TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Dec 93 11:44:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 831
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Book Review: "Pournelle's PC Communications Bible" (Rob Slade)
Time Warner's Full Service Network (Alex Cena)
Wireless Local Loop in India (Alex Cena)
Send the Digest to abUsenet? (Mike D. Schomburg)
Re: The Superhighway and Telcos (Barry Lustig)
Re: Checking Up on Dialing Changes in 717 (Carl Moore)
Administrivia: Messages Lost (TELECOM Editor)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 20 Dec 93 0:50 -0600
From: Rob Slade <
[email protected]>
Subject: Book Review: "Pournelle's PC Communications Bible" by Pournelle/Banks
BKPCCOMB.RVW 931119
Macmillan of Canada
29 Birch Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1E2
Elizabeth Wilson
416-963-8830
Fax: 416-923-4821
or
Microsoft Press
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
USA
"Pournelle's PC Communications Bible", Pournelle/Banks, 1992, 1-55615-393-7
[email protected] [email protected]
Michael Banks is known to us through a couple of previous works
(BKPRTCOM.RVW and BKMDMREF.RVW). Jerry Pournelle, of course, is known
to everyone. With the Microsoft Press imprimatur, and the prestigious
title, usually reserved for the definitive work in a given field, one
could have high hopes for this book. So, in the slightly altered
words of the old joke, "Believe in the PC Communications Bible? Heck,
I've *seen* it!" And it brings me no joy.
The "Bible," in a given technical field, is usually a work which
collects a considerable wealth of technical material. Usually,
however, it is crafted with great care and skill in order to ensure
that the material is accessible to, at least, the diligent newcomer.
Not so here. Technical material there is -- thrown in at random as a
kind of nerdish grandstanding ("Look! See how much we know about
CRC?"). For the neophyte, the basic material is here -- buried in
verbiage, and presented with little logic or order.
Section one is entitled "Basics." There is an eminently forgettable
"history" of data communications, an extremely limited account of
"what's available," and a terse and short-sighted view of the future.
Chapter two supposedly tells you what you need to get online: it takes
thirteen pages to say you need a computer, modem, software and a
telephone. Chapter three purports to tell you how it all works. The
explanations will make a data communications professional cringe.
But, some would say, does it really matter that these pages are
simplified to the point of inaccuracy? Does the average user really
need to know the details? Well, no. In which case, this chapter is
completely unnecessary. It serves only to allow the authors to show
off the fact that they can use the term "phase shift keying". (There
is no evidence that they actually know what it is.)
Section two is "Getting Started," with chapters four and five
discussing making a data call and signing onto a BBS or online
service. Both chapters are disorganized and of very little help to
the novice user. Within nine pages, chapter four is discussing the
oddities that the authors found with different ports and interrupts.
Is this, then, for the advanced user? No. The material is far too
elementary for anyone with any computer communications background to
rely on. It is simply self-indulgent posturing.
Section three discusses modems and communications software again. I
take it back about the phase shift keying. By a lengthy and
charitable stretch of the imagination, the definition given is almost,
but not quite, completely unlike the truth. The material, however,
does start to become a bit more technical at this point. Having
thrown around "AT" command strings in earlier discussion, chapter six
finally prints out a limited list of them. The list could have been
copied from any modem "quick reference" card: there is no discussion
of the needs or functions for various features. The same holds true
for the chapters on software (with an incomplete list of ANSI codes),
and scripting (with a five-page Mirror III script for signing on the
Delphi, presumably from wherever Michael Banks lives). The material
is all heavily recycled, largely opinion, and of little technical or
instructional value.
Sections four and five are intended to give an overview of "who to
call." BBSes are given a chapter of their own, but only in limited
form. There is almost no mention of Fidonet or other networking
systems. The authors then show their commercial bias with discussions
of the larger (and higher priced) online systems. (And other biases
as well: BIX gets first mention several times; guess who just happens
to write a column for {Byte} magazine?) Of the Internet, of course,
there is not a word. There is a short chapter later on which talks of
"international" computer communications -- mostly how to call the US
from Europe and Japan.
Section six is a miscellany of fax, online databases, "Doing Business
by Modem," the aforementioned international chapter and another
short-term look to the future. Appendices include vendor listings; a
reasonable, but verbose, and overly personal, cabling guide; a rather
random troubleshooting guide (as in the chapter on getting connected,
there is no discussion of the typical problems you see with incorrect
parameters); and an ASCII table.
This is a more verbose, but no more helpful, version of Banks' earlier
books. While one can see the additions Pournelle has made (quite
clearly, in some cases), there is no improvement in either technical
accuracy, completeness of material or organization. Once again, for a
better generic introduction one has to turn to the system specific
texts of Gianone (BKUMSKMT.RVW) or LeVitus/Ihnatko (BKDMGTOU.RVW).
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKPCCOMB.RVW 931119
Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM
Digest and associated mailing lists.
DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer
[email protected],
[email protected], Rob Slade at 1:153/733
DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact:
[email protected]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 09:20:34 EST
From: Alex Cena <
[email protected]>
Subject: Time Warner's Full Service Network
From a Time Warner Press Release:
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ via First! -- Dennis R. Patrick,
president and chief executive officer of Time Warner Telecommunications,
today announced that the company had installed and demonstrated the
first phase of its wireless Personal Communications Services (PCS)
field trial network which employs state-of-the-art Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) digital technology. When completed this
spring, the trial network will be integrated into Time Warner's Full
Service Network (FSN) in Orlando.
In making the announcement, Patrick said: "The combination of
personal communications service and Time Warner's upgraded cable
network is a significant development in the creation of the Full
Service Network and the evolution of the electronic superhighway.
This test network will permit the use of wireless phones in the home,
in the car and in the office. Qualcomm, the leading innovator in
highly advanced CDMA cellular telephone systems, is creating a
specialized package of personal communications handsets and
infrastructure that will help us explore numerous exciting consumer
services and move forward to a new era in telecommunications." In
addition to demonstrating common use of FSN and PCS networks and
service availability in multiple environments, technical trials will
also study coverage and capacity of the Qualcomm system.
Patrick added, "The small, lightweight wireless PCS phone soon will
give the customer a single telephone number wherever he or she may go.
PCS will extend voice and data services to callers in their homes,
cars and offices." Time Warner's PCS network eventually will become a
wireless gateway to a wide range of FSN voice, video, data and
entertainment services. The PCS phone will become a key component in
an interactive electronic superhighway that will permit customers to
access the FSN even while outside the home.
The vendor for the PCS trial is Qualcomm Incorporated, a developer,
manufacturer and operator of advanced digital wireless
telecommunications products and systems based on CDMA (Code Division
Multiple Access). Qualcomm's products include the OmniTRACS system
and digital wireless telephone systems and products based on Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. The company also develops
and markets a range of VSLI devices.
CONTACT: Alex D. Felker of Time Warner Telecommunications, 202-331-7478
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 09:34:56 EST
From: Alex Cena <
[email protected]>
Subject: Wireless Local Loop in India
Does anyone have details of the Wireless Local Loop System in
Southwestern India? The system was used to restore communications
following the earthquake in India.
Specifically, I am interested in:
1) the equipment vendors involved;
2) spectrum allocation;
3) technology in use AMPs, TDMA, CDMA, GSM, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Alex M. Cena, Lehman Brothers,
[email protected]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 09:56:06 CST
From:
[email protected] (Mike D. Schomburg)
Subject: Send the Digest to abUsenet?
Pat: I suggest you re-connect the dung heap just after Hell freezes
over.
[Moderator's Note: Well, that occassion may come sooner than you
think. The National Weather Service says that Hell, Michigan may get
real cold toward the end of this week. Hell, a tiny little village
just a few miles northwest of Ann Arbor in Livingston County, Michigan
on highways 36/106 was the site of an NWS monitoring station for many
years, and regular reports were issued in the winter months advising
when when the temperature in Hell dropped below 32 degrees farenheit.
The only business around the area seems to be a tourist shop which
specializes in T-shirts and coffee mugs with "I've Been Through Hell"
printed on them.
On my visit during the summer a few years ago, the tourist shop was
quite busy and traffic was heavy on the highway leading into town. It
did not help that the highway was undergoing construction work
(possibly being paved with good intentions?) and was down to two
lanes; one in each direction. When you are in the area, stop and check
the place out. Part of the Pinckney State Forest/Recreational Area,
phone service in Hell comes from the Brighton and Dexter, Michigan
phone exchanges, depending on where in Hell you are calling from. The
best way to go straight to Hell is by taking Highway 43 north out of
Ann Arbor for about 12 miles to Highway 36 and turning east for
another five miles or so. Its an interesting place to visit, but I'm
not sure I would want to live there. A few of the locals however say
they have been in Hell all their lives and like it a lot. They also
wish to emphatically dispell the rumor started by Henry Ward Beecher;
the place does exist and lots of people come every year. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 11:37:49 EST
From: Barry Lustig <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: The Superhighway and Telcos
[email protected] (John R Levine) wrote:
> I believe that the first IP via CATV is supposed to be here in
> Cambridge, but I haven't seen any evidence that it's anywhere near
> ready to go, nor have other people I've asked. The existing CATV
> wiring only passes signals in one direction, head end to customers,
> and nobody has any idea what they're planning to do for the reverse
> direction. Indeed, we're not even sure that Continental realizes that
> there has to be a reverse direction. Neither Continental nor PSI has
> a stellar technical reputation in their respective industries.
It is very likely that PSI and Continental will use for their one
way cable systems a system such as that developed by Hybrid Networks.
The Hybrid system uses a 10Mbit/sec. downstream channel and a
telephone based upstream channel. At the headend of the cable system,
there is a terminal server like box which deals with the upstream
traffic.
Barry Lustig ICTV, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 12:30:41 EST
From: Carl Moore <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Checking Up on Dialing Changes in 717
Since the earlier message, I made it to a Kirkwood (717-529) pay
phone. There is a 717-932 prefix at Lewisberry, and apparently the
local call to Oxford (215-932, to go into 610) requires 1 + NPA + 7D.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 10:27:17 -0600
From: TELECOM Digest <
[email protected]>
Subject: Administrivia: Messages Lost
I am sorry to report that a processing error Monday morning at 10:15 AM
caused the loss of about a dozen or so messages waiting in the queue
for inclusion in the Digest. If you sent messages on Saturday, Sunday
or today (Monday) **and they have not yet appeared here** then they
are lost forever, and I ask humbly that you resubmit them. I am not
including the several messages pro/con reconnecting Usenet; only the
actual messages for the Digest itself. Of particular interest to me
was the 'Technical Analysis' holiday message sent to me. That person
received a message saying I would use his message in a few days.
Unfortunatly it got bashed also. So if you will resubmit those
messages from the weekend or this morning not yet printed I will
appreciate it.
There will be a few more issues of the Digest, probably on
Tuesday/Wednesday, then a break for the Christmas holiday with
publication resumed probably over the weekend.
PAT
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V13 #831
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