V.90 standard brings harmony

Rockwell Semiconductor Systems and 3Com have finally brought their two-year battle to an end with the completion of joint testing of the new modem standard.

The 56Kbps V.90 standard, determined on 5 February by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), means that 3Com's x.2 technology and the jointly developed Rockwell and Lucent K56 equipment will be compatible.

The ITU will finally ratify the standard in September after all technology issues have been settled. A major hurdle will be upgrading existing equipment to the V.90 standard - which comprises both current technologies.

Mike Valiant, marketing manager at 3Com, said: 'There is still a lot of work to do, but the standard effectively means that there can be no more changes made to the technology.'

He added that 3Com has already started shipping V.90 products in the US and believed that Rockwell was also shipping standard-compatible chips.

Only last month, Rockwell hit out at 3Com and Lucent when both companies began development on the technology before it had been finalised (PC Dealer, 28 January).

Valiant said: 'The market was not moving forward, but now things can progress.'

He added that the methods and costs of upgrading to the standard would depend on vendors, but most products were flash upgradable.

The tests consisted of 3Com and Rockwell providing access to servers for dial-in, connecting and passing data. While both the x.2 and K56 terms will still be used in the modem market, this situation will eventually be resolves when all technology comes under V.90.