Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!agate!ucbvax!hoptoad!gnu
From: gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Request for information (again)
Message-ID: <8591@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 25 Sep 89 00:24:25 GMT
References: <31194@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <2608@gandalf.UUCP>
Organization: Grasshopper Group in San Francisco
Lines: 17

carr@gandalf.UUCP (Dave Carr) wrote:
> I'll bet the Telebit uses ACT CommPressor software.

Not true; Telebit uses Unix compress.  The modem contains a 68000 and much
of it is written in C; they probably just changed the interfaces a bit
so it would compress blocks on demand, compiled it, and installed it.

Personally I don't see too much point to compression-in-the-modem; hosts
are usually faster than 68000's, and it's more expensive for many hosts
to handle the doubled serial port traffic caused by sending the uncompressed
data over the port to the modem.  Better for the host to just compress it
before sending.  I suppose it's useful when on a dumb terminal.

	John
-- 
John Gilmore      {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid}!hoptoad!gnu      gnu@toad.com
		"Watch me change my world..." -- Liquid Theatre