OpenCable Architecture (The Cisco Press Fundamentals Series) - Hardcover

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. 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 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. OpenCable Architecture is the first book to focus on this new technology, answering many 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.

Michael Adams is the principal network architect for Time Warner Cable, responsible for all aspects of networking in the Pegasus Digital Program. He has served as the co-chair of the JEC Digital Standards Sub-Committee and as chair of the Working Group 3 for the SCTE Digital Video Standards Committee. He is one of the primary architects of the OpenCable initiative, the co-author of the point-of-deployment module interface (OCI-C2) specification, and the primary author of the network interface (OCI-N) specification. He is a founding member of the OpenCable Technical Team.