Read the paper The Dawn of the Stupid Network by David Isenberg (N. B. this paper is not in your reading packet).

But first, go back and re-read section B.5 of Chapter 4, on pages 4-41 and 4-42, which was assigned for Wednesday's lecture. Then, as you read Isenberg's paper, look for parallels. The first half of this paper seems to be about telephone systems, but about midway through it suddenly becomes apparent that the example he has in mind of a "stupid" network is actually the Internet.

Things to think about as you read:

• The paper is laced with acronyms that the author apparently expected the reader to know. But he spells out "Internet Protocol" the first time he mentions it. What do these definitions tell you about his intended audience?

  ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode: A packetized scheme used by telephone companies for transmitting telephone calls and other services digitally, using 53-byte packets.

  SONET: Synchronous Optical Network. A standard way of multiplexing telephone signals onto an optical fiber. It runs a some integer multiple of 51.84 megabits/second, the integers ranging from 1 to 48.

  FDDI: Fiber Distributed Data Interface. A popular 100 megabit/second fiber optic token ring.

  LMDS: Local Multipoint Distribution System, sometimes called "Wireless Broadband". A 28 GHz wireless service for getting data from your home to and from your ISP, which can be up to 5 kilometers away. Data transfer rates are between 50 and 500 megabits/second.

  CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access: A way of sharing a wired or wireless channel in which each transmitter sends a signal with a waveform that is orthogonal to all the others. Receivers use matched filters to separate the signals. Currently used by Verizon and Sprint for their cellular telephone services.

  Xerox PARC: The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, the place that invented the Ethernet and the Xerox Alto, which was Steve Jobs' inspiration for creating the Macintosh.

• Is it really possible to have a stupid telephone network? Wouldn't it torpedo all of those nifty services such as call forwarding, itemized billing, three-way calling, call waiting, and incoming call screening?

• Whose interests are (or would be) served by making the network smarter? Whose ox would be gored?

• What parallels did you notice with section B.5 of Chapter 4?

Make notes on your thoughts on at least one of the topics above and bring to class for discussion. Incidentally, to give you a little more time to study for Quiz 1, there is no hands-on assignment due today.