Title :
MLAP: a MAC level access protocol for the HFC 802.14 network
Author :
Bisdikian, Chatschik ; McNeil, B. ; Norman, Rob ; Zeisz, Ray
Author_Institution :
IBM Thomas J. Watson Res. Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA
fDate :
3/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Interactive residential broadband/multimedia services are expected to be the next main event in the cyberspace experience. The large excess bandwidth (well over 300 MHz) available in today´s cable TV (CATV) hybrid fiber/coaxial (HFC) plants is an ideal candidate to provide the underlying communications infrastructure for interactive digital services to the home; cable operators that have not yet upgraded their all-coaxial plants to HFC are quickly moving in this direction. MLAP is a flexible ATM-friendly MAC protocol that is capable of supporting various types of traffic with diverse quality-of-service requirements. We introduce a very versatile MAC protocol for the HFC 802.14 network. MLAP can provide integrated broadband services to the home, internetwork easily with ATM wide area networks, support QoS constraints for various types of traffic, and operate over a variety of physical layer protocols. Our presentation is only an extended summary of our medium-sharing protocol proposal to the IEEE 802.14 WG. We consider only error-free system operation. MLAP provides for the use of timers for the recovery of error situations in the network. MLAP is also supported by a management suite of protocols for management of the overall system
Keywords :
IEEE standards; access protocols; asynchronous transfer mode; broadband networks; cable television; coaxial cables; interactive systems; internetworking; multimedia communication; optical fibre subscriber loops; subscriber loops; telecommunication services; telecommunication standards; telecommunication traffic; ATM wide area networks; CATV; HFC 802.14 network; MAC level access protocol; MLAP; bandwidth; cable TV; communications infrastructure; error free system operation; error recovery; hybrid fiber/coaxial network; hybrid fiber/coaxial plants; integrated broadband services; interactive digital services; interactive residential broadband services; internetworking; management suite; multimedia services; physical layer protocols; quality of service; system management; traffic; Access protocols; Bandwidth; Cable TV; Coaxial cables; Hybrid fiber coaxial cables; Media Access Protocol; Multimedia systems; Optical fiber cables; Optical fiber communication; Telecommunication traffic;
Journal_Title :
Communications Magazine, IEEE
