevant standards?
There are numerous ITU-T (formerly CCITT) standards on ISDN. References in
the book bibliography (especially Stallings and appendix B of Kessler)
contain more details.
Q.921
(aka I.441) "ISDN User-Network Interface Data Link Layer Specifications",
1988
The D channel protocol. Found in Blue book Fascicle VI.10
Q.931
(aka I.451) "ISDN User-Network Interface Layer 3 Specification for Call
control"
1988. The messages that are sent over the D channel to set up
calls, disconnect calls etc. Found in Blue book Fascicle VI.11
Q.930: General Overview
Q.931: Basic ISDN call control
Q.932: Generic procedures for the control of ISDN supplementary services
Q.933: Frame Mode Call Control
Q.2931 (ex-Q.93B): B-ISDN Call control
G.711: Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) of Voice Frequencies
G.722: 7-kHz Audio Coding Within 64 kbit/s
G.728: Coding of Speech at 16 kbit/s Using Low-Delay Code Excited
Linear Prediction (LD-CELP)
H.320: Narrow-band Visual Telephone Systems and Terminal Equipment
H.221: Frame Structure for a 64 to 1920 kbit/s Channel in Audiovisual
Teleservices
H.230: Frame Synchronous Control and Indication Signals for Audiovisual
Systems
H.242: System for Establishing Communications Between Audiovisual Terminals
Using Digital Channels up to 2 Mbit/s
H.261: Video Codec for Audiovisual Services at p x 64 kbits/s
H.243: Basic MCU Procedures for Establishing Communications Between Three or
More Audiovisual Terminals Using Digital Channels Up to 2 Mbit/s
I.2xy "ISDN Frame Mode Bearer Services", 1990
I.310 ISDN - Network Functional Principles
I.320 ISDN protocol reference model
I.324 ISDN Network Architecture
I.325 Reference configs for ISDN connection types
I.326
I.330 ISDN numbering and addressing principles
I.331 Numbering plan for ISDN (and several more in I.33x relating
to numbering and addressing and routing)
I.340 ISDN connection types
I.350/351/352 refer to performance objectives
I.410-412 refer to user-network interfaces
as do I.420 and 421
I.430/430 Layer 1 specs
I.440/441 Layer 2 specs (Q.921)
I.450-452 Layer 3 specs (Q.931)
I.450: General Overview
I.451: Basic ISDN call control
I.452: Extensions
I.460-465 Multiplexing and rate adaption
I.470 Relationship of terminal functions to ISDN
V.110
(aka I.463) "Support of DTE's with V Series Type Interfaces by an ISDN"
Terminal rate adaption by bit stuffing. C.f. V120.
V.120
(aka I465) "Support by an ISDN of Data Terminal Equipment with V series
Type Interfaces with Provision for Statistical Multiplexing" 1990
(This has been amended since the blue book). An alternative to
V.110
V.25bis calling mechanism under synchronous.
ITU-T (formerly CCITT) standards can be obtained via:
World Wide Web: http://info.itu.ch/ (main page)
http://info.itu.ch/itudoc/3500/3734.html (standards)
Gopher: info.itu.ch
E-Mail: Mail to: teledoc@itu.arcom.ch
Mail body:
HELP
LIST /itu
LIST /itu/rec
Hard Copy:
International Telecommunication Union
Information Services Department
Place des Nations
1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
TEL: +41 22 730 5554
FAX: +41 22 730 5337
Internet email: helpdesk@itu.ch
X.400 email: S=helpdesk;A=arcom;P=itu;C=ch
------------------------------
4.03) Where can I read more?
"ISDN In Perspective"
Fred R. Goldstein
Addison-Wesley
ISBN 0-201-50016-7
[Ed. Note: the second edition is new...]
"ISDN: Concepts, Facilities, and Services, Second Edition"
Gary Kessler
McGraw-Hill, 1993 (2/e).
ISBN 0-07-034247-4
"Integrated Services Digital Networks: Architectures / Protocols / Standards"
Hermann J. Helgert
Addison Wesley
ISBN 0-201-52501-1
The Basic book of ISDN (second edition)
Motorola University Press
Addison-Wesley Publisching company inc.
ISBN 0-201-56374-6
A 48 pages booklet covering all basic questions on ISDN and some case
studies on the possible installation. Can be obtained freely from
Motorola sometimes.
"Sensible ISDN Data Applications"
Jeffrey Fritz
jfritz@wvnvm.wvnet.edu
West Virginia University Press
ISBN 0-937058-31-9
"The ISDN Literacy Book"
Gerald L. Hopkins
Addison-Wesley 1995
ISBN 0-201-62979-8
384 pages, softcover
"ISDN and Broadband ISDN with Frame Relay and ATM, 3rd edition"
William Stallings
Prentice-Hall, 1995
ISBN 0-02-415513-6
"Networking Standards: A Guide to OSI, ISDN, LAN and MAN Standards"
William Stallings
Addison-Wesley
"A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications"
North American ISDN User's Forum
(use NIUF information above or order via Bellcore, document GP-1, $43)
and/or see info on anonymous ftp to info.bellcore.com above)
The 1990 ISDN Directory and Sourcebook
Phillips Publishing Inc.
7811 Montrose Road
Potomac, MD 20854
(301) 340-2100
ISDN Sourcebook
Information Gatekeepers Inc.
214 Harvard Ave,
Boston, MA 02134
(617) 232-3111
1 800 323-1088
Bellcore National ISDN Specifications
SR-NWT-001953
SR-NWT-002361
SR-NWT-002120 (National ISDN-2)
US: 1-800-521-2673, other: 1-908-699-5800
Bellcore ISDN Availability Report
WR-NWT-2102 ($103)
US: 1-800-521-2673, other: 1-908-699-5800
Bellcore ISDN Deployment Data
Special Report (SR) 2102
US: 1-800-521-2673, other: 1-908-699-5800
AT&T Technical Journal special issue on ISDN
(Volume 65, Issue 1) January/February 1986
EFFector. Issue 2.01, Issue 2.06, Issue 2.08
ftp.eff.org:pub/EFF
AT&T Documents
--------------
"AT&T 5ESS (tm) Primary Rate Interface for Generic Program 5E9"
235-900-342
"AT&T 5ESS (tm) Customer ISDN Basic Rate Interface Specifications
5E8 & 5E9 Generic Programs"
235-900-343
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch National ISDN Basic Rate Interface
Specification - 5E8 Software Release"
AT&T document number 235-900-341
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch ISDN Basic Rate Interface
Specification - 5E7 Software Release" {Custom BRI}
AT&T document number 235-900-331
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch ISDN Primary Rate Interface
Specification - 5E7 Software Release"
AT&T document number 235-900-332
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch Interface Specification to a
Packet Switched Public Data (X.75) Network -
5E8 Software Release" [as in CCITT X.75]
AT&T document number 235-900-317
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch X.75' Intranetwork Interface
Specification - 5E8 Software Release"
[as in Bellcore's TR-000310]
AT&T document number 235-900-325
"5ESS(rg.tm) Switch Documentation Description
and Ordering Guide"
[list/description of 5ESS documents]
AT&T document number 235-001-001
AT&T documents ordering:
1-800-432-6600 USA
1-800-225-1242 Canada
+1 317 352-8557 elsewhere
AT&T Customer Information Center
Order Entry
2855 N. Franklin road
Indianapolis, IN 46219
(317) 352-8484 (fax)
Northern Telecom Documents
--------------------------
Northern Telecom DMS-100 (tm)
Primary Rate Access User Interface Specification
(Issue 5 = BCS35, Issue 6 = BCS36)
NIS A211-1
Northern Telecom DMS-100 (tm)
Basic Rate User Network Interface Specifications
NIS S208-6
NTI ordering info:
Northern Telecom
Merchandising
PO Box 13010, Dept. 6611
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
1-800-347-4850
------------------------------
4.04) Can I get on-line National ISDN information from Bellcore?
Information about National ISDN is now available by anonymous FTP (File
Transfer Protocol) over the Internet at host "info.bellcore.com". FTP allows
the retrieval of formatted documents and software.
The rest of this document assumes that you have access to a machine connected
to the Internet that supports FTP, and that you have a system that can print
both ASCII formatted documents and PostScript formatted documents.
The files are available in PostScript through anonymous FTP from
"info.bellcore.com" in the /pub/ISDN sub directory.
I M P O R T A N T: Many of the files are large, it is essential that you
first get the README (the upper case is important) file for detailed
information on retrieving various files associated with documents.
The following text describes a typical anonymous FTP session:
system: ftp info.bellcore.com <enter>
Connected to info.bellcore.com.
220 info FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready.
Name: anonymous <enter>
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password: <enter your internet login -- example: student@university.edu>
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd /pub/ISDN <enter>
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> mget README <enter>
mget README? yes <enter>
200 PORT command successful.
150 ASCII data connection for README (8758 bytes).
226 ASCII Transfer complete.
local: README remote: README
8943 bytes received in 0.19 seconds (46 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit <enter>
221 Goodbye.
<enter> represents pressing the "enter" or "return" key on your
computer keyboard.
The README file is in ASCII format and may be read with most word processors.
The other files in the directory are in PostScript format and may be
downloaded as needed by using the "mget" command while in the FTP.
You should determine your local procedure for printing PostScript documents.
For example, on many UNIX systems, PostScript files may be printed on a
PostScript printer by using the "lpr" command. A typical Post Script print
command may look like:
lpr -P<printer> -h -v <filename.ps>
where:
<printer> represents printer name accessable to your system, and
<filename.ps> represents a PostScript file.
notes:
'-h' corresponds to the option of suppressing the printing of
burst page while '-v' corresponds to the option of printing
raster image, i.e., PostScript. Please note that the printer
must support PostScript imaging model in order to print these
files.
Some systems are configured to detect PostScript formatted files
automatically, so a command to print the documents on that kind of system is:
lpr -P<printer> <filename.ps>
If you have problems or you'd like to comment on the information stored at
this site or wish to make recommendations for future enhancements, you can
send email to:
isdn@cc.bellcore.com
Or, call the Bellcore's National ISDN Hotline: 1-800-992-ISDN
A recent visit to the system revealed the following directories:
CATALOG: NIUF (National ISDN User's Forum) catalog:
"A Catalog of National ISDN Solutions for Selected NIUF Applications, Second
Edition." [Ed: lots of big files, but some great info - chapter 4 is
hundreds of pages of ISDN product/vendor information]
CONTACTS: List of ISDN contacts at various Regional Bell Operating Companies
DEPLOYMENT: Currently empty but being worked on
EVENTS: Info about the "ISDN Solutions '94" event
NATIONAL_ISDN: Bellcore document SR-NWT-2006, "National ISDN" [Ed: Requires
Apple's Laser Prep; e.g., //pip.shsu.edu/tex-
archive/dviware/psprint/vms/laserprep70.ps, in many cases when a non-Apple
printer is being used]
README: The Read Me File
TARIFF: Currently empty but being worked on
------------------------------
5.01) Who is shipping what?
ISDN Products by Vendor:
+------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| | Product Type |
| Vendor +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| | IF | TA | BR | RO | TE | IC | TS | VC | CC |
+------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| ACC | | | x | x | | | | | |
| AccessWorks | | x | | | | | | | |
| Adtran, Inc. | | x | | | | | | | |
| AMD | | | | | | x | | | |
| ANDO | | | | | | | x | | |
| Ascend | | | | x | | | | | |
| AT&T | x | x | | | x | x | x | | |
| AT&T Microelect. | | | | | | x | | | |
| BinTec | x | | | x | | | | | |
| Cisco Systems | | | | x | | | | | |
| Combinet | | | x | | | | | | |
| Conware GmbH | | | x | x | | | | | |
| CPV-Stollmann | x | x | x | x | | | | | |
| CSI | x | | x | x | | | | | |
| diehl isdn | x | | x | x | | | | | x |
| DigiBoard | | | x | | | | | | |
| Digital Eq. | x | | | x | | | | | |
| DGM&S | | | | | | | | | x |
| EICON Technology | x | | | | | | | | |
| EuRoNIS | x | | | | | | | | |
| Fujitsu | | x | | | x | | | | |
| Gandalf | x | x | x | | | | | | |
| Hayes | x | x | | | | | | | |
| Hermstedt | x | x | | | | | | | |
| Hewlett-Packard | x | | | | | | | | |
| IBM | x | | | | | | | | |
| INS | | | | x | | | | | |
| Intel | x | | | | | | | x | |
| ISDN Systems | x | | | | | | | | |
| MERGE | | | | | | | x | | |
| Mitel | | | | | | | x | | |
| Motorola UDS | | x | | | | | | | |
| Motorola Semi | | | | | | | x | | |
| MS Telematica | x | | | | x | | | | |
| netCS | x | | | x | | | | | |
| Network Express | | | x | x | | | | | |
| Network Svc Grp | | | x | x | | | | x | |
| Paxdata | | x | x | | | | | | |
| SCii | x | | | | | | | | |
| Siemens | | | | | | x | | | |
| Silicon Graphics | | x | | | | | | | x |
| Spider Systems | | | | x | | | | | |
| Sun Microsystems | x | | | | | | | | |
| Telenetworks | | | | | | | | | x |
| Teleos | | | | | | | x | x | |
| Telesoft | | | | | | | x | | x |
| Telrad Telecomm. | | x | | | | | | | |
| TPI | | | | | | | x | | |
| Trend | | | | | | | x | | |
| Trillium | | | | | | | | | x |
| Zydacron | | | | | | | | x | |
+------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Key:
IF: Interface Card
TA: Terminal Adapter (Standalone)
BR: Bridge
RO: Router
TE: Telephones
IC: Integrated Circuit
TS: Test Equipment
VC: Video Teleconferencing Equipment
CC: Call Control Software
Vendor Info:
ACC (Advanced Computer Communications)
10261 Bubb