Telecommunications Technology that Changed the 20 th Century

1. Telecommunications Technologythat Changed the 20th Century Lecture 2

2. Lecture Overview • Brief History: • Major Technical Events • Major Political Events • Basic Technology Primer • Standards Organizations • Technology Fundamentals

3. Incredible History of SST(Spread Spectrum TechnologyA.K.A. Wireless Technology)

4. The Need • First Allied radio controlled Torpedoes used a single radio frequency for guidance control • German surface ships quickly found out that by sending out a signal at the same frequency they could cancel out the signal and cause the torpedo to stray off course

5. WWII Technology Surface Vessel Torpedo Torpedo Submarine

6. Hollywood to the rescue • Actress/Screen legend HedyLamarrinvented the concept of frequency hopping Spread Spectrum Technology. Birth name: Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler Born: November 9, 1913 Vienna, Austria Died January 19, 2000 (aged 86)Orlando, Florida, U.S.

7. Hollywood to the rescue • Hedy Lamar and her musical director George Antheil patented the process in 1942 and gave the patent to the US government • U.S. Patent 2,292,387 • Hedy came up with the original concept, while George developed the frequency pattern method (George did pioneering work in multi-track audio recording and helped Hedy quantify the concept)

8. Hollywood to the rescue • The US government took the patent and contracted with MIT to develop a torpedo guidance system based on a “frequency hopping” approach which could not be easily jammed. • To jam the signal the enemy would have to know the hopping sequence and that could be changed readily

9. Lamar Patent

10. Brief History of Telecom • Bell patents telephone in 1876 • Bell Telephone founded -1877 • First manual switch board implemented • Bell sues Western Union • Establishing a Standard • New England Telephone Est. - 1879 • National Bell Est. - 1879

11. Brief History (cont.) • Sold technology licenses to operators across the country • Phone numbers implemented - 1880 • AT&T Established in 1885 • Mechanical 2x2 switch invented - 1896 • Needed three switches to dial a six digit number

12. 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 Step Switch Two Mechanical Arms

13. Brief History (cont.) • AT&T consolidates the Bell system - 1899 • AT&T purchases controlling interest in Western Union - 1909 • Crossbar switch invented - 1940 • One of the most significant achievements • Made possible the great expansion of AT&T

14. Crossbar Switches

15. Brief History (cont.) • Transistor Invented - 1947 • Invented at Bell Labs • Changed the electronics industry and the world • Eventually used in the Electronic Switching System (ESS) digital switch architecture

16. Brief History (cont.) • Electronic Switching System - 1965 • ESS Switch #1 • Today we see the 4th and 5th generations of these switches in service • 4-ESS in larger toll offices • 5-ESS in the local exchanges

17. Critical Regulatory Decisions • Carterfone Decision - 1968 • FCC forced AT&T to provide access to their landlines • Decision prompted other companies to offer similar services (PBXs, answering services, etc.)

18. Regulatory Decisions (cont.) • FCC - MCI Inter-City Approval (1969) • Microwave Communication Intl., applies for microwave interconnection between large metro areas • MCI needs access to local phone system • AT&T protests sighting that it is unfairly mandated to provide costly local loop service • Long Distance rates compensate AT&T for local loop expenditures • Decision known as “EQUAL ACCESS)

19. Regulatory Decisions (cont.) • Decision prompts SPRINT into Telecom. Business • SPRINT = Southern Pacific Railroad Interconnection • Sprint lays fiber optic cable in 1970 • Why Southern Pacific Railroad ?

20. “Right-of-Way” • Many of today's Telecom giants started out in completely different businesses • BUT they almost all have one thing in common • They owned “Right-of-Way” • Pipeline Companies • Gas and Electrical Utilities • Railroads

21. AT&T Anti-Trust • A Suit filed in 1974 and settled in 1982 • 23 Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) were “spun-off” to provide service in the Local Access and Transport Area (LATA), but AT&T would have access to the long distance network. • AT&T kept Bell Labs and Western Electric • AT&T allowed into other ventures • computers, data networking, etc.

22. Telecommunications Act -1996 • Deregulation of Industry • Local phone companies allowed to compete in long distance • Long distance carriers allowed to compete in local exchanges • Cable companies allowed to compete • Local value added companies allowed to compete in local exchange (CAPs*) *Competitive Access Providers

23. Reality Check • From what we read in the news, is the “deregulation” working ? • Consider the following history... • NYNEX merges with Bell Atlantic • Bell Atlantic buys GTE and other small regionals to become Verizon • Pacific Telesis merges with Southwestern Bell • MFS merges with UUNET • MFS/UUNET merges with WorldCom • WorldCom merges with MCI merger • WorldCom bites the dust, and becomes MCI again • Bell South merges w/ lagging AT&T to become new AT&T • The Mergers Continue……………..

24. Satellites:An Overview In search of the mega “Killer App”

25. Overview • Satellites outperform landline (e.g., frame relay) technologies in reliability (~99.98 % to ~99.5 %) • Why ? • No local loops • No switches • No multiple carriers • No routers ( i.e. Internet)

26. Overview • In satellite systems there is only one major point of failure -- • The Satellite itself ! • Satellites, by their very nature are built with many redundant systems • Have only three serious problems ! • Transmission Delay, Space Junk, and Solar Radiation

27. Overview • GEO – Geostationary Earth Orbit • MEO - Medium Earth Orbit • LEO - Low Earth Orbit

28. GEO At 22,238 miles above the equator spaced 120 degrees apart three satellites can cover most of the globe

29. GEO GEO’s have historically been used as support nets and as back-up, but in recent years as the technology has improved, many companies have switched from land-based nets to all satellite nets

30. GEO • This technology makes sense for “one-way” broadcasting and “point to point” broadcasting (e.g., central office to multiple outlets) • Oil companies (gas stations) • Retail chains • Banking chains • Franchises

31. MEO • ~ 8000 mile orbit • Expected use • data rates are low speed (9.6 kb/s 38.4 kb/s) • MEO’s are positioned to service the “niche” communications market • data communication for mobile voice, paging and personal communication devices

32. MEO At 8000 miles above a particular latitude satellites can cover a large portion of the globe

33. MEO • MEO’s were a high priority a few years ago because data communication researchers were looking for MEO’s to move large volumes of data • What happened ?

34. LEO • Satellite technology became very price competitive (Large-Scale Globalization) • Hardware prices fell (telecom and satellite) • Launching fees began to fall • Competition from Russia, Europe, China • Private international companies acted as launch fee brokers • Insurance rates decreased • System Software was commodity priced

35. LEO • ~ 400 - 1000 mile orbit • Three LEO Specifications • “Little LEO” - 2.4 kb/s - 300 kb/s • Low - medium volume voice and data services (e.g., private users and small business) • “Big LEO” - 2.4 kb/s - 9.6 kb/s • Low volume voice and fax services to remote areas, also very low speed data for personal communication devices (e-mail)

36. LEO • “Broadband LEO” - expected rate ~ 65 Mb/s -155 Mb/s • Replacement for land based high speed lines • Combine voice, data, video conferencing for large corporate users

37. LEO At 400 -1000 miles above a particular latitude satellites can cover a large geographic region (e.g., large parts of the northern or southern hemisphere)

38. LEO • As a high volume data transfer technology MEO was abandoned for LEO • LEO required more satellites, but now they were cheaper to build and to manage

39. LEO “Killer App.” • Internet based services are the “Killer Application” for LEO satellites • Propagation delay has been the problem with Internet based services in GEO satellites • LEO and MEO systems are close enough to the earth to cause less propagation delay

40. LEO “Killer App.” • MEO and LEO systems are less affected by weather conditions and solar radiation (“sun spots”) because they are closer to the earth • LEO providers are looking to support Internet based services over their links with a potential capacity of 155 Mb/s

41. LEO “Killer App.” • ISP’s are looking to partner with satellite companies in order to provide direct point-to-point high-speed IP telephone and data services to their customers. • In other words -- they want to cut out the local and long distance land based carriers completely • Think Skype, MagicJack, Cox Comm.