A future of diversity: multimedia communications and applications in the broadband Internet

Summary form only given. The 1980s´ dream of universal B-ISDN service for residential subscribers, delivered through optical fibers at rates of 155 Mbps and above, has given way to a more diverse and less expensive universe of wideband and broadband access systems. These systems, oriented more toward Internet access than traditional network services, come in a variety of physical architectures and communication protocols. The task of edge switches and multiplexers will be to support this diversity, including utilizing overlay networks within the same communication session. A particular objective is to invoke high quality of service connections from within best-effort Internet applications. Beginning from consideration of the B-ISDN model, the author introduces the more diverse broadband vision that has been inspired by the innovations of the Internet. He describes how overlay switching and distributed object system middleware supports future multimedia applications, illustrated with applications that he believe will become popular with a large public in the not-too-distant future