144 lines
9.1 KiB
Plaintext
144 lines
9.1 KiB
Plaintext
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U.S. ROBOTICS ANNOUNCES THE LAST MODEM YOU'LL EVER BUY
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Provides Migration Path to Forthcoming CCITT 28.8 Kbps Standard
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SKOKIE, Ill. -- June 8, 1992 -- U.S. Robotics today announced an upgrade
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program for the CCITT-proposed standard of 28.8 Kbps, previously referred to
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as V.FAST. The Courier V.32bis, Courier HST Dual Standard and Shared Access
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Modem Sharing Kits are the products currently included in the program. Field
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upgrades will be available for $299 as soon as the CCITT 28.8 Kbps draft
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recommendation is completed. Official approval of the standard is not
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expected until January, 1994.
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"The CCITT-proposed 28.8 Kbps standard won't be a reality for most
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manufacturers until 1994," said Jonathan Zakin, U.S. Robotics executive vice
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president, sales and marketing. "By offering modems ready for 28.8 Kbps now,
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we're providing insurance against technical obsolescence. Customers can
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purchase a Courier high-speed modem or Shared Access Modem Sharing Kit now
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and take advantage of the most updated technology available. When the 28.8
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Kbps standard becomes available later, they'll already have a cost-effective
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upgrade option and won't have to re-invest in new equipment."
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"Key to the 28.8 Kbps program is the fact that the upgrade to the
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Courier high-speed modems and Shared Access Modem Sharing Kits can be
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completed by the end user at their worksite, which reduces their `down' time
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and eliminates excess costs like shipping and handling," continued Zakin.
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"You may hear about other 28.8 Kbps modems that are available now, but until
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the standard is defined, no one knows what hardware will be needed to comply.
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Our unique modem architecture makes future `field' upgrades a realistic and
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simple procedure."
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Because of U. S. Robotics' advanced modular modem architecture, the
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company's Courier V.32bis, Courier HST Dual Standard, and Shared Access modems
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are readily upgradable to 28.8Kbps. The modems are made up of a motherboard and
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a smaller daughterboard, which holds the modems' microprocessors and firmware.
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The current, high-speed daughterboard can easily be replaced with a new board
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containing the 28.8 Kbps CCITT standard. U.S. Robotics is the only modem
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manufacturer to implement this kind of flexible design.
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"In the CClTT, the previously called `V.FAST' standard has gained
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universal support at the 28.8Kbps speed," said Dale Walsh, U.S. Robotics vice
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president, advanced development and participant in the CCITT committee on the
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28.8 Kbps standard, "This is how our modular architecture works. The data
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pump (which executes the modulation and demodulation of the data), and the
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key controller functions (which perform the data compression, error control
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and the AT command set) are on one board, making upgrades simple. We can
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easily make the data pump faster and upgrade the controller functions to keep
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up with the new speed. It's all in just one small plug-in card."
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Because compatibility with CCITT standards is crucial, U.S. Robotics'
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availability and implementation of the 28.8Kbps standard will depend on the
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CClTT's progress. At this time, the standard is expected to define a connect
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speed of 28.8 Kbps, two times faster than V.32bis, the fastest CCITT
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standard now available.
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U.S. Robotics is one of the first vendors to announce a program for
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28.8Kbps compatibility. The company has a history of industry "firsts,"
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including the first CCITT V.32bis modem from a major manufacturer, the first
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self-managing modem management system and the first portable CCITT V.32
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modem.
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U.S. Robotics will upgrade any Modem Sharing Kit to 28.8Kbps. Current
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Courier models, which have the smaller footprint and a higher, 57.6 Kbps DCE
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to DTE (modem-to-computer) interface speed, are also upgradable. The
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company's upgrade program does not include WorldPort and Sportster modems.
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U. S. Robotics Courier modems offer a wide range of features, including
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fax, remote configuration, and synchronous capabilities. The Shared Access
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Modem Sharing Kits, which began shipping in March, 1992, allow for the
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pooling of modems on a LAN so that a LAN user can access them for dial-in or
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dial-out communications.
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The following products will be upgradable to 28.8 Kbps:
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Courier V.32 bis, internal and external (57,600 bps versions only)
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Courier HST Dual Standard, internal and external (57,600 bps versions only)
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Courier V.32 bis FAX, internal and external
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Courier HST Dual Standard FAX, internal and external
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Shared Access Modem Sharing Kit Single Port and Dual Port
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THE CCITT 28.8 KBPS STANDARD: SOME BACKGROUND
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The standard for 28.8 Kbps dial-up communications being developed by the
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CCITT will stretch the limits of dial-up telephone lines. But don't expect
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to be sending files at top speeds immediately.
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Dale Walsh, vice president for advanced development at U.S. Robotics,
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Inc., cautions that most users won't be able to achieve the maximum speeds
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permitted under the standard right away. When the standard is adopted, modems
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that conform should be able to transmit at 19.2 Kbps on lines where a modem
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conforming to V.32bis (the current high-speed standard) can now transmit at
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14.4 Kbs. But Walsh, a member of the CCITT committee developing the
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standard, says it is being formulated with the increasing digitization of
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dial-up phone networks in mind.
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The improved quality of phone lines, as much as any modem technology
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improvements, has made high speed dial-up communications possible" says
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Walsh. "We are designing the standard keeping in mind that phone networks
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will use more and more digital circuits and digital central office switches."
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Consequently, speeds in the neighborhood of 28.8 Kbps will be the
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exception, rather than the rule--at least until the public switched
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telephone network becomes completely digital.
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"I'd say when it's finished in a year or so, the standard will allow
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19.2 Kbps transmissions on 80 percent of all lines, 24 Kbps on 50 percent of
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all lines, and 28.8 Kbps communications on 20 percent of all lines," says
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Walsh, who also helped develop the CCITT V.32bis standard for 14.4 Kbps
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dial-up communications. "As the phone networks improve, top speeds will be
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more easily achieved, so I think it's more realistic to think of it as a
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19.2 Kbps standard that is sometimes capable of higher speeds.
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A common misconception is that the coming 28.8 Kbps standard will allow
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speeds of 115.2 Kbps, when combined with V.42bis data compression. Walsh noted
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that such calculations are based on an assumption that V.42bis allows 4 to 1
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data compression. Outside the lab, V.42bis allows compression ratios between
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2 to 1 and 3 to 1, meaning that under REAL LIFE conditions, the forthcoming
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standard will allow maximum throughput of about 86.4 Kbps.
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"It's a mistake to use the 28.8 number and max everything out from that,"
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said Walsh.
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Not that the 28.8 Kbps standard doesn't have its advantages. After all,
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19.2 Kbps is an improvement over 14.4 Kbps. And the forthcoming standard will
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adjust for line conditions, a critical factor in high-speed data
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communications--like no previous standard. The standard under development
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will include a "probing" function that the modem can use to "sound out" the
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quality of the phone line. That will allow the modem to optimize transmissions
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to take advantage of available bandwidth.
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"We are still working on the training sequences," says Walsh. "But before
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transmission starts, the standard will enable the modem to determine what band-
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width is available and how to best position the signal to match available band-
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width."
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The standard achieves higher speeds through its ability to use more of a
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line's bandwidth, not just the center portion of the channel used under current
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standards.
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"It will more closely match the modulation scheme to what's available,"
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says Walsh. "That way, the modem can shape the transmissions to adapt
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precisely to the channel, which is very important if you want to transmit at
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high speeds.
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The most recent committee meeting was held last month. Still to be
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agreed upon are such critical issues as training sequences, coding schemes, and
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signaling rates. Walsh said he expects the committee to reach final agreement
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in 1993, with official CCITT adoption likely in 1994.
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While some have taken to calling the standard under development V.Last,
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Walsh isn't convinced this will be the final modem standard. After all, he
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notes, no one thought dial-up phone lines would ever be this noise-free, and
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further advances in that area could make even higher speed dial-up
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communication possible.
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"I'm certain we'll have at least a fax version of this standard as the
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quality of phone lines keep improving," he said. "We're trying to be sure that
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this standard will serve users into the year 2000. But modem standards are
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like wars: you always think it's going to be the last one."
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U. S. ROBOTICS, INC, (NASDAQ:USRX) (800)DIAL-USR voice for more infor-
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mation.
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