Rockwell International Corp, El Segundo, California has launched a family of socket-mountable modem modules which it claims are the industry’s first to implement the full range of data, facsimile and speech communications standards worldwide. According to Rockwell, the upgradable modem engines will give systems designers the ability to include a complete range of modem features in a single product design. The SocketModem module can be upgraded in production or in the field without hardware changes, says the company. At 1 by 2.5 and with a low power consumption, the SocketModem is designed for portable environments. The family includes pin-compatible data, facsimile and voice modems supporting speeds from single 2,400bps data to 14,400bps data/fax/voice modems with worldwide communications and cellular protocols, and the planned V.Fast standard. They support CCITT and Bell data standards, MNP2-4 and V.42 error correction, MNP5 and V.42bis data compression, EIA/TIA Class 1 and 2 fax, high speed Group III fax and NMP 10 cellular protocols. Voice capabilities include a pass-through mode and ADPCM 2-, 4- and 8-bit compression and decompression with silence deletion and interpolation. Rockwell International has also announced the LU6.2 Gateway for computer integrated telephony, predictive dialling and computer-controlled call applications. The new gateway has stand-alone application software for use between the company’s Spectrum and Galaxy Automatic Call Distribution systems and any host computer. It uses an 80486-based IBM Corp PS/2 to connect the Automatic Call Distribution switches to host computers and SNA networks, through either SDLC or 4Mbps or 16Mbps Token Ring connections. In turn, this connects directly to the Automatic Call Distributor through Rockwell’s X25-based voice and data interface, Transaction Link. The gateway is available now, but Rockwell refuses to say how much it costs; Neil Berry, the company’s manager of applications and systems integration commented, If you announce the price, you’re giving away company secrets.
