Multimedia across Residential Networks.
The multi-megabit connections offered by cable modems and residential networks should enable interactive multimedia applications to be brought to the home. ANSPAG plans to conduct video on demand trials with a number of sites in Victoria, the aim being to determine the feasibility of current systems to provide video on demand via cable networks that will be the candidate for a commercial VOD service network in the not too distant future. The trial has been planned to use a bi-directional 10Mbit/s (in each direction) coaxial link to connect the video server at ANSPAG to a cable network. The customer sites involved will be provided with a coaxial drop that is connected from network tap to a network interface unit. Signals for digital data and analogue TV is split at the network interface unit, and is then fed to wall mounted plates via coaxial cables. Cable TV codecs and cable modems can be directly plugged into the connectors on these walls mounted plates. There will also be a PC client running in the ANSPAG laboratory through a second cable modem also installed at Monash University (Figure 0-12).


Figure 0-12 Connection to Residential Network

Currently, there are two 2Mbit/s links between the cable network and Monash University via cable modems, allowing Monash to experiment with delivery of multimedia across a residential network.