[rescue] AT&T 3B2 revival

[Sandwich Maker]

On 08/18/15 10:53 AM, Alan Hightower wrote:
" > []
" 
" > Ed Eckert, the chief archivist for Alcatel-Lucent claims much of the
" > original techincal documentation on the machine is in safe hands and not
" > in any danger of being lost. But he still considers it
" > proprietary,confidential, and not currently suitable for
" > reclassification for public release. He suggested I reach out to George
" > Kupczak at the AT&T Archives in Warren, NJ which I have not done yet.
" 
" That is an interesting bit of information that I was not aware of.
" 
" I'm aware that they own the information, but, how long has it been since the 
" last 3B2 rolled off of the assembly line? 20, 25 years?

remember, the 3b architecture was developed for the controller of the
3ess, and telephone switchgear lasts a *looong* time; we designed for
20-year 24x7 uptime.  the 4ess, also using a 3b20d main controller,
was made from '76 to '99, and there are still some 100 in service,
with plans for a next-gen 4ess.  the 5ess, still in production, has a
3b21d 'administrative module'.

the 3b20d and 3b21d are, in telcom style, completely double-redundant;
you can walk up to one and pull any board at random without affecting
operation.  they, and their relevant intellectual property, won't be
obsolete any time soon.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought