CABLEVISION SYSTEMS TO OFFER INTERACTIVE VIDEO SERVICES USING AT&T NETWORK SYSTEMS END-TO-END DIGITAL VIDEO SYSTEM.ANAHEIM, CALIF.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 1994--AT&T Network Systems and Cablevision Systems Corp. announced today they are working together to provide an "end-to-end" digital video solution for the commercial deployment of enhanced pay-per-view (EPPV) and video-on-demand (VOD See video-on-demand. VoD - video on demand ) to Cablevision subscribers, beginning in mid-1995. Cablevision Systems, the fifth largest cable television service provider in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , has begun testing the digital server, cable network and a limited number of prototype digital boxes in Long Island, NY under the terms of an agreement with AT&T. Cablevision has plans to reach a significant number of subscribers with EPPV and VOD services by the end of 1995. "This service will give our subscribers the ability to get the movies and other entertainment and information features they want, from the comfort of their homes, when they want them, delivered instantly. It will put Cablevision and its customers on the cutting edge of technology in a way that's meaningful and practically useful to them," said Cablevision Systems vice chairman Marc Lustgarten. AT&T Network Systems will supply Cablevision Systems with digital video equipment and system software necessary to deliver the new services, including video server software developed by Interactive Digital Solutions, AT&T's recently-announced joint venture with Silicon Graphics, Inc. High-speed switching of video streams will be handled by the AT&T GlobeView(a)-2000 Broadband System. The Cablevision solution also encompasses an AT&T Digital Video Home Terminal, for connection to a standard television set in the subscriber home. Network elements for the headend include an MPEG-2 program encoder A hardware device or software that assigns a code to represent data. See encode. 1. (algorithm, hardware) encoder - Any program, circuit or algorithm which encodes. Example usages: "MPEG encoder", "NTSC encoder", "RealAudio encoder". 2. system as well as digital cable modulators and encryption and access control systems. As a part of the agreement, AT&T Network Systems will provide installation and engineering services at the headend for Cablevision's first 20,000 subscribers. "With such a large undertaking, we need a company that can provide a complete end-to-end system, as well as one with the expertise in building and operating two-way, digital communications Transmitting text, voice and video in binary form. See communications. networks," said Wilt Hildenbrand, vice president - technology, Cablevision Systems. Cablevision expects to expand its video service offerings in the future to include additional interactive entertainment, information, advertising and transaction services. "There's no question there's a hunger out there for more services and more flexibility. We opted to bypass doing a trial and to evaluate commercial deployment immediately," said Hildenbrand. With AT&T's digital network solution, Cablevision will be able to encode (1) To assign a code to represent data, such as a parts code. Contrast with decode. (2) To convert from one format or signal to another. See codec and D/A converter. (3) The term is sometimes erroneously used for "encrypt. video source material -- a movie, for example -- into MPEG-2 packets, using a compression station. From there, the packets will be sent to the interactive video server and stored for later playback. When a subscriber orders the movie from the home terminal, the server packages the video material into Asynchronous Transfer Mode See ATM. (communications) Asynchronous Transfer Mode - (ATM, or "fast packet") A method for the dynamic allocation of bandwidth using a fixed-size packet (called a cell). See also ATM Forum, Wideband ATM. ATM acronyms. Indiana acronyms. (ATM) packets and sends them out to the GlobeView-2000 Broadband System using SONET OC-3 optical interfaces. The ATM system transports the packets through a video multiplexer See multiplexor and multiplexing. multiplexer - multiplexor , which reassembles the information as MPEG-2 packets. A Digital Cable Modulator Modulator Any device or circuit by means of which a desired signal is impressed upon a higher-frequency periodic wave known as a carrier. The process is called modulation. The modulator may vary the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the carrier. and Upconverter (DCMU DCMU Digital Concentrator Measurement Unit DCMU Dichlorophenyl Dimethylurea DCMU Disk Control and Monitor Utility ) applies 64 QAM (1) (Quality Assessment Measurement) A system used to measure and analyze voice transmission. (2) (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) A modulation technique that employs both phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation (AM). modulation for distribution over the cable system to a subscriber's home terminal, where it is decoded for viewing on a standard television set. "AT&T, with its many years as a digital systems supplier and integrator, is in a unique position to support Cablevision as we embark on delivery of interactive video services," said Hildenbrand. "We haven't found another supplier that can provide the same level of end-to-end support." "With this agreement, AT&T Network Systems is showcasing our flexibility as a total solution provider by providing Cablevision with an economical way to offer new interactive services using existing cable distribution plant," said Nina Aversano, president - Global Commercial Markets, AT&T Network Systems. Cablevision is the fifth largest MSO (1) (Multiple System Operator) Typically refers to a cable TV organization that owns more than one cable system, but it may refer to an operator of only one system. in the country, serving 2.5 million subscribers and, through subsidiaries, owns interests in companies which produce and distribute programming services, provide advertising sales service for the cable television industry and operates an AM radio station in the Cleveland, Ohio "Cleveland" redirects here. For the Cleveland metropolitan area, see . For other uses, see Cleveland (disambiguation). Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. market. AT&T Network Systems is one of the world's largest manufacturers and providers of network telecommunications equipment, offering communications service providers A Communications Service Provider or CSP is a company that transports information electronically. The term encompasses public and private companies in the wireline, wireless, Internet, cable, satellite, and managed services businesses. virtually everything they need to build and operate their networks. -0- (a) GlobeView is a trademark of AT&T -0-
AT&T Network Systems
Interactive Services Delivery Platform
FACT SHEET
MPEG-2 Program Encoder System: The program encoder system compresses digital source material into MPEG-2 (Motion Pictures Experts Group) format to provide system operators with greater transmission capacity and lower costs without sacrificing quality. The system encrypts and packetizes the digital video and audio information before passing it to the media server. Interactive Digital Solutions video server software and Silicon Graphics Challenge(TM) media server: This combination of hardware and a major software component manages the naming, storing and retrieval of multimedia objects. Managing these multimedia assets is a major function of the server system. It performs the tasks of communicating with the Digital Video Home Terminal and delivering the multimedia materials and data to the network for transmission to the subscriber. Application development environment: The application development environment, including both hardware and software, allows for the creation of Enhanced Pay-Per-View (EPPV) and Video-On-Demand (VOD) applications. A developer or designer can use these tools to author and debug To correct a problem in hardware or software. Debugging software means locating the errors in the source code (the program logic). Debugging hardware means finding errors in the circuit design (logical circuits) or in the physical interconnections of the circuits. applications or to create user interfaces on a television screen. The tools also analyze the performance of the applications. Both C and C++ libraries and programs can be created in addition to high-level visual programming tools. The stand-alone development environment can be set up for single or multiple users and consists of workstations, home terminals, televisions, a video server, and all the appropriate software. AT&T GlobeView(TM)-2000 Broadband System Service Node: The GlobeView-2000 Broadband System ATM switch enables subscribers to be connected to a variety of information servers and sources using ATM technology. The ATM cells are mapped onto SONET/SDH transmission facilities and transported over the cable TV distribution network. AT&T GlobeView-2000 Broadband System Video Multiplexer: This module of the GlobeView-2000 Broadband System family takes compressed video compressed video - video compression materials delivered over ATM from the server and reassembles the information for modulation onto standard MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. cable TV signal for distribution to the subscribers' home. Digital Cable Modulator and Upconverter (DCMU): The Digital Cable Modulator and Upconverter functions as a gateway between the MPEG-2/ATM digital transport network and the cable access network. The Digital Cable Modulator is a dual mode 16 or 64 Quadrature quadrature, in astronomy, arrangement of two celestial bodies at right angles to each other as viewed from a reference point. If the reference point is the earth and the sun is one of the bodies, a planet is in quadrature when its elongation is 90°. Amplitude Modulator that accepts an MPEG-2 digital signal, containing up to 10 digital programs, and converts it to a 6 MHz channel. The Upconverter modulates the 6 MHz channel to a cable TV channel between 200 MHz and 750 MHz. Signaling Node: The Signaling Node supports up- and downstream signaling control in the headend to support the ordering and control of interactive multimedia services. Upstream signaling from the consumer's Video Home Terminal is received by the Signaling Node, converted to Ethernet, and routed over the transport network to a Level 1 Gateway, Level 2 Gateway, and/or Video Server. Downstream signaling from Gateways or Servers is routed to the Signaling Node by the transport network, where it is routed to the correct Video Home Terminal. Encryption and access control system and signaling node: The Encryption and Access Control System is implemented with exchanges of unique public keys. Each program is encrypted before it is stored in a video server. When a consumer requests a program, the Access Control System encrypts the program keys with a unique Video Home Terminal identifier and transmits this key (Entitlement Management Message, EMM (Expanded Memory Manager) Starting with 386-based PCs, an EMM is software that converts extended memory (beyond one megabyte) into EMS memory, the first technique used to increase memory in the PC. ) over the public network. The EMM can only be decrypted by the target Video Home Terminal. The Video Home Terminal identifier is encoded in the system silicon and can not be accessed without destroying the terminal itself. The Video Home Terminal identifier can also be used to audit the network for illegal terminals. AT&T Digital Video Home Terminal: AT&T's home terminal is a set-top device that runs the client software and serves as the point of interactivity at the subscriber's end. It can select, accept and decode (1) To convert coded data back into its original form. Contrast with encode. (2) Same as decrypt. See cryptography. (cryptography) decode - To apply decryption. the MPEG-2 compressed video signal from the network. It also relays the subscribers wishes back to the network to control program selection and delivery. Here are some of the technical features of the terminal: - 750 MHz Tuner- HRC/IRC/Standard Tuning Plan - 16/64 QAM Receiver- MPEG-2 Systems layer - MPEG-2 Video, Main Profile Simple Level (352x480) and Simple Profile Main Level (720x480) - Dolby AC-3 audio (MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). 2 audio option) - Renewable Digital Security - RF Interface to Existing Analog Set Top Converter-Upstream Cable Modem cable modem Modem used to convert analog data signals to digital form and vise versa, for transmission or receipt over cable television lines, especially for connecting to the Internet. - Channel 3/4 Switchable RF Output - Addressable Reachable. When something is addressable, it can be identified and manipulated independently of its surroundings. For example, screen pixels and RAM memory are addressable. Each of the screen's picture elements can be individually turned on and off, and each of the memory's bytes can be Macrovision Anti-copy Technology - AC Accessory Outlet CONTACT: AT&T Network Systems Jeanne Snell Snell , George 1903-1996. American geneticist. He shared a 1980 Nobel Prize for discoveries concerning cell structure that enhanced understanding of the immunological system, resulting in higher success rates in organ transplantation. 303/290-5652 (office) 800-258-0000 pin No.2880305 (pager) or AT&T Network Systems Curtis Wilson 201/606-2449 (office) 201/299-9164 (home) or Cablevision Systems Norm Fein 516/496-1472 (office) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion