[comp.dcom.modems] Testing actual throughtputs

Harvey_Taylor@mindlink.UUCP (Harvey Taylor) (03/08/91)

In <3835.27d649d6@hayes.uucp>, tnixon@hayes.uucp (Toby Nixon) writes:
|
|In article <1991Mar6.165542.10140@cs.mcgill.ca>, storm@cs.mcgill.ca
|(Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) writes:
|
|    [re V.32 vs V.32bis]
|
|>     What sort of throughput can one expect (theoretically I suppse)
|> using a V.32bis modem with V.42bis compression...?
|
|If you accept that V.42bis achieves up to 4-to-1 compression on text
|data, you could expect to see up to 57,600bps throughput with
|V.42bis over V.32bis.  This is quite dependent on the modem
|implementation.  Many vendors are sticking with a maximum 38,400bps
|interface rate, and using the increased modulation speed of V.32bis
|to increase the types of data that actually acheive 38,400bps
|throughput, rather than trying to push for more.  V.32bis also
|increases the throughput of uncompressible data and of synchronous
|transmissions.
|

    <curmudgeon mode on>
    It really bugs me to see companies advertising 57.6K bps throughput
 when they know damn well that the data types which allow 4:1 compression
 are so rare, as to make their ad misleading.
    <curmudgeon mode off>

    <wishful thinking mode on>

    What I would like to see is a thorough comparison of these
 transmission protocols and compression techniques with varying
 sorts of data. ie. the layout would look something like:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSMISSION    COMPRESSION     DATA TYPE       THRUPUT     THRUPUT
PROTOCOL        TECHNIQUE   (unc=uncompressed)  THEORETICAL ACTUAL
                            (com=compressed*)   BPS         BPS
-------------------------------------------------------------------
HST             MNP5        unc ascii
HST             MNP5        unc binary
HST             MNP5        unc sound samples
HST             MNP5        unc video samples
HST             MNP5        com ascii
HST             MNP5        com binary
HST             MNP5        com sound samples
HST             MNP5        com video samples
-------------------------------------------------------------------
HST             V.42        unc ascii
HST             V.42        unc binary
HST             V.42        unc sound samples
HST             V.42        unc video samples
HST             V.42        com ascii
HST             V.42        com binary
HST             V.42        com sound samples
HST             V.42        com video samples
-------------------------------------------------------------------
HST             V.42bis     unc ascii
HST             V.42bis     unc binary
HST             V.42bis     unc sound samples
HST             V.42bis     unc video samples
HST             V.42bis     com ascii
HST             V.42bis     com binary
HST             V.42bis     com sound samples
HST             V.42bis     com video samples
-------------------------------------------------------------------

    And so on for PEP, V.32, V.32bis, Hayes or whatever.Clearly this
 is an evaluation which would require serious dedication. The compression
 and transmission protocols can be extended, as can the data types.
    Another source of complexity [just ask Telebit, heh heh] is the array
 of S-Register settings available. I suppose one could add another couple
 of categories NOISY LINE, CLEAN LINE; LONG DATA PATH, SHORT DATA PATH.#
    You'll notice that the number of datapoints has now become:

  Trans_Protocols * Comp_Protocols * Data_Types * Line_Types * Path_Lengths

    Note: * name your favourite archivers: zoo, lharc, zip, compress etc
          # ie a local call or one where your data is going across the
            country, up to a satellite & thru a cable.

    So is anybody [magazine/company] upto the challenge?

    <wishful thinking mode off>
    -het

    "Build it right. Build it stout. Out of things we know about."

      Harvey Taylor      Meta Media Productions
      uunet!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!Harvey_Taylor
               a186@mindlink.UUCP

Mike_Benna@mindlink.UUCP (Mike Benna) (03/08/91)

> Harvey Taylor@mindlink.UUCP writes:
> 
> What I would like to see is a thorough comparison of these transmission
> protocols and compression techniques with varying sorts of data.

Actually there are many more considerations than just those you have
investigated in your calculation (for example are you using Xmodem,
Zmodem, UUCP-G, etc.)  So many in fact that it is far easier to learn
what the various protocols do and to use that information to determine
what type of throughputs to expect.  After that, TEST IT in your
application and see what you get before putting down the money.

Marketing people will always try to hype a product (especially in the
computer industry) - it is up to the consumer to understand what he/she
is buying.

As for answering the original question, you should expect to get 1.5
times the throughput from a V.32bis modem as you used to get from a V.32
modem.  On pre-compressed data with V.42 error control (LAPM in
particular) you should see about 1124 cps from a V.32 modem and 1686 cps
from a V.32bis modem.
--
   ---> Mike Benna, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
        MindSpan Technologies Corp. - Video Game Design and Development
 EMAIL: Mike_Benna@mindlink.UUCP  or  ...!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!Mike_Benna

pplaceway@bbn.com (Paul Placeway) (03/10/91)

Harvey_Taylor@mindlink.UUCP (Harvey Taylor) writes:

<     <curmudgeon mode on>
<     It really bugs me to see companies advertising 57.6K bps throughput
<  when they know damn well that the data types which allow 4:1 compression
<  are so rare, as to make their ad misleading.
<     <curmudgeon mode off>

Microcom is guilty of this (MNP5 won't do anything like 2:1 average),
but you really can get 4:1 *average* compression out of the newer
techniques (both LZ-ish and statistical).  (The best of statistical or
dictionary (LZ) methods are around 5:1 for USENet batches these days.)

As a brain-dead test a while ago, I ran script(1), and then did about
2 hours compile/edit/test work over the phone, ended the script, and
did "compress -v typescript".  Guess what: 3.9:1 compression average.

V.42bis uses a better method than 16-bit LZW, so it should do better
still.  Also note that this is with an ANSI-style terminal (Macintosh
Kermit :-)), and the ANSI sequences are kinda verbose (although they
make up for it by being parametric), so your mileage may vary, but
probably not by much.

Of course to actually see 4:1 average compression, you have to be able
to get better than 4:1 throughput on the "good" sequences, which means
a serial connection at better than 4 times the underlying connection
speed or big buffers in the modem and 4 times the underlying speed (4
* 14.4k == 57.6 kbps for v.32bis, more like 115.2 kbps or better for
V.FAST).

Don't confuse MNP5 hype with v.42bis hype.  The former is generally
untrue, but the latter isn't far off.

			-- Paul Placeway
	If you thought decoding a 512-point constellation is hard, try
	decoding human speech!