Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr16/tc15_085.zip/TC15-085.TXT

Text File | 1995-03-12 | 27KB | 687 lines

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 8 Feb 95 20:58:00 CST    Volume 15 : Issue 85

Inside This Issue:                         Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Communications Decency Act of 1995 (Ben Heckscher)
    Recommended Least-Cost Network Design Programs? (Jon L. Gauthier)
    Caller ID on Call Waiting/ADSI (John Combs)
    Information Wanted on Galaxy Worldwide Communications (Richard
Baillie)
    UCLA Short Course on Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP (W.
Goodin)
    Teletel Micro: How to Win 402.36 FF Pro Connection Hour? (Jean B.
Condat)
    Numbers Numbers Numbers ... (Jim Derdzinski)

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 including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the
moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

**********************************************************************
***
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the
*
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland
*
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)
*
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as
represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.
*
**********************************************************************
***

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your
help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars
per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author.
Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 8 Feb 95 17:19 EST
From: Ben Heckscher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Communications Decency Act of 1995


This is a little difficult to follow unless you have a copy of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 223) is amended, but it gives
you some idea what Senator Exon has in mind.

Can you say "big brother"?

Source: US Congress Thomas WWW site - 8 Feb 95

Communications Decency Act of 1995 (Introduced in the Senate)

   S 314 IS

   104th CONGRESS

   1st Session

   S . 314

   To protect the public from the misuse of the telecommunications
   network and telecommunications devices and facilities.

   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

  FEBRUARY 1 (LEGISLATIVE DAY, JANUARY 30), 1995


   Mr. Exon (for himself and Mr. Gorton) introduced the following
bill;
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
   Science, and Transportation

  _________________________________________________________________

   A BILL

   To protect the public from the misuse of the telecommunications
   network and telecommunications devices and facilities.

   Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United
       States of America in Congress assembled,



  SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.



   This Act may be cited as the `Communications Decency Act of 1995'.



  SEC. 2. OBSCENE OR HARASSING USE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES
UNDER THE
  COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.



   (a) Offenses: Section 223 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S
       .C. 223) is amended--



        (1) in subsection (a)(1)--



             (A) by striking out `telephone' in the matter above
                 subparagraph (A) and inserting `telecommunications
                 device';

             (B) by striking out `makes any comment, request,
suggestion,
                 or proposal' in subparagraph (A) and inserting
`makes,
                 transmits, or otherwise makes available any comment,
                 request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other
                 communication';

             (C) by striking out subparagraph (B) and inserting the
                 following:

             `(B) makes a telephone call or utilizes a
telecommunications
                 device, whether or not conversation or communications
                 ensues, without disclosing his identity and with
intent
                 to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person at
the
                 called number or who receives the communication;' and

             (D) by striking out subparagraph (D) and inserting the
                 following:

             `(D) makes repeated telephone calls or repeatedly
initiates
                 communication with a telecommunications device,
during
                 which conversation or communication ensues, solely to
                 harass any person at the called number or who
receives
                 the communication; or';

        (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking `telephone facility' and
            inserting `telecommunications facility';

        (3) in subsection (b)(1)--

             (A) in subparagraph (A)--

                  (i) by striking `telephone' and inserting
                      `telecommunications device'; and

                  (ii) inserting `or initiated the communication' and
                      `placed the call', and

             (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking `telephone facility'
                 and inserting `telecommunications facility'; and

        (4) in subsection (b)(2)--

             (A) in subparagraph (A)--

                  (i) by striking `by means of telephone, makes' and
                      inserting `by means of telephone or
                      telecommunications device, makes, knowingly
                      transmits, or knowingly makes available'; and

                  (ii) by inserting `or initiated the communication'
                      after `placed the call'; and

             (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking `telephone facility'
                 and inserting in lieu thereof `telecommunications
                 facility'.

   (b) Penalties: Section 223 of such Act (47 U.S .C. 223) is amended--

        (1) by striking out `$50,000' each place it appears and
inserting
            `$100,000'; and

        (2) by striking `six months' each place it appears and
inserting
            `2 years'.

   (c) Prohibition on Provision of Access: Subsection (c)(1) of such
       section (47 U.S .C. 223(c)) is amended by striking `telephone'
and
       inserting `telecommunications device.'

   (d) Conforming Amendment: The section heading for such section is
       amended to read as follows:

   `obscene or harassing utilization of telecommunications devices and
   facilities in the district of columbia or in interstate or foreign
   communications'.

  SEC. 3. OBSCENE PROGRAMMING ON CABLE TELEVISION.

   Section 639 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S .C. 559) is
       amended by striking `$10,000' and inserting `$100,000'.

  SEC. 4. BROADCASTING OBSCENE LANGUAGE ON RADIO.

   Section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking
       out `$10,000' and inserting `$100,000'.


  SEC. 5. INTERCEPTION AND DISCLOSURE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.

   Section 2511 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

        (1) in paragraph (1)--

             (A) by striking `wire, oral, or electronic communication'
                 each place it appears and inserting `wire, oral,
                 electronic, or digital communication', and

             (B) in the matter designated as `(b)', by striking `oral
                 communication' in the matter above clause (i) and
                 inserting `communication'; and

        (2) in paragraph (2)(a), by striking `wire or electronic
            communication service' each place it appears (other than
in
            the second sentence) and inserting `wire, electronic, or
            digital communication service'.

  SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL PROHIBITION ON BILLING FOR TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE
CALLS.

   Section 228(c)(6) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S .C.
       228(c)(6)) is amended--

        (1) by striking `or' at the end of subparagraph (C);

        (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) and
            inserting a semicolon and `or'; and

        (3) by adding at the end thereof the following:


             `(E) the calling party being assessed, by virtue of being
                 asked to connect or otherwise transfer to a pay-per-
call
                 service, a charge for the call.'.


  SEC. 7. SCRAMBLING OF CABLE CHANNELS FOR NONSUBSCRIBERS.

   Part IV of title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S .C.
551
       et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:


  `SEC. 640. SCRAMBLING OF CABLE CHANNELS FOR NONSUBSCRIBERS.

   `(a) Requirement: In providing video programming unsuitable for
       children to any subscriber through a cable system, a cable
       operator shall fully scramble or otherwise fully block the
video
       and audio portion of each channel carrying such programming so
       that one not a subscriber does not receive it.


   `(b) Definition: As used in this section, the term `scramble' means
to
       rearrange the content of the signal of the programming so that
the
       programming cannot be received by persons unauthorized to
receive
       the programming.'.

  SEC. 8. CABLE OPERATOR REFUSAL TO CARRY CERTAIN PROGRAMS.

   (a) Public, Educational, and Governmental Channels: Section 611(e)
of
       the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S .C. 531(e)) is amended
by
       inserting before the period the following: `, except a cable
       operator may refuse to transmit any public access program or
       portion of a public access program which contains obscenity,
       indecency, or nudity'.

   (b) Cable Channels for Commercial Use: Section 612(c)(2) of the
       Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S .C. 532(c)(2)) is amended by
       striking `an operator' and inserting `a cable operator may
refuse
       to transmit any leased access program or portion of a leased
       access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jon L. Gauthier)
Subject: Recommended Least-Cost Network Design Programs?
Date: 8 Feb 1995 17:10:48 GMT
Organization: EUS/NI/N (Ericsson, Inc.)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jon L. Gauthier)


I'm looking for a program to design a multiplexed data network using
the add algorithm (see 'Designing Data Networks', Robert L. Ellis,
1986, Prentice- Hall, ISBN 0-13-201864-0).

Years ago I wrote one to design multi-drop networks (i.e. SNA) using
the Esau-Williams algorithm, but never got around to implementing the
add algorithm.

Are there any public domain, or share-ware programs available that
will take user-supplied tariff data?  Or point me to some good
commercial ones (like ComNet, BoNes, or whatever ...).

Please email responses to me at the address below.


Thanks in advance.

Jon L. Gauthier                        Ericsson, Inc.
EUS/NI/N Sr. Systems Programmer       P.O. Box 833875
[phone]             Richardson, TX 75083-3875
e-mail:  [e-mail], [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 7 Feb 95 23:33 EST
From: Testmark Laboratories <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID on Call Waiting/ADSI


In Issue 81 of the TELECOM Digest, the Editor asked for information on
Caller ID on Call Waiting to be uploaded again, which might have been
referring to my recent submission entitled "How I beat Caller ID."  I
have been deluged with email requests about ADSI, so here is more
detail on how ADSI actually works, as well as all the applicable
Bellcore standards.

The future of Caller ID lies with ADSI.  The acronym stands for Analog
Display Services Interface, and it is really a series of Bellcore
documents that lay out the new standard.  I have received several
requests
for the names of these standards, which are all covered in Bellcore
FR-NWT-000012.  They include:

     TR-NWT-001273  TR-NWT-000030  SR-INS-002461  SR-TSV-002476
     SR-TSV-002697  SR-NWT-002495  SR-TSV-002578

In short, ADSI is provided in three different "levels" of service:

     Level 1:  Calling name and number after the first ring.
     Level 2:  Calling name and number with call waiting.
     Level 3:  A telephone with a display screen.  (The "D" in ADSI.)

Remember, originally Caller ID was just the phone number of who was
calling, displayed after the first ring.  Then, the service was
improved to show both the number AND the name of the incoming caller.
ADSI Level 1 is just that service, and it displays the incoming number
and name after the first incoming ring.

ADSI Level 2 delivers the calling number and name during call waiting
by sending a short, low level sound called CAS tone, which the person
on the receiving end WILL hear for a tiny fraction of a second, but
it's not obnoxious.  The CAS tone alerts the ADSI Level 2 phone to
open the receive path to the user's earpiece, then the phone accepts a
short burst of Bell 202-type modem info.  The reason that this
"obsolete" modem type was used is simple -- it requires none of the
tedious "training time" that modern Trellis-encoded modems must have
to handshake.  The entire interruption in the listening path is only
about a third of a second, then the incoming call number and name are
displayed.  If the receiving party has Caller ID with call waiting
enabled on their phone line, but the phone they currently are talking
on is NOT an ADSI phone, they will hear the CAS tone, but when the CO
doesn't get the proper response back from the phone, it will NOT send
the burst of modem tone with information.  The proper response is a
DTMF digit, that is how ADSI phones talk back to the CO or an ADSI
server not owned by the telco.

By the way, if two users are off-hook on the line, and only one is
ADSI Level 2 compliant, when a CAS tone comes in, there will be no
Caller ID on call waiting, as an ADSI Level 2 device must momentarily
hang up, and check the line voltage to see if another phone is
off-hook before going back off-hook and acknowledging the CAS tone.
This is to prevent annoying bursts of modem tone in POTS phone users'
ears.  (I'm not sure what happens if BOTH phones are ADSI Level 2 --
if the timing requirements are tight enough for when they briefly hang
up and check, they wouldn't see each other, and BOTH would go back
off-hook and acknowledge the CAS tone.  I don't have time to research
it right now.  Perhaps someone from Bellcore could comment, if they
know ...)

ADSI Level 3 came about because Bellcore did a study to determine how

·
to sell more features on a telephone line, such as call waiting, or
call forwarding.  (The RBOCs like to sell these extra features as they
are revenue above the standard line charge, and quite profitable.)
The study concluded that many people didn't buy extra features because
they didn't want to fool with code sequences to enable/disable
features, such as *69.  Bellcore's solution was ADSI Level 3.  These
phones have a screen that must be 20 characters across by 6 rows, and
can be 40 characters across by more rows.  There are from four to six
"softkeys."  Menu trees of softkeys can be downloaded to an ADSI
phone, and stored in memory as a "script."  The user gets plain
English displays (or the language of your choice), and can press
softkeys to activate telco features, or even order new ones directly
from the phone without talking to a customer representative!  Some of
the RBOCs have also expressed interest in using the ADSI Level 3
phones for electronic white and yellow pages, Bell Atlantic comes to
mind.

Please note that an ADSI Level 3 session is also initiated from a a
privately-owned ADSI server by a brief CAS tone.  (Things work
differently between the ADSI phone and the CO itself to change calling
features.)  The actual modem communication is always ONE-WAY, from the
CO or privately-owned ADSI server TO the ADSI phone.  This is because
most information will be sent TO the phone in real life, the phone
merely needs to respond with brief sequences of DTMF tones to indicate
what softkeys the user has pressed.  The user won't hear any of this,
the receive and transmit paths are opened during ADSI Level 3
communication.  Also remember that the far-end of the call will NEVER
be a human listener, it will either be the CO, or a private ADSI
server owned by a business.

If there is an "achilles heel" to ADSI, this is it ... it can take up
to two minutes to download a maximum-length, complicated script to an
ADSI phone.  An ADSI-compliant phone must have enough memory to hold
at least four different scripts, so if one calls the same ADSI servers
on a regular basis, this might not be a problem.  Also, a smart
programmer will probably only download short pieces of script to a
phone, and then, while the user is reading the new options, they can
download a bit more.

The REAL attraction of ADSI is that ANYONE can have their own ADSI
server!  After all, it's designed to work on analog lines.  In a
couple of years, a screen phone will be used to call the local video
store, scroll through the new releases, and even reserve one for later
pickup.  Or, perhaps one could call Domino's, order a pizza and
toppings.  Just imagine calling a business, and instead of getting the
tedious voice mail prompts telling you to press *1 to do something,
you get a text screen that lets you scroll though a directory of
employees and select who you want!  The high end ADSI phones that I
have tested even have things like pull-out QWERTY keyboards for data
entry, PCMCIA Type I slots, "smart card" slots, and magnetic strip
card readers!

Bellcore deserves praise for this well thought out service, laid out
in several Bellcore standards.  Another smart move on their part is
that they didn't bother submitting the standard to an international
standards body to try to get it adopted.  (We all know how long that
takes.)  Instead, they have been visiting the PTTs of dozens of
countries, and trying to convince them to sign on to the ADSI standard
as defined by Bellcore.  Several European nations have expressed
interest already, as have Pacific Rim nations, including China.

ADSI is being field-trialed by a few RBOCS right now, including
Ameritech in Chicago.  Ameritech is selling high-end Philips P-100
ADSI screen phones at cost for only $200 each, and primarily marketing
it for enhanced banking features from your home, along with the
ability to easily order/change custom calling features.

It is estimated that there will be between 5 and 15 million ADSI Level
3 screen phones in North America by 1998, and I suspect the higher
number is more accurate.  Once you've tried one, you don't want to
give it up!  It is my opinion that ADSI, along with V.34 modems giving
true 115 kbps data throughput (via V.42bis compression), could be an
ISDN BRI "killer" one-two punch.  ISDN is STILL not ubiquitous, the
local telcos don't understand it and don't sell or market it
effectively, and it will NEVER be offered in the boondocks where I
live. (Mayo, Kentucky)

In closing, perhaps the Editor will permit a small plug for my
employer.  TestMark Labs is currently the ONLY alternative to Bellcore
itself, if you want your ADSI product tested for compliance to the
full Bellcore requirements.


John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories,
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for resubmitting this. Even
though
it appeared here not that long ago, it seems many readers missed it
the
first time around, and I think this is an exciting development where
Caller-ID is concerned; exciting enough to be certain all interested
readers are informed.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Richard Baillie <[e-mail]>
Subject: Information Wanted on Galaxy Worldwide Communications
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 95 20:17:00 EST


Looking for information on this company. Said to have been
incorporated
in July, 1994 after having launched as a division of a publicly traded
(?) U.S. company the prior year.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (William R. Goodin)
Subject: UCLA Short Course on Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 10:18:52
Organization: UCLA Extension


On April 3-7, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing", on
the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.

The instructors are Bernard Sklar, PhD, Communications Engineering
Services, and frederick harris, MS, Professor, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, San Diego State University.

This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital commun-
ications.  It differs from other communications courses in its
emphasis
on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to the
implementa-
tion of communication systems.  This makes the course essential for
practitioners in the rapidly changing field.  Error-correction coding,
spread spectrum techniques, and bandwidth-efficient signaling are all
discussed in detail.  Basic digital signaling methods and the newest
modulation-with-memory techniques are presented, along with trellis-
coded
modulation.

Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and
baseband
transmission; bandpass modulation and demodulation; digital signal
processing
tools and technology; non-recursive filters; channel coding: error
detection and correction; defining, designing, and evaluating systems;
signal conditioning; adaptive algorithms for communication systems;
modulation and coding trade-offs and bandwidth-efficient signaling;
and spread spectrum and multiple access techniques.

Each participant receives a copy of the text, "Digital Communications-
Fundamentals and Applications", by Bernard Sklar.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:


[phone]     [phone]  fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 07 Feb 1995 07:23:35 GMT
From: [e-mail] (JeanBernard Condat)
Organization: FranceNet
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Teletel Micro: How to Win 402.36 FF Pro Connection Hour?


Bonjour,

A new product is born today on the France Telecom catalogue: the
"Teletel Micro." It's a transparent access for micro-computers
connection between 300 and 14,400 baud on a single phone line (V22,
V22bis, V32, V32bis with MNP4 and V42, and perhaps V34 [=28,800
baud]).

All the hosts will be connected to Transpac and available all over
France.
Five numbers are already available for first time tests and
evaluations:

  - 36011414: 0.59 FF/min (0 FF for the host);
  - 36011616: 1.27 FF/min (33.37 FF/hour for the host);
  - 36011717: 2.19 FF/min (75.28 FF/hour for the host);
  - 36012828: 5.48 FF/min (226.31 FF/hour for the host);
  - 36012929: 9.29 FF/min (402.36 FF/hour for the host).

The forwarding of a service on another service will be only possible
on same level billing services.

France Telecom look at some companies able to give new ideas and/or
realisations on this Teletel Micro. The contact person is Mr. Gerard
Monin (phone: [phone], fax: [phone]).


Jean-Bernard CONDAT                       [phone], desk
47874949
IPA Groupe SVP                            fax [phone]
[e-mail]     telex 233999 S V P F
B.P. 155, 93404 Saint-Ouen Cedex, France  Pager Kobby: 06 49 09 52

------------------------------

Date: 07 Feb 95 00:25:30 EST
From: Jim Derdzinski <[e-mail]>
Subject: Numbers Numbers Numbers ...


I have been following the news accounts and the threads here regarding
the suggestion that Chicago area telephone users dial 11 digits on all
calls.

First of all, I think this idea is absolutely nuts.  It seemed
perfectly logical to me that Ameritech was introducing 630 as an
overlay code for cellular, pagers and other wireless services.  That
way, one could tell by the number who/what they were calling.  It
would also be quite simple as follows:

630 to 630 - dial seven digits,

312 to 312 - dial seven digits,

708 to 708 - dial seven digits,

anything else, do the 1-plus NPA thing.

Then we get all this crap from these other companies complaining about
the impact it will supposedly have on their customers, and how
Ameritech
will take up all the "good" numbers, etc., etc.

First of all, my decision to buy a cellular telephone or pager or
whatever service would be based on a NEED for, the PRICE of and the
QUALITY of the actual device/service -- not the NUMBER that it will be
assigned.

Who started this concept of "good" numbers anyway?  I order whatever
telephone service, the clerk gives me the number, and I'm on my way.
Am I the only one who doesn't care about the number assignment?

I am basically a regular POTS customer who doesn't yet have a need for
these companies' services.  However, after reading about the dial-11-
digit
idea, I can't help the feeling of being manipulated by a bunch of
startup companies (most of whom probably won't even exist five to ten
years from now) by having to dial 11 digits to call my upstairs
neighbor.

If these issues are such a problem, I think it's time for Bellcore to
devise a new nationwide numbering plan that will address all of these
problems.  We did it 35-40 years ago and got over it, I think we can
do it again.

Any thoughts?

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #85
*****************************