JPRS ID: 10580 WORLDWIDE REPORT TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

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CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 (~l)It ()I~I~I~ IA1. litil~: l)N1.1' JPRS L/ 10580 10 June 1982 \/1/oridwide Re ort p TEIECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, RESEARCH AND ~EVELOPMENT cFOUO 12ia2~ FBIS ~'OREIGN BROADCAST INFORMIATION SERVICE FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-44850R000500070026-1 y - NOTE JPRS publicatians contain information primarily from foreign newspapers, periodicals ancl books, but also from news agency transmissions ar~d broadcasts. rlaterials from foreign-language sources are translated; those from English-Ianguage sources are transcribed or reprinted, with the original phrasing an,d ~ other characteristics retained. Headlines, editorial reports, and material enclosed in brackets are supplied by JPRS. Processing indicators such as [Text) or [Excer~t] in the first line of each item, or follo~aing the last line of a brief, indicate how the original information was processed. Where no processing indic3~or is given, the infar- ~ mation was summarized or extracted. ~ Unfamiliar names rendered phonetically or transliterated are enclosed in parentheses. Words or names preceded by a ques- tion mark and enclosed in parentheses were not clear in the original but have been supplied as appropriate iti cont~xt. Other unattributed parenthetical no~es within the body of an item originate with the source. Times within items are as ' given by source. - The contents of this publication in no way represent the poli- cies, views or at.titudes of the U.S. Government. COPYitIu'IiT L,AWS A1VD REGUI.ATIONS GOVERNING OWNERSHIP OF MATERIALS REPR~DUCED HERE;IN REQUIRE TH~1T DISSEMiINATION OF THIS PUBLICATION BE RESTRICTED FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY. APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007102/09: CIA-RDP82-00854R000500070026-1 F'UN UNFICIAL USE ONI.Y i i ~ JPRS L/10580 ~ ; . 10 June 1982 i ~ ~ . - WORLDWIDE REPORT ; ~ TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, RESEAR~;H AND DEVELOPMENT (FOUO 12/s2) ' CONTENTS ~ ASIA JAPAN _ , Expan sion of D1HK Overseas Services Planned (THE DAILY YOMIUFcI, 8 May 82) 3 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA ' MAURITIUS ~ Briefs Telecommunications Wi th Reunion 3 WEST EUROPE INTERNATIONAL AFF'AIRS Bricfs ' European Ag~ncy New Satellite 4 - i~ RANCI~: ~ Thomson Outlin~:s Computer Strategy; New Technology Center Cr~ated (ZERO UN INFORMATIQUE, Mar 82) 5 ' _ a _ [III - WW - 140 FOUO] FOR OFFICIAL USE OYVLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-00850R440500070026-1 FOR OFFI('IAI. USF: ONI.Y r~c~ Police Corrununications Network Allows Integrated Transmission (Jean-C7.aude Fabre; AFMEES D'AUJOURI7'HUI, Apr 82) 8 ITALY ~ Devel.opment of New Qptical Fiber '~X-81~ Announced (Giovanni Caprara; CORRIERE DELZA SERA, 4 May 82) 12 -b- FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/42/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500074426-1 F'OR OFF'I('IA1. I~Sb: ONI.Y _ j. I i f ~ . ~ ' JAPAN ~ i i f i EXE'ANSION OF NHK OVERSEAS SERVICES PLANNED ' OW100959 Tokyo THE DAILY YOMIURi in English 8 May 82 p 2 [Text] The government plans to beef up Radio Japan, the nation's inte r- national wl.~eless service run by NHK (Nihon Hoso Kyokai; Japan Broadcasting Corporation), to meet the growing demand for homeland news from the many Japanese living abroad, it has been learned. The plan is also part of a government attempt to help ease trade and other strains with Western countries through sending Japanese messages directly to their peoples. ?ncrease d transmission power and expanded broadcasting hours as well as ~ the estab lishment of another relay station abroad is envisioned in the plan. ; Radio Japan is an official broadcast bearaed to 18 segmented regions of the world in 21 different languages including Japanese, and it is on air for a ' total of 37 hours (over all regions) a day. Much of its content is independently produced by NHK, a semigovernmental institut ion, but the government shares roughly one quarter of the 4 billion yen a year required for international broadcasting. The ide a was fueled when Radio Japan won renewed recognition as the only news source for Japanese residents in Poland during the upheavals late ! last year. '1'he prog rams sent to Poland were relayed by a Radio Japan station in Portugal.. ~ Tt is the only overseas relay station maintained by NHK and its daily operation is limited to one hour. The government wants to establish at least one more relay station abroad. - Among the sites being considered is Panama because of its optimum location for cove rage of North and South America. The reinforcement plan also calls for international broadcasting at least twice the present power alon g w ith an extension of broadcasting hours. i i 1 F/JR OFFICiAL USE ONLY I APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/42/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500074426-1 F'()R ()F FI('IA1, l1SF: ()NLY Its broadcasts are sent from the Yamata transmission station of Kokusai Denshin Denwa Company (KDD) in Ibaraki-Ken. Its 12 transmitters are weak by interna*..ional standar~ls, only up to 100 kilowatters as against 500 kilowatts of the United States, Soviet Union and China. The government plans to send fact-finding missions to Britain, France and other Western nations this coming autumn before finalizino the plan. COPYRICHT: DAILY YOMIURI 1982 - CSO: 5500/2235 2 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-40850R040500074026-1 MAURITIUS BRIEFS TELECOMMUNICATIONS WITH REUNION--On S May, at Port Louis, Cable and Wireless began operating a new numeric microwave network between Reunion and Mauritius. Th;. system was installed by Cable and Wireless of Mauritius with the ~ssistance of the F~enca Postal and Telecommunications Service. [Excerpts] [Paris MARCHES TROPICAUX ET MEDITERRANEENS in French 14 May 82 p 1291] [COPYRIGHT: Rene Moreux et Cic Paris 1982] CSO: 5500/5809 ~ 3 FOR OFF[C1A[. USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-00850R040500070026-1 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY IP~TERNATIONAL AFFAIRS i i i ! BRIEFS T'sUROP~AN AGENCY NEW SATELLITE--The European Space Agency, of which th~ UK - ~ is a partner, is about to embark on a major new spacecrafr~ programme--an unmanned "remote sensing satellite"--which can study the earth's mineral and other resources and monitor their u~e. The cost c;f the programme is expected to be at least 100M pounds covering both the first satellite, ERS-1 and, eventually, a series of further satellites. ERS-1 ic expected to be ready for launching by 1987. Much work on the programme still has to ~ be done, including determining who the contractors to the programme will ~ be. The countries participating will include the UK and Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Canada, with Uenmark and Holland also likely to join in. The finance available so far will enable the definition phase to begin soon, in wnich the programme's scope will be settled. The final step--hard~oare development--will be taken at the end of next year. [Text] [PM211515 London FINANCIAL TIP~S ' in Gn~lish 21 May 82 p 8] [COPYRIGHT: The Financial Times.Ltd, 1982] cso: 5500/2235 I ! FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-00850R440500070026-1 I~()R ON'H'1('IA1, l1tiH: ()NI.Y FR.ANCE THOMSON OUTLINES COMPUTER STRATEGY: NEW TECHNOLI.~~ CENTER CREATED Paris ZERO UN INFORMATIQUE in French l~ar 82 pp 27-40 [Excerpts] The Enterprise Information and Codnauniaation Systems Gr,oup (GICE) at Thomson-CSF has set iCself the goal of increasing its turnover four-fold in five years Led by Jacques Imbert, general director, and Francois Duffaux, ass istant general director, the group combines the activities of SEMS (Electrical, Mechanical, and Signals Campany), of private telep~one systems, and of office automation, cogethe~ with Thomson-CSF's "systems". r1t the end of 1981 the grovp's total turnover should equal 1.5 billion FF based on 18 percent to 20 percent growth in 1982 and on even stronger growth in the years to follow (thanks notably to the startup of new telecopy product lines and office automation systems.) If these projections are correct the figure would reach 6 billion FF in 1986 (representing 25 percent of the French market), half of it going to exportation. Three development options have been selected: personal camputers for pro- fessional use; integrated office automation products and systems; and real- time miniprocessors. Personal and Professional at the Same T ime For professional personal computers, Thomson's Xavier Thevenet (of the office data processing department) is now in charge of instaliing a network of distributors and licensees for the launching nest March of Micromega, the ~ gro up's first microcamputer, developed by the company's American subsidiary, Fortune Systems Corporation. Software for this product will be developed either by the SSCI members of the Thomson group or, for certain sector applications, by the licensees involved. Expectations are high for this slot, which is growing rapidly (50 to 100 per- cent pe:r year at present) and which meets the needs of small management systems _ whose prices range from 40,000 to 80,Q00 FF. ~ 5 FOR OFFICIAI. USF ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-40850R040500074026-1 I~(1R ()1~1~11'IA1. Iitil~: ()NI,Y Fur ~ftice 3utomation and distributed data prccessing, abuu[ which Jacqua~ Imbert states that "our vocation has just bPan confirmed in writing by the Ministry of Industry", GICE's director ~~ids: "tde will thus be one of the main axes of French office automation." Meanwhile Thomson has just put on the market the two B 4000 and T 4000 lines of Corail terminals, which cover the , main features of distributed data processing and of office automation. These termin.als combine products developed by DAP and by Convergent ' Technologies, an Aznerican firm (AWS and IWS single- and multi-terminal systems). It is well known that this agreement with the Aznerican partner had received the upstream attention of public authorities. Processors as Well The components of this Corail system, "first elements of an ambitious line", so called because they can be integrated into Thomson's autonomous local ~ intormation networks (Rail) wtthin the same establishment, are compatible with TBM (by 3276 emulation) or with CII-HB (Questar emulation); they are independent or interconnected, prograumiable or not (various languages available), outfitted with high level text editing software, and they offer a campleCe range of possibilities within a price range of 30,000 to 150,000 FF. With Corail, Thomson hopes to reach a turnover of 300 million FF in 1982, essentially from large SSCI (40 percent), public administration and enter- prisas (40 percent), regional servi~e companies (15 percent), and PMI (5 per- ~ cent). Abroad, Thomson's export stxucture is aiming for 15 percent of the turnover in 1983 and 30 pe.:cent in 1984. Real-Time Less Likely The last development strategy is real-time miniprocessors. The group's prospects are least secure in this slot. The first order of business is to pursue the internal development of the Mitra-Solar lines. Three products are to be introduced in March; top of the line Mitra 625, custom designed for transactional management; and two Solar products, the bottom of the line 16/30 ~n a single card for process automation and control, and the new top of the line 16/85 equipped with a foreground processor for real-time scientific , processing. Next and more important is to bolster the Mitra-Solar lines "which remain competitive" (to quote ~Ir Imbert), with 32-bit devices whose compatibility would be assured at the software level. But in order to guarantee the ' staffing and development of the Echirolles plant, SEMS "must have immediate access to the specific 32-bit computer market, particularly in the field of industrial, science." 6 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 - FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY In ~ddition, after condemning the agreement with Systems under Fressure frum public authorities, Thomson must within a short delay, at the urgin;; of the latter, enter into negotiations with CII-HB to examine terms of fabrication and marketing by SEMS, of the Mini 6 wich 32-bits (originating at H~neywell and not yet being manufactured by CII-HB), in order to fulfill the intent of entering into tht.. market. In the longer range, around the SEMS and CII-HB research resources combined for the purpose and reinforced by various research teams, tE~e Dieli is considering the creation of a national society for industrial development, which would study and implement design proposals for future minis around 1985. Optimistic Future The National Symposium on Research and Technology, opened by Francois Micterrand on 13 January, may not always have kept its promises but it did show the determination of the government to get out ~f crisis by significantly in- creasing res~arch, which according to the President represents (one of the crucial keys and perhaps the only key to renewal." - Two New Paris Centers S oon aft~r the symposium ended, the Council of Ministers announced the creation ~ of the Center for the Study of Advanced Systems and Technologies (CESTA) which will be located on the premises of the former Ecole Polytechnique. Its main goal will be to bring its contribution to the development and dissemination of new technologies, while analyzing and preparing the ground for their assimila- tion into the social, economic, and cultural structures of French society. T o this end, CESTA wi11 have four major tasks: study and research (witn a scienti.tic projection structure to be established); assistance for tecr~nologic options; training; e~ecution, and dissemination. Specifically, CESTA will provide liaison with regional and national associations established as a res~slt of the symposium, in order to ensure the best use of the body of analyses and proposals which will accrue. The following week, still before the Council of Ministers, Jean-Pierre Chevenement specified, in connection with the creation in Paris of the World Center for the Development of Data Processing, which will be presided by Jean-Jacques Servan Schreiber and will operate under the supervision of the Ministry of Research and Technology, that the Center, crossroads for ideas and icnowledge in microprocessing, will have significant resources and will associate the best international specialists in this field with Fr~~nch researchers. It wi11 set the conditions for creating a mass-circulation personal computer and will organize experiments throughout the world, parti- cularly the Third World. It is one of the elements of industrial and technological renewal in our country." COP�YRIGHT: OL Informatique, Paris March 1982 , 11,023 CSO: 5500/2181 7 FOR OFF'[CIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-40850R040500074026-1 ' 1~OR OI~FI('IA1. UtiH: ONI.Y i ~ ( i i FRANCE i POLICE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK ALLOWS INTEGRATED TRANSMISSION Paris ARMEES D'AUJOURD'HUI in k'rench Apr 82 pp 16-17 ' Article by Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Claude Fabre: "The Saphir Network"~ Text~ To raise the efficiency of its operations, the Gendarmerie inaugurated in 1981 a data transmission network. This network, which serves 350 subscribers and which will be serving more than 10,000 subscribers by 1986, provides telephone and data-processing interconnections extending as far as to include vehicular- borne terminals. The Saphir network, although it might appear to be merely a communications facil- _ ity supplementing existing radio networks and subnetworks, differs profoundly from them as regards: ~ --Its universal data-transmission function; ~ --Its technical innovations: Tne combination of telephony and data transmission on the same radio channel; its method of traffic management within a cell made up of several radio systems; - --The originality of its mobile radio teleprocessing terminal; . , --Its potential for evolution towards a teleinformatics system in which the inte- gration of telecommunications and data processing techniques will be even closer. National and Departmental . The department is the elementary data-distributional zone. Its headquarters, the of�ice of the departmental Gendarmerie group, in which is installed a packet switcher, is the switching hub where radio channels and PTT-provided ~pecialized facilities terminate. The point of termination of these facilities creates a demarcation between data transfer speeds and between interchange procedures, and thus establishes a sepaxa- tion of the Saphir network into two ~ubsystem levels. i 8 ' FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-00850R040500070026-1 1~OR OHFI('IAI, IItiN: ON1.1' The first of these levels--a nationwide, wire, grid-network subsystem--serves, by mearis ot PTT-provided specialized links, the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie, the Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie, all its~regional com- mands, legions and departmental groups, certain technical services and the seven - principal airports. The second--consisting of many radio subsystems, one per department and indepen- dently operated--makes use of the equipment and frequencies currently used for telephone communications and links the Gendarmerie's companies, brigades and cer- tain of their vehicles. Subscribers equxpped with different terminals are interlinked by way of a branched structure of point-to-point circuits based on the hierarchic organization of the National Gendarmerie, or by way of multipoint links, the switching hierarchy in this case being maintained through~the use of an appropriate address system. From One to Nine Addressees The transfer of centralized-data bank file reference operations and of inessages between the two subsystem levels, regardless of addressee, is effected by means of automation incorporated into the switcher and in accordance with two transmis- - sion procedures: Packet switching and automatic management of radio channels. Radiotelephone communications are possible only within a department between sub- scribers equipped with adequate terminals. The security of transmitted information is assured by means of a reception proto- col that is individual to each subsystem to which it is assigned in the radio sub- system level, a procedure that regulates confl.icts of access, an error detection and correction code, and a protection against jamming. Continuity of service is maintained by means of redundancy of sensitive components, emergency.use of the ~switched public network, and the maintaining of telephone cantact in the event of total failure of the network. All subscribers are equipped with several address mechanisms enabling them to reach from one to nine addressees simultaneously on an individual basis, or to effect collective transmissions on a nationwide or departmental scale by unit groups or subgroups, or to effect broadcasts in ac~ordance with the hierarchxc configuration. _ The supervision of the network (operations, traffic, backup in case of malfune- tion, and maintenance) is provided: --At the national level by a control and metering center located next to the frontal switchers linking the network to the external data bases; --At the departmental level by the Gendarmerie departmental group's communica- tions center. 'I'erminal equipment of the transactional type provides a simple operating mode and functions according to the masking technique so that it can easily be served by no~specialized gendarmes. The alphanumeric-screen terminals of the wire sub- - system and their associated printer are in a fixeci-station configuration and are - used solely for the exchange of data. 9 FOR OFF[CIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2407/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500470026-1 ~ F()R ()FFII'IA1. I1~N: ()NI.Y _G . , a~ ~ ~ c i c ~n ~ o ~ I v o+ � ! ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ w ~ ~ ~ f ~ o o .`~c ~ ( o N ~ U d~ N ~ ~ N \ ^.r. O �rl N _ U fN ~ 3 U ~ ~ ~ o ~ U N o I 1A 1 0 ~ Q) ri N d' f-+ O ~ u 'O LL ~ ~ 'L5 ~ �~i �~-1 N ~ A rl N U .1-~ rl 1.1 rtf x 4! . 1 U O N o CL ao U ~6 O o ~-I N N s~ t0 s.~ ao N 1 U W Rf ~-1 rl I x UI 1 N .C r 'L 'Q N TS U1 U I 1 C f'n ~ N 1-+ UT A TS ��i ?i N o N S~.i U! A ~ ~ O ~ ~ rn ~ ~ X N O~r O ~ 3 x ~ ~ ro v U .x ~ x a~i ~ ro ~ R+ o E c~ o ~ s..i N L1~ .-i Ul ~ N Ul Ul O V' r-I v 01 t!I I r-I M N''O ~C E~ rtS .t~ ~-1 0 ~-I C ? rl ��i ~ I ~ ~ N ~ ~ N O W W'~ ~ ~ t1~ ~o i a x w i i~a a i N D o ~ a ~-~i axi ~ H v~ V H U ~-I o o ~ >C N~-I cn a C rt o a s.~ c~ r~ ~ R~ cv H�~ ~c H ~-I ~U R.~ ~ c~ W O~ ~o I~ U I t0 s.~ 1 H ~ �.1 W O U W U E-~ H 2 C7 'p u1 W s.a u1 O W �rl �~-I E~ H H O fl~ N UI rl c ~ a H cn a a~ i t~ Q, ~o a~ c~ ~ U v H ~ c~ ' O O ~ v r-~1 ~ ~ tn 'D O~ a c o ~ ~ o a~ pa,, ~n ~n ~ s~ uNi u3i ~ vi by ~ v~ ~ v~ : N ?i s..i �.i 41 I O~0 sa 4-~ p t0 ~ ~1-~ ~ rtf N ~ C s.~ C al �rl fa ~ o ~ m a, ~ ~ ~n o a, a�~+ ~ ~ a�~+ u a~ c ~c w c ~ a~ a, ~ c n.~ a, E ~ ~a ~ v~ ro ~o s.~ .-a s~ s~ s.~ o ~a ~ ~ v v a, a, u H a A a H a cn a cn i, v v w E O - N E N ~ ~ ~ 41 ~ �,-I i.1 41 �1~ . N r-I fA C 3-~ J~ N>r ~ ' (6 N U! .Q r-I 1~ ' UI 1] ~ ~ O N ' N N N W tn ~ U ~ O ~ ~N ~ - C U~ sa 'L7 ~ U�~ i 3 Oro4 V+~i v~i ~ 1~ ~ FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/49: CIA-RDP82-40850R040500074026-1 N'()R ()N'FI('IAI, IItiH: ()NI.1' The radio subsystem terminals, which are of innovative design, are of two 7aneral types, according to their function: --0ne is a screen-type radio teleprocessing te.rminal, where displayed-text and telephony interconnections are to be accommr:dated. In the vehicular version, this terminal consists of an outboard display screen, a fold-back keyboard and a separate unit housing the power supply and modem. In the fixed-station ver- sion, all the components are grouped into a single unit containing a printer as well; --The other is a simplified radio teleprocessing terminal, where only telephone interconnections are to be provided. ~ This very heterogeneous network from the standpoint of its equipment, its trans- mission facilities and transmission procedures, actually constitutes an entirely homogeneous whole from the standpoint of the services it provides. It is thus the gendarme's day-to-day working tool but at the same time an efficient command system. Biographical ~ An infantry reserve officer, Lt Col Jean-Claude Fabre entered the Gendarmerie in 1958. After several assignments, he was given command, in 1964, of the Saint- Pierre-et-Miquelon Company, and, in 1968, command of the Vienna Company. He is currently head of the Organization Methods and Data Processing Bureau in the General D;.rectorate of the Gendarmerie. COPYRIGHT: 1982 Revue des forces armees francaises "Armes d'Aujourd'hui" 9399 CSO: 5500/2214 ' 11 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 FOR OFF~CIAL USE ONLY ' ' ' ITALY ~ i j i f DEVELOPMENT OF NEW OPTICAL FIBER 'X-81' ANNOUNCED ' Milan CORRIERE DELLA SERA in Italian 4 May 82 p 15 ~Article by special correspondent Giovanni Caprara: "Words Can Now Travel on Light Beams 100 Kilometers Long"~ `Text~ Turin--"X-81" sounds as though it might designate a secret code. Actual- ly, it is name of the new optical fiber which the CSELT ~Telecommunications Re- search and Study Center~ of Turin has designed, fabricated and, last week, exhi- bited to the Milan Press Club at a well-attended conference. Intense curiosity, lively interest, many questions, replies replete with foreign comparisons.: rverything seemed to convey the importance of the disclosure. "We have called ; ~ the new fiber the "X-81," explained Engineer Catania, head of the CSELT, "because it was developed around October 1981. We have not disclosed it heretofore be- cause the result was exceptionally good and we wanted to repeat it several times to be sure of it." This did away with the initial curiosity regarding the strange denomination. Catania's quiet demonstration which followed responded almost automatically to the unvoiced questions generated instinctively by the circum- stances. "The CSELT, with th backing of the SIP ~Italian Telephone Company~, ~ the SIRTI ~~elecommunications~and other companies of the IRI ~Industrial Recon- ' struction Institute~ STET ~'Pelephone Finance Corporation~ Group, completed recent- ly the development of a special technology for the fabrication of optical fibers, thin glass threads 1/10 of 1 millimeter in diameter, with an extremely low at~enu- ation that practically coincides with the minimum theoretically possible val- ues..." Little by little, the physiognomy of the X-81 emerged. The new fiber has an important quality, namely, the low value of attenuation of the signals transmitted through it. This means that the material of which it is made is of a high degree of purity and that method used to fabricate it of an advanced degree of perfection. "The degree of impurities these extremely low-attenuation fibers will tolerate," it was explained to us, "is around a few - parts per billion for many of the metallic ions. To draw a comparison," we were told, "thP finest optical glasses are made of materials with three times that many iml _ities." The transparency obtained with this new fiber is thus excep- - tional. Engineer Catania gave an example: "Consider," he said, "that an endo- scope for medical use is made today with fibers having an attenuation of 3 dB per meter (the X-81 has an attenuation of 2 dB per kil.ometer); an endoscope made with one of our fibers would be capable of exploring the bottom of the Mariana 12 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1 FOR OFFIClAL U5E ONLY Trench with a sharpness equal to that of an endoscope about 1 meter long." An- other imr.,ortant characteristic is the length to which it can be drawn. This approaches 100 kilometers, with the possibility of transmitting 2,000 telephone conversations simultaneously, meaning that a single section of it can be used to interconnect two cities such as Milan and Turin, or Rome and Naples. Unti1 now, commercial-grade optical fibers have been available in sections of up to ~ 10 kilometers, and copper cables up to 2 kilometers. Practically speaking--as Engineer Ragone, general. manager of the SIP LItalian Telephone Company~ added-- optical fibers, given their features and their low cost, are now on the verge of competitiveness with copper cables and are being resorted to entirely for many new installations. It should be added that, because of their nature, optical fibers are not subject to many disturbances that are typical of copper circuits and are not interfered with.by atmospheric disturbances. Al1 of this--like everything else--has a history. And we heard it told within the walls of the CSELT in a silent and efficient atmosphere typical of conven- tual research centers. The same atmosphere, we might say, that we have savored - during visits to internationally renowned foreign institutes. And this compari- son at first glance is borne out in the results being obtained. We do not want to sound rhetorical, but in a nation whose research facilities are crumbling or nonexistent~ one has the sensation, upon entering the CSELT, as in the case of a few other such rare centers, of finally being able to breathe. Heading the center is Professor Carassa, father of SIRIO the first Italian telecommunications satellite. We were told that the CSELT employs 630 persons, 400 of whom are directly in- - volved in research. The average age of holders of degrees is 33 years, while that of holders of dip.lomas is 23 years. "Getting in" here is apparently not very easy. One's degree must be virtually a summa cum laude; one's diploma must be lower than 54 over 60. Only thus can one enter upon 1 career as a researcher a~ CSELT, the growth of whose employees must be gradual--physiological, as En- gineer Catania points out. Within the CSELT, a research leader has around him some 10 persons on average. Within the organization, the researcher is the object of much attention. Attention centers first and foremost on motivation, on providing a climate in which professionalism can operate, be fostered and be recognized, on updating of knowledge, and on adequacy of compensation. From this environment are emerging today patents and research that are competi- tive on the international level, and this is fundamental to our economy and our growth, especially now that the Reagan administration has practically decreed an embargo on the advanced scientific and technological knowledge pos:~essed by the Ur~ited States. At the CSELT, while a fiber of even better quality, the "X-82," is being developed, intensive work is also being done in the field of microelec- tronics, a field to which our future is closely tied. COPYRIGHT: 1982 Editoriale del "Corriere della Sera" s.a.s. _ 9399 CSO: 5500/2223 END 13 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2007/02/09: CIA-RDP82-00850R000500070026-1