OpenCable Architecture (Fundamentals)

OpenCable Architecture by Michael Adams is the Winner of the 2001 Cable Center Book Award! Learn how to bring digital TV, data, and interactivity to the television. The cable industry is in the midst of a revolution. Existing cable systems that were engineered for broadcast television are being called on to support a host of new applications and services which require upgrading those cable systems to high-speed, two-way communications networks. Consumers, industry analysts, and policy observers are asking: Where is digital TV headed? Will I be able to get it on cable? Is interactive TV for real? What new services will be offered? OpenCable Architecture is the first book to focus on this new technology, answering these questions and describing how the components of an OpenCable network interconnect. Written by one of the primary architects of the OpenCable initiative, this book explains key concepts in practical terms. It describes the digital headend, optical transport, distribution hub, hybrid-fiber coax, and set-top terminal equipment and how these componenets are interconnected. Whether you're a television, data communications, or telecommunications professional, or an interested layperson, OpenCable Architecture will help you understand the technical and business issues surrounding interactive television services. It will provide you with an inside look at the combined efforts of the cable, data, and consumer electronics industries to develop those new services. *Examine the new architectures being developed by the cable industry as part of the OpenCable initiative *Review the recent history of interactive TV, including the Time Warner Full Service Network and Pegasus program *Understand the concepts of hybrid fiber coax architecture *Learn how the cable TV industry is evolving with converging with the data networking industry