|... analog swi tems to Pace 60 PG WEEHNAPPLIGATION DEVELOPMENA aaa aaaascaley 1, Koteska Vane klape jila S onmopanacam MAACH 13, 1989 M KATIN at a workstation that, with a few ' simple key- strokes, could give you access to the world's information bases, displaying on a single screen anything from text to complex color graphics and video. 'The same workstation lets you send voice and text messages, and access all the facilities of a corporate computing and communications network, regardless of the information type. You would also have access to a common public tele- communications network capable of handling all types of information, such as voice, text, data, video, at whatever speed. Š 'This is the information network of the future. Ini ted Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a major step toward establish- ing a telecornmunications network of this type. Information networks of the future will only slightly resemble the ' telecommunications facilities of today. They will be completely digital; all switching, transmission and network control will be governed by computers, and the networks themselves will have enough intelligence built into them to handle anything from the most complex routing and diagnostic problems to pro- tocol conversion and software emu- lation. ) Many transmission systems will use fi- ber-optic cables, rather than copper wires, due to their capacity to transmit huge guantities of information, including television and video. However, the big- gest breakthrough of future information networks will be the ability to provide all of these facilities and more, not as enhanced services reguiring special cir- euits and eguipment, but as standard network services available to all users on demand. To provide this level of service, exist- ing telecommunications networks will have to undergo fundamental and rapid change and make full use of technigues only now reaching their early stages of development (for example, optical trans- mission at speeds of hundreds of mil- lions of bits per second). One of the big- gest obstacles in the progress toward this information network of the future is not technology, but the creation and application of a framework of effective international standards that will pro- mote development of these networks on a truly global basis. EI, aspects of this information net- owever, are already in place - Many countries around the world are rapidly replacing much of their existing Computer-controlled' ISDN: Telecomm Information Network of the Future In the United States, Japan and much of Europe, this process has been under way for many years. Many networks that use digital switching and interoiTice transmission still provide, essentially, an analog telecommunications service to most of their customers. Corporations have been the first to benefit from conversion to digital. Via either satellites or more conventional terrestrial circuits, large corporate users can make use of digital, point-to-point. circuits for voice, data or video. Over the past few years, a host of new networks and services has become available, some based on existing eguip- ment and technologies, others on new technologies. It is only now, however, from the user to the network and back. in ISDN parlance, the two informa- tion-carrying channels are referred to as the Bearer, or B, channels. The signaling channel is referred to as the Data for control, or D channel. The other main ISDN channel is the H channel, the high- speed channel. ISDN uses a form of shorthand nota- tion'to refer to the various channels. The basic 144K-bps ISDN channel is re- ferred to as 2B-£D (two 64K-bps B chan- nels and one 16K-bps D signaling chan- nel). Standards for the 2B-D channel were unanimously accepted at the CCITT plenary session held in Mel- bourne, Australia, in December 1988. Second, there will be a standard, mul- š Gireuikswitoket kij data širiH le. One of the biggest obstacles in this information network is not technology, but the creation and implementation of effective global standards. that we are beginning to see substantial progress in the area of a single, common network capable of handling all of our information needs. s —An ISDN network has a.numben of - - basic. characteristics. First, as shown in the accompanying most users of the network will have a "telephone line" capable of transmitting Pa Tole se deliš The 144K-bps path is divided into three separate chani which op- erate at 6AK bps and can be used to tranamit:inf« »parate tipurpose interface connecting ISD: k ers to the network. This standard ee face will remove the present need for a variety of different interfaces, one for each network application. Third, the present array of different networks supporting different applica- tions (such as voice, telex and packet- switched networks) will be integrated into a single common network with enough capacity to handle anything from the transmission of a simple tele- phone message to full-motion video. From these acorns, the telephone com. panies hope mighty oaks will grow. Oak ; many ma- ture. The adopted CCITT dards for the 2B-£D channel concentrate mainly on a standard means of provid- ing the 144K-bps transmission path and the common terminal-to-network in- terface. The single common network that will handle all our information reguirements is some years away. It reguires further developments in both optical switching and transmission and a new set of stan- dards for the implementation of broad- band networks. Many of the technologies necessary for the implementation of broadband networks are evolving rapidly. Stan- dards for a broadband ISDN giving users access to channels with a transmission speed of more than'100 million bits per second are currently being formulated and will be presented at the 1992 CCITT plenary session in Geneva for ratifica- tion. The first implementation of broad- band ISDN networks is likely to occur during the first half of the 1990s. The keyword in present and future ISDN networks is flexibility: to attach a variety of terminals to the network; to choose whatever network service is re- aguired from a single terminal and inter- face; to send whatever type of informa- tion is necessary over a single network and have the network available on a worldwide basis. Impact of ISDN Every major development in commu- nications has a direct impact on existing economic and social structures. ISDN will be no different. Global ISDN information networks will be a major factor in stimulating in- ternational trade, especially in the ser: vice sector. ISDN, and the availability of switched digital networks in general, will have a great effect on the further development of computerized links between individ- ual corporations. Corporations can be "on-line" to their suppliers, customers, distributors, retailers, agents, banks and transport companies. The major econom- ic benefits from this include greatly re- duced paperwork, just:in-time inventory control, better purchasing opportunities, better services to customers and, gener- ally, tighter management and control. Integrated information networks, of which ISDN represents a beginning, will have a major impact on the way corpo- rations are managed. and operate. Global information networks will allow corpo- rations to manage their overseas opera: tions much more effectively. Next week, we will look at the grow- ing integration of computing and tele- communication technigues. The conver: gence of these technologies will alter the whole foundation upon which networks are designed. 8 The James Martin Productivity Series, an information service updated guar- terly, is available through High Pro- ductivity Software Inc., of Marble- head, Mass. (800) 242-1240. For infor- mation on seminars, please contact (in the United. States and Canada.) Tech- nology Transfer Institute, 741 10th St., Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) 394- i PO Europe, contact Savant, 2 Lancs., LA5 9BX ma (0924) 754 506.