Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive Systems Integration (1992) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Enabling Technology: Communications and Software
3 Enabling Technology: Communications and Software
Pages 41-62
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 41... ...
Driving this convergence is the as of yet unabating miniaturization of electronic components that make up integrated circuits. As the density of the components on integrated circuits has increased at exponential rates, the speed and power of computers and other digital equipment have improved tremendously, while their costs have moved steadily downward.
|
From page 42... ...
Simply stated, the technical problems are these: First, the information processing capabilities of computers greatly exceed the capabilities of public telecommunication carriers to transmit data in its many forms between remote computers; data arrive in trickles rather than in the torrents that are needed to support real-time, multimedia interactive computing. Second, advances in hardware have outraced the ability of software designers and computer programmers to develop applications that exploit the full capabilities of new devices.
|
From page 43... ...
Specialized data transmission services—called T1 and T3 offered by telephone companies can greatly improve this rate, to 1.5 million bits per second for T1 and 45 million bits per second for T3. But even at a rate of 45 million bits per second, correspondence between remote computers is too slow to support interactive, data-intensive tasks, especially sophisticated graphics applications.
|
From page 44... ...
In terms of maintenance and upkeep, fiber offers economic advantages over copper wire. Some local telephone companies are running fiber from their central switching offices to remote distribution terminals that handle up to 1,000 lines and, from there, to streetside pedestals that link to individual homes and most businesses.
|
From page 45... ...
(For example, an ISDN adapter for a personal computer, with accompanying software, costs about $2,200~. In essence, early offerings of ISDN service enhance the capabilities of the telephone but leave untapped the potential of the computer as a tool for sharing, processing, and presenting information in multimedia forms.
|
From page 46... ...
However, in early 1991, major U.S. computer and communications firms endorsed a set of standard specifications for ISDN service.~3 The agreement could lead to conversion of about half of subscriber lines to NISDN service by the end of 1994.~4 Toward Broadband Networks ISDN's modest beginnings might be likened to a narrow river that over time broadens into a major waterway supporting cargo-carrying vessels of every size and function and, by means of its tributaries, offering access to any port desired.
|
From page 47... ...
The post office passes the letter to regional collection centers (switching centers of the network layer) and then on to the destination post office via the routing information in the letter's address, usually the ZIP code (control ir~formation)
|
From page 48... ...
1988. Global Trends in Computer Technology and Their Impact on Export Control, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., p.
|
From page 49... ...
" One of the penalties paid for the "openness" that OSI is intended to foster may be exacted in the form of reduced speed, a problem explained by Hisashi Kobayashi, dean of engineering and applied science at Princeton University. Gigabit transmission rates could overwhelm current and emerging communication protocols designed to support the OSI reference model, which has guided standards development for more than a decade.
|
From page 50... ...
Pending uses for the over-the-air communication channels include computer-tocomputer radio connections and personal communications networks. With some exceptions, these services stand apart from those offered over copper wire and fiber-optic cable public telephone service and data communications.
|
From page 51... ...
households, completing all the connections necessary for a nationwide broadband communications infrastructure. SOFTWARE Part and parcel of many issues and obstacles confronting telecommunications carriers and service providers are those related to the design, development, and maintenance of software.
|
From page 52... ...
That is what it is all about." Colloquium participants examined some of the hurdles that must be overcome to improve software design and development and to manage the increasing complexity inherent in integrating information systems. Measures of Complexity and Performance Even in small-scale projects, according to Aho, systems integration poses the challenge of transforming abstractions, such as improved customer service or product quality, into concrete functions, usually embodied in software applications.
|
From page 53... ...
As we think about systems architectural issues, we really need to think about the complementary software architectures. From a software perspective, I would like to know, for example, the functional view, the control structures, the expected behavior, how [system]
|
From page 54... ...
At best, developers can only approximate future developments. So rather than being a rigid scaffolding that greatly restricts future options for expansion, software architecture must have a high degree of flexibility.
|
From page 55... ...
ruttel provided a small list of topics awaiting internetworking standards: data bindings, language bindings, and bindings between standards, network management, and security. Performing an application on a distributed computing network may invoke standards in all these areas, as well as additional ones.
|
From page 56... ...
As we move into the broadband era, it is essential that these two merged industries cooperate in providing service to the user community."22 Many of the obstacles that stand in the way of advanced networking will require software solutions. For example, it has been estimated that the scale of software supporting the next generation of switching systems in the evolution of ISDN will be 10 times greater than that supporting the current generation.23 Given the magnitude of the need for reliable, high-quality software to accomplish complex networking tasks, collaborative development of software by representatives of the computer and communications industries, it has been suggested, may be the most efficient way to address the need.24 No matter what the label assigned to a networking issue communications or computing the ultimate aim is to meet the needs of the same large set of users.
|
From page 57... ...
, which accredit international standards for information technology and its applications. For example, the OSI reference model and many of its supporting standards, such as those for transferring files over a network or for computer-integrated manufacturing, were developed under the auspices of the ISO.
|
From page 58... ...
This shift represents a major environmental change for CSL, and it requires a rethinking of the successful approaches of the past decade or so.28 However, in light of these profound environmental changes that opensystems standards portend, the review panel concluded that the CSL's budget is "much too small to address effectively even a small fraction of the topics relevant to CSL's mission."29 Despite the realities of this budget situation, NIST is extensively involved in promoting information technology standards. Straddling the formal standardization process are de facto and ad hoc initiatives that seek to establish a particular product or implementation as a standard on the basis of its strong position in the market.
|
From page 59... ...
This latter organization, together with its highly visible Manufacturing Automation Protocol/Technical and Office Protocols (MAP/TOP) Users Group, has recently merged with the Corporation for Open Systems (COS)
|
From page 60... ...
With additional hardware, the fiberoptic system could also provide telephone service. (Kneale, Dennis.
|
From page 61... ...
26. For a detailed discussion of relevant standards-related issues, readers may wish to consult Crossroads of Information Technology Standards, National Research Council (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 19901.
|
From page 62... ...
Disorientation is almost inevitable when, for example, one tries to determine the roles of communication carriers and service providers, an amalgam of local telephone monopolies and emerging competitors, long-distance carriers, equipment makers, and suppliers of information services that operates in a complex, multijurisdictional regulatory environment. In short, the technological complexity inherent in systems integration is subsumed by other types of complexity that arise as the scope of networking grows from small a single firm—to intermediate a group of firms to largean entire nation and beyond.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.