OpenCable Architecture (Fundamentals) [Hardcover]

Michael Adams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cisco Press Core Series | Publication Date: November 22, 1999

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. 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. Consumers, industry analysts, and policy observers are asking: Where is digital TV headed? Will I be able to get it on cable? Is interactive TV for real? What new services will be offered? OpenCable Architecture is the first book to focus on this new technology, answering these 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. *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

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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 initiativeReview the recent history of interactive TV, including the Time Warner Full Service Network and Pegasus programUnderstand the concepts of hybrid fiber coax architectureLearn how the cable TV industry is evolving with converging with the data networking industryThe 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.

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Cisco Press; 1st edition (November 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157870135X
• ISBN-13: 978-1578701353
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OpenCable Overview, January 17, 2000

By 

Jeroen Brouwer (Sunnyvale CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OpenCable Architecture (Fundamentals) (Hardcover)

Although I have been reading a lot of OpenCable documents, there was a wish to have a book that gave the overview and connected the pieces together. That book has now arrived. I can recommend it to all that like to have more knowledge on digital cable and the overview of opencable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source of information on OpenCable architecture, January 25, 2000

By 

Satish M. Thatte (Princeton Junction, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OpenCable Architecture (Fundamentals) (Hardcover)

The opencable industry has great promise and potential. In its early formative stage, various industry participants (hardware and software developers, service providers, cable MSO engineers, etc.) really need and will benefit greatly from this book.

Michael Adams has done a great job of pulling together various information pieces in a coherent framework in an understandable and easy to read manner: history, rationale, process, market and technical details of the OpenCable architecture; current status and future direction. I recommend this book highly.

Satish Thatte, Director, Product Management & Standards LG Electronics Research Center of America Princeton Junction, NJ

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opencable thoroughly explained, January 16, 2000

By 

Jeroen Brouwer (Sunnyvale CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: OpenCable Architecture (Fundamentals) (Hardcover)

Although I have been reading a lot of documents related to OpenCable, I was looking forward to a comprising work, where all was coming together. That book is now available. The good structure and well managed balance between the bigger picture and the details makes this is a very interesting book for a wide audience in the North American cable community.