What Is ISDN?

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Term Paper Title	What Is ISDN?
# of Words	5113
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	20.45

What is ISDN?

What is ISDN?

ISDN, which stands for integrated services digital network, is a system of
digitizing phone networks which has been in the works for over a decade. This
system allows audio, video, and text data to be transmitted simultaneously
across the world using end-to-end digital connectivity.

The original telephone system used analog signals to transmit a signal across
telephone wires. The voice was carried by modulating an electric current with a
waveform from a microphone. The receiving end would then vibrate a speaker coil
for the sound to travel back to the ear through the air. Most telephones today
still use this method. Computers, however, are digital machines. All information
stored on them is represented by a bit, representing a zero or a one. Multiple
bits are used to represent characters, which then can represent words, numbers,
programs, etc. The analog signals are just varying voltages sent across the
wires over time. Digital signals are represented and transmitted by pulses with
a limited number of discrete voltage levels. [Hopkins]

The modem was certainly a big breakthrough in computer technology. It allowed
computers to communicate with each other by converting their digital
communications into an analog format to travel through the public phone network.
However, there is a limit to the amount of information that a common analog
telephone line can hold. Currently, it is about 28.8 kbit/s. [Hopkins] ISDN
allows multiple digital channels to be operated simultaneously through the same
regular phone jack in a home or office. The change comes about when the
telephone company's switches are upgraded to handle digital calls. Therefore,
the same wiring can be used, but a different signal is transmitted across the
line. [Hopkins] Previously, it was necessary to have a phone line for each
device you wished to use simultaneously. For example, one line each for the
phone, fax, computer, and live video conference. Transferring a file to someone
while talking on the phone, and seeing their live picture on a video screen
would require several expensive phone lines. [Griffiths] Using multiplexing (a
method of combining separate data signals together on one channel such that they
may be decoded again at the destination), it is possible to combine many
different digital data sources and have the information routed to the proper
destination. Since the line is digital, it is easier to keep the noise and
interference out while combining th...

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