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Date:      Fri, 24 Jan 1997 12:53:15 -0800 (PST)
From:      Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com>
To:        freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: 56K vs X2?
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSI.3.93.970124124401.13216O-100000@sidhe.memra.com>
In-Reply-To: <32E8D2E8.7DE14518@multinet.net>

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On Fri, 24 Jan 1997, graydon hoare wrote:

> ok I've been watching people argue this one for a couple of days now and
> have only one question, the answer to which (I believe) solves the whole
> 56k problem:
> 
> 	Are these modems (digital banks, singletons, etc.) 
> 	simply DSPs with soft-upgradable microcode?

Unfortunately it's not that simple. The key issue is that there can only
be one A/D conversion in the whole path to the customer. Some of these
upgradeable modems actually have A/D conversions on the chip and so they
will not be able to do 56K even with the software upgrade. For instance,
Ascend has two different kinds of digital modems. The older ones cannot be
upgraded and must be swapped with newer ones in order to do 56K.

> if they're not, you MUST, no matter what, no matter who you're talking
> to, MUST buy units which conform to the largest industry standard. 
> 
> this is the pivotal question, right?

Yep. That's why the Lucent/Rockwell K56plus standard looks attractive.
They certainly have the majority of the network access server market 
with Ascend, Livingston, etc... And there is no doubt that the majority
of consumer modems sold (70%) use Rockwell chipsets.

Michael Dillon                   -               Internet & ISP Consulting
Memra Software Inc.              -                  Fax: +1-250-546-3049
http://www.memra.com             -               E-mail: michael@memra.com




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