Design of an Integrated Services Network

The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) has been proposed as a way of providing integrated voice and data communications services on a universal or near-universal basis. In this paper, I argue that the evolutionary approach inherent in current ISDN proposals is unlikely to provide an effective long-term solution and I advocate a more revolutionary approach, based on the use of advanced packet-switching technology. The bulk of this paper is devoted to a detailed description of an Integrated Services Packet Network (ISPN), which I offer as an alternative to current ISDN proposals.