NEC Corp has developed what it claims is the world’s fastest packet switch, transmitting at 1.5 Mbits per second: the switch is to be used by Nippon Telegraph & Telephone in developing new digital switching networks that will offer transmission at one fifth the cost of current networks; the NEC switch processes the calling control signal in the processor and transmits the data through a separate channel, and is just 19.7 by 19.7 by 47.2, and supports up to seven lines and has capacity of 4.68m packets an hour; it is currently built around the Motorola 68020 but NEC is planning to switch over to its own NEC’s own 32-bit – 16-bit bus – V60, and increase the number of lines to 16; it should be commercially available in a year or two.
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