Standards for interactive multimedia delivery across CATV infrastructures

There are several complementary and competing standardization activities in the field of broadband digital data transfer across community antenna television (CATV) infrastructures. Key concerns in this standardization are compatibility with other broadband standards, the support of legacy systems and the immediate provision of data transfer within CATV franchise networks. At present digital data transfer using CATV is provided through cable modems which construct a broadband Ethernet architecture (these are proprietary solutions). The bodies considering CATV standardisation include the IEEE 802.14 Project, the ATM Forum, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Multimedia Cable Networks Systems (MCNS) group, the Digital Audio-Visual Council (DAVIC) and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE); the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) project is also making key contributions. Between them they are considering CATV compatibility with asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) solutions, Internet protocol compatibility, CATV network adapters and the provision of interactive multimedia services to the home. It is clear that no single solution will dominate in the early years so it is essential that the issues of interconnectivity are addressed as soon as possible