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) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu. 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You can reach us by snail mail at Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or Fax at 1-708-329-0572. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Dec 93 0:50 -0600 From: Rob Slade 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 2814144@mcimail.com 3259579@mcimail.com 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 ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 09:20:34 EST From: Alex Cena 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 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, acena@lehman.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 09:56:06 CST From: mschomburg@ltec.com (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 Subject: Re: The Superhighway and Telcos johnl@iecc.com (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 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 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 ****************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253