Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
Terminal Equipment
Terminal equipment currently provides excellent support for individual voice, data, video, and image applications, but through separate devicestelephones, computers and TV sets. Multimedia PCs will support voice, data and video, but their voice and video capabilities are not all that great. Cable-ready PCs are now available, although at higher cost; in fact, many Apple computers have been cable-ready for years. While this can be useful for video editing, few people have become addicted to watching TV on a PC. About the only converged device that has so far been successful is that of a combined telephone and fax machine.
Terminal equipment, in a convergence scenario, likely will not be in the form of a single, multifunctional device. Rather, it is likely to take the form of modular computers, telephones, TV displays, cameras and other devices to be snapped together as desired. In this manner, the user will realize the advantages of modular functionality, which then can be upgraded on a modular basis. In different rooms of a residence, different individuals might use these devices in different combinations.
For instance, the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) might take advantage of a multiline wireless telephone and headset, a wireless computer keyboard and mouse, a wireless CPU and hard drive, and a wireless flat panel display with attached camera that would be mounted on the wall. Connection would be provided on a wireless basis to combined color printer/fax machine/copier.
The family room might focus on a large, flat-screen display device. The master bedroom would contain a smaller display. The playroom and childrens rooms would feature smaller displays, as well, as would the kitchen and bathrooms. In every case, a wireless remote control, wireless keyboard and mouse, wireless camera, and wireless telephone could be included in the mix of devices.
The end result is that of a modular, wireless Home Area Network (HAN). Any and all applications could be accessed, conceivably from any room. While this scenario might seem a bit exotic, it is technically feasible at this very moment. The remaining issues, of course, center on standards and costs.
In the authors opinion, the highly-touted NetStation (Chapter 13) will not take the world by storm. This concept, once again, is that of a dumb terminal with a keyboard, mouse, display, and communications software. All processing power and all storage would reside in the network. There certainly will be applications for such a device, assuming that the cost comes down below $500. Those who take there computing even remotely seriously will continue to favor premise-based solutions. I would not even have considered writing this book and developing the graphics on the basis of network computing. My guess is that the typical reader would not make use of such a concept either. I also doubt that the typical couch potato has much of an inclination to compute at all. As a small indication of the intense speculation over the future of the information appliance, note references [15-11] through [15-16].
User Interfaces
User interfaces are very much in the development phases. The primary effort is focusing on developing a highly intuitive Graphic User Interfaces (GUIs) for an effective navigator, much like the concept of a Web browser. Perhaps through a wireless remote, one would be able to select application options from menus presented on a converged device consisting of a big-screen display, supporting video applications as well as serving as the display for a multimedia computer system. Microsoft, Apple, Sun, Scientific-Atlanta, Digital Equipment Corp. and others are working diligently to develop such interfaces [15-17].
Network Interfaces
Network interfaces, in the form of set-top boxes and CATV modems, require additional development and standards. The interface can be located on the set-top (much as a CATV converter), inside the terminal equipment, outside the premise (as is the case with a contemporary telephone company Network Termination Unit), or in some combination. The network interface likely will comprise some combination of firmware and software, and will act as a combined codec, firewall, and communications controller or splitter. The control function will provide access to multiple voice, data, video and image applications through separate channels over the high-speed distribution network. The current cost of set-top boxes is in the range of $500 to $700, partially because the manufacturing runs are so small. At a price point of $150 to $300 per box, they would become practical [15-18]. Current manufacturers of such boxes include General Instruments, Scientific-Atlanta, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Thompson, Fujitsu, Sun, Apple and IBM [15-19].
The network interface that finally will emerge victorious, in the my opinion, will be a combination of firmware (on silicon chips) and software. The advantage of firmware is speedstandardized, stable and routine functions will be performed in silicon and will be executed quickly. The advantage of software is flexibilitydynamic and less stable functions will be performed in software in order that bugs can be fixed and functionality can be modified and upgraded. Additionally, software fixes, upgrades and enhancements can be downloaded over the network.
Media
Media technologies are developing rapidly, with emphasis on Fiber-to-the Neighborhood (FTTN), as it is unlikely that Fiber-to-the-Curb (FTTC) or Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) will prove to be economically viable in the near future. Therefore, current plans and trials largely focus on hybrid fiber/coax distribution systems. Hybrid fiber/UTP, through technologies such as ADSL, offers at least a stopgap solution, extending the economic life of the embedded local-loop plant of the telephone companies. Additionally, wireless technologies, such as Wireless Local Loop (WLL) and Broadband PCS offer great potential, although much work remains to be done.
Fiber, clearly, seems to be the preferred technology for reasons of bandwidth and error performance. Taking fiber as far as possible extends these advantages to the maximum, but carries with it higher cost. As a result, the last few hundred feet or yards or meters or so of the converged loop likely will remain coax or UTP. While it is unlikely that the result will be a Gpbs in every living room, 51 Mbps (OC-1) or even 155 Mbps (OC-3) certainly is possible. With digital transmission and MPEG 2 compression can squeeze as many as ten video channels into the bandwidth required by only one channel in the analog coax world of CATV [15-18].
Previous | Table of Contents | Next |