Version 3.0 of LANtastic NOS

 

                        News Release

                 Version 3.0 of LANtastic NOS

TUCSON, Ariz., April 5, 1990 -- Version 3.0 of the LANtastic Network

Operating System supports voice chat and voice mail when LANtastic

Voice Adapters are installed on each PC, Artisoft announced today.

With Version 3.0 and the new voice adapter, which is purchased

separately, users can pick up the telephone handset provided with

each adapter and talk with or leave voice messages for others on the

network.

Version 3.0 also offers a textual chat option, pop-up messaging that

informs the user whenever someone wants to textually or verbally chat

or when he has a text or voice message waiting, a disk cache, even

easier menu-driven installation, support for diskless workstations,

printing speed improvements, additional security, more open files per

server, and context sensitive help.

Each $149 IBM-compatible 8-bit LANtastic Voice Adapter will ship with

a telephone handset and cord that connects it to the adapter. Version

3.0 and the LANtastic Voice Adapter are scheduled to ship in May.

End-users who purchase the LANtastic Network Operating System after

April 15 can receive a free V3.0 software upgrade by sending in the

upgrade card enclosed in the package.  V3.0 upgrades for other users

are $50.

LANcache, LANtastic NOS's new disk cache LANcache, a multi-tasking

disk cache, allows users to process data much more quickly because it

is read from RAM rather than disk.  LANcache can read new data even

as it writes to disk, and does so in the background while other CPU

operations are performed.  Additionally, users can delay writing to

the disk by a user-specified length of time, allowing the cacher to

write larger blocks of data to disk and thereby increasing network

speed.

The efficiency of the caching system can be checked.   A "hit" is

recorded each time the desired data is found in the cache, and a

"miss" is recorded when the disk must be accessed.   "Hit" rates of

more than 90% are common.

Easier Installation 

Getting the network up and running is even easier with the new menu

driven installation procedure, which helps the user install the

software with a series of questions and explanations of each step.

The installer can use default names for the users, servers and

workstations.  Default account files, privileges and network

resources can be assigned by the program and a batch file is created

which allows a user to bring up the network and log on with one

command.

Diskless Workstations Supported

Diskless workstations now can remotely boot off a server instead of

needing a floppy drive when the LANtastic Boot ROM Daughter Board is

plugged into the expansion bus on the LANtastic 2Mbps adapter in the

server.  LANtastic Boot ROM Daughter Boards can be purchased

separately from Artisoft for $99.

Network Printing Improvements 

Most LANs can despool to only one printer at a time, which can slow

up network printing.  Now, while one file is being printed, the

server searches through the Queue for any files to be printed by

another printer and prints it at the same time.  Users also have the

flexibility of specifying the location of the spool files.  Even RAM

disk can be specified to speed printing.  Additionally, output can

easily be directed to parallel and serial printers; the size of the

Network Printing buffers can now be increased to enhance performance;

and the contents of the entire queue can be deleted with one command,

instead of one file at a time.

Enhanced Security Features

Now the network manager can assign each user access to the system

only between certain hours of operation and can specify the date at

which an account will close,  making it easier to set up temporary

accounts.  In order to encourage users to change their passwords more

often, an expiration date and extension days can be assigned to a

password.  Also, indirect files can reside in any directory, so if an

indirect file is accidentally deleted, only the contents of the

indirect file and not the file that it references are lost.

More Allowable Open Files

Other peer-to-peer LANs are capable of supporting hundreds of nodes,

yet  because of DOS limitations are only able to open up to 255 files

per server, far too few for large networking applications.  LANtastic

is fully able to support large networks by allowing them up to 5100

open files per server.

Context Sensitive Help

Users can now ask for help in a given section of the Net and Net_Mgr

programs and the help file appears automatically prescrolled to the

corresponding section, thus saving the user the trouble of hunting

through the Help file to find the pertinent information.

For more information about the Artisoft product line, contact

Artisoft Inc., 575 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ  85704.  Telephone

602-293-6363.  Fax  602-293-8065.  

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                        News Release

LANtastic Voice Developer's Package Available from Artisoft

TUCSON, Ariz., April 5, 1990 -- Artisoft announces two LANtastic

voice products that make it possible for developers to add voice to

software applications. The $149 IBM-compatible 8-bit LANtastic Voice

Adapter and the $195 LANtastic Voice Programmer's Interface (VPI) are

scheduled to ship in May.  The LANtastic Voice Adapter can be sourced

through Artisoft's reseller and distribution channels.  The VPI must

be purchased directly from Artisoft.

Artisoft's LANtastic Voice Adapter digitizes spoken messages or music

and preserves them in nearly the original sound quality.  The VPI, a

set of simple software commands that interface to the LANtastic Voice

Adapter, allows developers to add high-fidelity sound effects,

including speech and music, to software programs.   Developers can

create, for example, educational and training programs on disk or

CD-ROM that give verbal instructions to students, voice mail, and

talking software demos when used with the LANtastic Voice Adapter.

Users of applications with voice support must have LANtastic Voice

Adapters installed on each PC.

LANtastic Voice Adapter

Artisoft's LANtastic Voice Adapter is a low-cost, IBM compatible

expansion adapter that converts between audio/voice signals and a

digital data stream.  When used in conjunction with supporting

software, it provides the capability to digitize spoken messages,

preserving them in nearly their original fidelity.

It features full-duplex operation (simultaneous record and play), a

standard telephone handset connection, and line level audio in and

out allows for the use of an external sound source, recorder or

amplifier.  The 8-bit companded D/A and A/D conversion provides

clean, noise-free reproduction.  The LANtastic Voice Adapter works

completely in the background and does not tie up a system.

Hardware Compatibility:

ùIBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 model 30, 30-286 and compatibles, and 386-based

 IBM PC bus compatibles.

PC Requirements:

ùOne floppy drive

ù8-bit expansion slot

ùPC DOS 3.1 or higher (3.2 not recommended)

Dimensions:

ùHeight:  4.0 inches (including brackets)

ùLength:  5.0 inches

ùDepth:   0.8 inches

Power requirements:

ù+5V @ 330mA

ù+12V @ 33mA

ù-12V @ 33mA

D/A Conversion:

ù8 bits/sample

ùæ 255 law companded

Sampling Rate:

ù7990.1Hz

Bandwidth:

ù200Hz - 3400Hz

Selectable Jumpers:

ùJ1: Enable DMA channel 1

ùJ2: Enable DMA channel 3

ùBoth channels may be enabled to support full duplex operation

External Interfaces:

ùP1-Handset, electret, 0.2V peak-to-peak

Standard female, modular telephone handset jack (M4P4C).  Electret

microphone input and output are supported on this connector.

Telephone handset is provided.  Electret microphone input is

reproduced in the earphone as long as power is supplied to the board

to give the handset the sound of a "live" line.  ùP2 - LINE IN, 100K

Ohms    2.5V Female, RCA-type audio jack.  Accepts a standard audio

signal for digitizing from an external source.  May be connected to a

CD player, tape recorder, or other external device.  This signal is

mixed with the microphone input from P1 and is reproduced in the

earphone.  ùP3 - LINE OUT, 2.2K Ohms     1.2V Female, RCA-type audio

jack.  Provides a standard line-level audio signal.  May be

connected to a tape recorder or an external amplifier to record or

broadcast the output signal.

LANtastic Voice Programmer's Interface

The LANtastic VPI is a set of software routines for interfacing to

the LANtastic Voice Adapter.  VPI uses a structure called the Voice

Control Block.  This block is similar to an NCB or MCB in the

NetBIOS.  It contains pointers to blocks of data which can be used

for PLAY and RECORD.  Commands can be "no-wait" which means control

returns to the calling program immediately while the VPI works in the

background.  When the VPI command completes, the user's POST routine

is called.

Basic VPI Routines:

Adapter_Status          Find out about the voice adapter     

Reset                   Reset the voice adapter

Deinstall               Takes VPI out of memory

Cancel                  Cancel a pending Voice Control Block

Send                    Sends a buffer to PLAY channel

Silence                 Sends silence to PLAY channel

Receive                 Receives a buffer from RECORD channel

Threshold               Wait for sound to reach a certain loudness

                        and then begin receive from RECORD channel