bryant@oakhill.UUCP (Bryant Wilder) (10/18/88)
the high speed modem that steve talked about at the intro
is a V.32 modem. it is a full duplex, 9600bps modem
--believe it or not-- whose software can be completely
implemented in just the single motorola 56001 dsp that comes
built in to the next cube. the hardware that he talked
about that the user could purchase for "very little money"
is some other necessary a/d and d/a and some other control
hardware. this hardware will be on a very small external
appendage that will plug into the phone line. the v.32 is
the ccitt standard that was agreed upon by the world ptt's
about four years ago. as the world standard it can be used
anywhere in the world without the usual protocol hassles that
the ptt's use to protect their markets.
now i am sure some of you, especially modem jockeys, will
dispute that a full spec, no cheating V.32 cannot be done in
just one motorola dsp56001, but i assure you it is true. i
know from first hand viewing, touch, and feel that several
modem companies have done this--many quarters ago. in fact
they will be introducing them to the market soon, if they
haven't already. so the high speed modems that use unique
protocols will soon find out how robust their technology is.
i introduced steve to the modem people he is working with, so
i feel confident you won't have to wait too long for this
modem.
bryant wilder, dsp operations manager
motorola
austin, texasdesnoyer@Apple.COM (Peter Desnoyers) (10/19/88)
In article <1583@oakhill.UUCP> bryant@oakhill.UUCP (Bryant Wilder) writes: > >now i am sure some of you, especially modem jockeys, will >dispute that a full spec, no cheating V.32 cannot be done in >just one motorola dsp56001, but i assure you it is true. i It's been implemented on less powerful processors as well, although with a certain amount of brilliance in the design. Perhaps the least CPU power for a full V.32 would be the UDS box, with 6 first-generation DSP chips. (I forget who made them, but they're slow, small, no external memory, etc.) The other extreme might be NEC (I think - if not then it might have been Fujitsu) with 10 TMS32010's. Your average numeric programmer might not be able to put a V.32 on a dsp56001; the best might be able to put two (I doubt three) on a single chip.
ns@cat.cmu.edu (Nicholas Spies) (10/19/88)
Has any mention been made about the video display technology of the NeXT-- that is, whether NeXT video output can be externally synched or is designed in some clever way to accept external video in a window (a la Parallax), etc. (I am aware that color has not yet been announced...) The "compleate" academic computer of the 1990's _must_ be able to handle NTSC<->B&W<->RGB conversions in a hassle-free (and hopefully, standardized) manner, in order to be the workstation of choice for those of us working on integrated computer/video applications...Who knows, perhaps an EditDroid lurks within the dark confines of the Cube! -- Nicholas Spies ns@cat.cmu.edu.arpa Center for Design of Educational Computing Carnegie Mellon University
david@ms.uky.edu (David Herron -- One of the vertebrae) (10/20/88)
In article <1583@oakhill.UUCP> bryant@oakhill.UUCP (Bryant Wilder) writes: >the high speed modem that steve talked about at the intro >is a V.32 modem. it is a full duplex, 9600bps modem >--believe it or not-- whose software can be completely >implemented in just the single motorola 56001 dsp that comes >built in to the next cube. Hey guy -- don't be too surprised that a DSP chip can do a fancy protocol like V.32. Telebit has had this fancy modem out for a year or two now that does speeds up to 18.2 kbaud on normal phone lines, and uses a DSP chip as the main driving force. It woulda been nice if the two chips were the same, so that Telebit could liscense the software to NeXT, but it's too late now. Maybe the code can be ported? I can believe it. I have a Telebit at home. I *know* how nice it is to use 9600 baud and faster from home... :-) It's "unfortunate" that they chose to implement V.32 since PEP is such a nicer protocol to use. (smaller increments on the backoff for bad phone lines for instance, Telebits can make connections on lines so bad that most V.32 modems don't have a ghost of a chance, and error-correction built into the protocol rather than added on later with something like MNP). Now, the high speed modem market hasn't settled down enough to say that V.32 will rule the world. Telebit has been doing all the right things to both have their own niche market, AND to have their protocol accepted as a standard. Considering that Telebits are prevalent in University CS departments (lots of places took Telebit up on the half-price deal), PEP will be a common protocol available in the places where NeXT wants to sell machines. -- <-- David Herron; an MMDF guy <david@ms.uky.edu> <-- ska: David le casse\*' {rutgers,uunet}!ukma!david, david@UKMA.BITNET <-- <-- "Smarter than the average pagan god ... "
msiskin@shogun.cc.umich.edu (Marc Siskin) (10/20/88)
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Organization: University of Michigan Computing Center, Ann Arbor
Keywords: V.32, 9600bps full duplex, Education
One thing I don't see as a use for the NeXT is in the actual instruction
at the universities getting the machine. Interactive instruction is the
newest thing in education and it uses all sorts of input including over-
laying external video over or under computer generated graphics. When
NeXT has the capability of mixing external video with graphics I Might
recommed that the Langugae Lab (my department) get a few. Until then, I
will have to continue to recommend the AMiga or reluctantly the IBM or MAC.
Marc Siskin Program Assistant U of Mich. Language Lab
Msiskin@shogun.cc.umich.edu
The Above opinion is one that the University is paying me for. All others
are my own and probably not worth more than the bandwidth. :-)jeff@lorrie.atmos.washington.edu (Jeff Bowden) (10/21/88)
In article <3344@pt.cs.cmu.edu> ns@cat.cmu.edu (Nicholas Spies) writes: >The "compleate" academic computer of the 1990's _must_ be able to handle ^^^^^^^^ >NTSC<->B&W<->RGB conversions in a hassle-free (and hopefully, standardized) >manner, in order to be the workstation of choice for those of us working on >integrated computer/video applications...Who knows, perhaps an EditDroid lurks >within the dark confines of the Cube! What percentage of the NeXT machine's intended audience do you suppose are working on integrated computer/video applications? Certainly not most. Those who want it can certainly buy a card to plug in to their cube and not burden all others with the cost of supporting such things can they not? We can only hope that the makers of said card took the time to make it hassle free for end-users (But they if they don't :-( ).
ns@cat.cmu.edu (Nicholas Spies) (10/21/88)
In article <JEFF.88Oct20175418@lorrie.atmos.washington.edu> jeff@lorrie.atmos.washington.edu (Jeff Bowden) writes: ... > >What percentage of the NeXT machine's intended audience do you suppose are >working on integrated computer/video applications? Certainly not most. Those >who want it can certainly buy a card to plug in to their cube and not burden >all others with the cost of supporting such things can they not? > >We can only hope that the makers of said card took the time to make it hassle >free for end-users (But they if they don't :-( ). ...points well taken; but judging from the work of Project Athena, efforts at standardizing handling of video windows under X, Bellcore's demo video conferencing between workstations, the increasing computerization of video production, etc that the integration of computing (and image-processing) power and video will definitely become more desirable to more users, certainly in the 1990s. I just hope that NeXT will address this when they announce their color boards, perhaps putting an NTSC<->RGB encoder/decoder into a gate array. :-) -- Nicholas Spies ns@cat.cmu.edu.arpa Center for Design of Educational Computing Carnegie Mellon University
ns@cat.cmu.edu (Nicholas Spies) (10/27/88)
In article <342@ufnmr.UUCP> gareth@ufnmr.UUCP (Gareth J. Barker) writes: >In article <3344@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, ns@cat.cmu.edu (Nicholas Spies) writes: >>... >> >> The "compleate" academic computer of the 1990's _must_ be able to handle >> NTSC<->B&W<->RGB conversions in a hassle-free (and hopefully, standardized) > >Don't forget the rest of the world. I don't imagine adding PAL/SECAM/NTSC/(HDTV?) >and any other standards that may emerge will be easy (possible?) in a general >purpose machine. (A couple of years ago the machine the BBC in Britain used >for NTSC/PAL conversion was half the size of a room). > Your point is well taken...only a few backwash countries are blighted with NTSC (which is said to mean "Never The Same Color")... :-) The Sony Universal monitor can display PAL/SECAM/NTSC and computer video, and costs only ~$700 and is about 1 cubic foot, mostly CRT. Scan-conversion is also much simpler now that video frame-stores are relatively cheap. My point is that computers should make the bold move from microwave ovens to the television/telephone, first on local nets--later over optical-phone/cable-TV lines. Seems simple but the politics aren't. (Flame on) What is needed is a new bold initiative on the order of the Communications Act of 1934, which realized that the broadcast spectrum is a finite natural resource whose benefit could be fully realized only by allocation and regulation. If you look at the communications resources of the society at large as a system that is similarly limited in bandwidth (because of the huge costs of building it, and the huge waste in duplicating it again and again with similar but non-integrated technologies) then it would seem reasonable that a new communications policy should be instituted for all public carriers, to insure the integration of computer/video/telephone technology. The success or failure of this effort could have a powerful influence on the strength of the country and its productivity well into the next century. (Flame off) -- Nicholas Spies ns@cat.cmu.edu.arpa Center for Design of Educational Computing Carnegie Mellon University