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Memorial Tributes Volume 15 (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Amos E. Joel, JR. 1918-2008
Pages 218-227

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From page 219...
... during World War ii, he designed circuits for general-purpose digital computers and was instrumental in the development of coding and decoding machines for military and diplomatic uses. amos Joel was totally engaged in switching technology for his entire adult life.
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From page 220...
... The planning for that move, carried out by Bell laboratories, was one of the finest pieces of systems engineering I have ever seen. The main ingredients of the plan were as follows: a standard 10-digit numbering plan for North america that gave a unique destination code for every telephone line on the network, a network hierarchy and routing plan so the common control switching systems of that time could route calls through the network efficiently, and an automatic system for billing the customer.
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From page 221...
... Keister for the ieee Bell Medal, which they won -- Joel for the early system design, Ketchledge for the hardware implementation, and Keister for stored program control. Traffic Service Position System even though customer dialing of long-distance calls reduced substantially the need for operators in the Bell system, many operators were still needed to handle special types of calls, such as collect calls, person-to-person calls, and charge-tothird-number calls.
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From page 222...
... However, in our home, he was a dad who worked hard, had a fabulous and mischievous sense of humor, loved italian food and chocolate, was fascinated by trains -- especially the gg1, and appreciated all kinds of music, which he played nightly on his yamaha or Hammond organ. family time was spent mostly at dinners, holidays, and summer family vacations, many of which took place on cape cod.
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From page 223...
... He was part of the team that developed and created designs for early digital computers and cryptanalysis machines, code named "Project X." British computer pioneer alan Turing used some of dad's ideas in the development of the "Colossus" machine, which helped crack the German "Enigma" code. dad's group also designed a scrambler code named "Sigsaly." This allowed for private encrypted communication between Winston churchill and franklin d.
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From page 224...
... He accepted this award with William Keister and Ray Ketchledge, "for conception and development of Electronic switching systems and their effective introduction into a nation-wide telephone system." 1981: He was awarded the franklin institute's stuart Ballantine Medal for "his achievement in bringing into being the electronic switching system (ess) and for his contributions towards the many functions it makes possible for modern telecommunications." 1987: He was instrumental in the development of the ieee (institute for electrical and electronics engineers)
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From page 225...
... 1993: He was honored by the United states with the National Medal of Technology for "his vision, inventiveness and perseverance in introducing technological advances in telecommunications, particularly switching, that have had a major impact on the evolution of the telecommunications industry in the U.s. and worldwide." 2008: Perhaps the most treasured recognition was bestowed upon him within his last year.
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From page 226...
... He also used to go to schools and discuss technology with kids in the local grade schools, but after the article appeared, dad actually achieved "rock star" status. Having heard about the article on our father, and being offered the opportunity to be addressed by anyone of importance, local campers resoundingly wanted to meet the inventor of the cell phone.
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From page 227...
... Electronic Switching: Digital Central Office Systems of the World (ieee Press, 1982) 100 Years of Telephone Switching (1878–1978)
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Key Terms

  • electronic switching
  • cell phone
  • amos joel
  • message accounting
  • traffic service

  • central office
  • service position
  • switching technology
  • ieee press
  • inventors hall

  • special calls
  • telecommunications network
  • common control
  • telecommunications industry
  • control switching

  • international switching
  • toll calls
  • national inventors
  • major contributor
  • operator handling

  • digital computers
  • distance dialing
  • direct distance
  • automatic message
  • telephone switching

  • collect calls
  • routing plan
  • grew increasingly
  • switching conference
  • public telecommunications


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