An experimental mixed purpose network

Abstract

This paper deals with an experimental network application. As an example, an environment with on screen display of low density information is selected. Such an environment can be found in hospitals where patients have to be guided from one place to another, as well as in many other situations, like airports. The method used is a fiber based 20 Mbit/sec network. In order to have a homogeneous structure transputer links are used throughout. Both, packet oriented inter processor communications and low level bit streams for the video frames, can coexist over these links. Uniformity in the physical layer [1] ensures maximum reliability and flexibility. With the usage of transputer links, fault detection in this application is inherent. The overall design is a highly distributed and low cost solution. Interfaces to standard networks are easily available.