56k modem
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56k modems are analog modems capable of speeds near 56 kbit/s when connecting to a service that has a digital connection to the phone network.
It is important to note that this technique cannot be used between two 56k modems and that when two 56k modems connect, they will revert to slower standard analog methods.
At the end of 1997 there were two rival modem designs using this technique: k56flex and U.S. Robotics' X2 chipset. In February 1998 the ITU proposed a 56 kbit/s standard called V.90, which was formally approved during September 1998.
The first commercial duplex modem was invented by AT&T in 1962, called the Bell 103. It had a speed of 300 bits/s, or 0.3 kb/s. That speed increased to 14.4 kb/s, then doubled to 28.8 kb/s, and in 1996, Brent Townshend invented the 56 kb/s modem.
Today, the 56k modem has become obsolete yet remains highly in use due to the fact that a large portion of the developing world, and remote parts of the rural developed world, remains without highspeed Internet service.
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This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.
