To foster residential area broadband internet technology: IP datagrams keep going, and going, and going …

Abstract

Cable modem technology is rapidly entering commonplace discussion. The capabilities provided by cable moderns promise data bandwidth speeds far in excess of those provided by traditional twisted pair public telephone networks. Internet service providers are taking position to promote this next generation method of delivering Internet services to the home as part of the broadband access to the home race. Cable TV operators and Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) (e.g. PacBell) are preparing for this integrated broadband future by installing or rebuilding existing all-coaxial cable plants into two-way Hybrid-Fiber Coaxial plants, and by offering a wide range of both data and interactive services which they feel will be most attractive to their subscriber base. Initially, these services will only provide Internet access and access to the major information services (e.g. Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy). These service offerings will quickly advance to support multi-player gaming and collaborative services such as voice and desktop video teleconferencing. As an introduction to some of the issues surrounding cable modem technology, this paper summarizes two of the standardization efforts: the ATM over HFC definition work taking place in the ATM Forum's Residential Broadband Working Group; and the standards progress in the IEEE P802.14 Cable TV Media Access Control and Physical Protocol Working Group. Delivering a viable Internet service to a Cable TV based subscriber community has its own set of deployment issues that are briefly overviewed and summarized.