[Gllug] odd hardware

[John Hearns]

On Thu, 2003-01-16 at 12:59, rich at annexia.org wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 16, 2003 at 12:40:08PM +0000, Sean Burlington wrote:
> > Ok - what's ATM ?


> Apocryphally the size of cell was chosen as a compromise between
> the US (which wanted 64 bytes which is good for data) and Europe
> (which wanted 32 bytes which is good for phone calls).
True,
I remember reading that the issue is/was to do with echo cancellation.
The distances for telephone conversations in Europe don't need echo
cancellers. So the Europeans wanted 32 bytes, which is efficient for
telephone circuits.
The US has longer distances, so would always need echo cancellers.
They wanted 64 bytes which is more efficient for data transfer.


> Don't get me started on the addressing scheme ... It's based, naturally,
> on telephone numbers (!)
Well, I think the addressing scheme was a good thing.
(Please let's don't argue. How 'intuitive' is IP to a novice? 
IPV6 addresses are very long too - see tonights talk).
Like all things in computing though, ATM went through the 'proper' route
of ANSI certification, and therefore ISO, BSI etc.
The IP guys just got together and put out a load of RFCs.
Guess who won?





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