Just as a reminder of the quality that IDT does possess:
Why Stupid Networks like the Internet are a Smart Idea
April 8, 1999 - 7:45 PM
By Roderick Beck
The Heart of the Matter
What distinguishes the PSTN and the Internet is that the former is very smart and the latter very dumb. Yet the irony is that smart networks are being eclipsed by their dumb relatives.
Circuit switches are highly intelligent specialized computers: they set up calls by talking to other switches, do database searches to route 800 calls, record information for billing purposes, provide services like caller ID and perform a multitude of other tasks. In essence, the circuit switches create the value in a network.
Not surprisingly, the switches are very expensive, costing as much as $5 million a piece, and are incredibly complicated. At the other extreme, packet switches are very simple, but very fast routing devices that simply 'ship the bits'. Consequently, their expense is a tiny fraction of the former. While it is clear that packet switching is more efficient than circuit switching, intelligence should be circuit switching's strong suite.
However, what David Isenberg realized in the course of working at AT&T was that too much intelligence was a bad thing. Isenberg was assigned to a project to improve the sound quality of AT&T's voice network. It became very clear that sound quality could be improved by boosting certain frequencies of the sound signals.
IDT
ON A PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK THIS COULD BE EASILY DONE BY UPGRADING SOFTWARE, AN EASY AND CHEAP SOLUTION THAT REQUIRED NO MODIFICATION OF THE NETWORK'S UNDERLYING HARDWARE. FOR EXAMPLE, I D T HAS IMPROVED THE SOUND QUALITY OF ITS INTERNET TELEPHONY SERVICE BY MODIFYING THE SOFTWARE THAT USERS INSTALL ON THEIR PCS TO MAKE CALLS.
But in the case of AT&T's long distance network, Isenberg discovered that most solutions required the unacceptable alternative of redesigning much of the hardware. The crux of the problem was that network intelligence was hardwired and network components were tightly integrated. Isenberg was also struck by interesting disparities between dumb and smart networks.
Full Story Here:
ragingbull.com
Regards,
Bill Fortune III
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