Broadband applications and the digital home

This book explores some of the technological challenges in the application of digital communications technology in the home, including provision of fast, 'always on' internet connections. It looks at the ways consumers will use broadband access and what the key applications will be for provider and consumer. More broadly it aims to describe how communication to and within the home is evolving, and how people's lives are changing as they take advantage of the new technology and its applications.

The expert contributors consider delivery mechanisms for broadband, connecting the home to external networks as well as connecting devices and applications within the home. They discuss how people use and relate to the technology, and how it should be developed to meet their evolving needs. Current applications are described and how new applications are being developed to take advantage of new digital technology. Finally two visionaries give their insights into aspects of the future for the home environment and how much it will be a digital home.

This fascinating book provides balanced coverage of the issues surrounding this next phase of the development of communications and the Internet, which may transform our homes and the way we live. It will be of major interest to engineers and other professionals working in communications, IT, new technology and entertainment, as well as those active in research within a number of fields of technology.

re for the home environment and how much it will be a digital home.

J G TurnbullN J BillingtonA J H Fidler and G Hernandez and M Lalovic and T Pell and I G RoseJ G TurnbullJ G TurnbullK E NoldeP M Bull and P R Benyon and P R LimbC E AdamsR I GalbraithS G E GarrettB Anderson and C Gale and M L R Jones and A McWilliamM R Gardner and C Gibbs and T van DoB Anderson and C Gale and A P Gower and E F France and M L R Jones and H V Lacohee and A McWilliam and K Tracey and M TrimbyP A RoutS G E GarrettM Russ and M A FisherJ A Clark and A TsiaparasL-Q Xu and B Lei and E HendriksJ M Thorne and D J ChattingS G E GarrettD Ballin and M Lawson and M A Lumkin and J OsborneD Patel and I D Pearson

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
Contributors	p. xvii
Part 1 Delivery to the Home	p. 1
1 Broadband Access Technologies	p. 3
1.1 Introduction	p. 3
1.2 A Comparison of Broadband Access Alternatives	p. 3
1.3 Evolution of the Broadband Platform	p. 10
1.4 The Evolution of Broadband Wired Access Networks	p. 16
1.5 Summary	p. 20
2 Satellite--A New Opportunity for Broadband Access	p. 23
2.1 Introduction	p. 23
2.2 Satellite Delivery Systems	p. 23
2.3 Protocol Attributes	p. 29
2.4 Applications	p. 31
2.5 Security Design Considerations	p. 34
2.6 Summary	p. 36
Part 2 Networking the Home	p. 37
3 Introducing Home Area Networks	p. 39
3.1 Introduction	p. 39
3.2 Why Do We Need a Home Area Network?	p. 44
3.3 What is a Home Area Network?	p. 46
3.4 Issues with Home Networking	p. 51
3.5 Who are the Key Players?	p. 52
3.6 Summary	p. 53
4 Broadband in the Home	p. 55
4.1 Introduction	p. 55
4.2 Installation Issues	p. 56
4.3 Self-Installation	p. 59
4.4 Distribution of Broadband Within the Home	p. 64
4.5 The Need for a Home Gateway	p. 66
4.6 Additional Services that a Home Gateway Could Provide	p. 68
4.7 Summary	p. 70
5 Residential Gateways	p. 73
5.1 Introduction	p. 73
5.2 Evolution of the Gateway	p. 73
5.3 Inside, Outside or Centralised	p. 75
5.4 Management Issues	p. 76
5.5 Devices and Autoconfiguration	p. 78
5.6 Pervasive Computing	p. 80
5.7 OSGi--The Open Services Gateway Initiative	p. 81
5.8 Looking Ahead	p. 85
6 Home Area Network Technologies	p. 87
6.1 Home Area Networking Overview	p. 87
6.2 The Connection Technologies	p. 87
6.3 The Role of the Residential Gateway	p. 115
6.4 Devices, Appliances, Services and Applications	p. 118
6.5 Summary	p. 120
7 Standards for Broadband Customer Premises Equipment	p. 125
7.1 Introduction	p. 125
7.2 Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Forum	p. 125
7.3 Customer Premises Equipment for FS-VDSL	p. 139
7.4 Home Neworking Forums	p. 144
7.5 TV-Anytime Forum	p. 145
7.6 Other Industry Forums	p. 146
7.7 Summary	p. 147
Part 3 Living in the Home	p. 149
8 Domesticating Broadband--What Really Matters to Consumers	p. 153
8.1 Introduction	p. 153
8.2 Broadband Socio-Demographics	p. 155
8.3 Broadband Usage	p. 157
8.4 Perceptions of Broadband	p. 166
8.5 Implications	p. 169
8.6 Summary	p. 174
9 Is the Future Really Always-On?	p. 177
9.1 Introduction	p. 177
9.2 Focus Group Findings	p. 178
9.3 Usage Scenarios	p. 181
9.4 Evaluating User Behaviour--User Trials	p. 183
9.5 Trial Findings	p. 183
9.6 Technical Issues	p. 187
9.7 Always-on Services--the Device-Unifying Service	p. 192
9.8 The 'Multiple-Device' Scenario	p. 192
9.9 Ownership and Use of Devices	p. 194
9.10 DUS Requirements	p. 195
9.11 Summary	p. 197
10 Digital Living--People Centred Innovation and Strategy	p. 199
10.1 Introduction	p. 199
10.2 The Social Science Foundations	p. 200
10.3 Other Studies	p. 206
10.4 A Brief Tour of the Results	p. 207
10.5 Synergies and Reviews	p. 219
10.6 Summary	p. 223
11 Digital Homes--For Richer For Poorer, Who Are They For?	p. 227
11.1 Introduction	p. 227
11.2 From 'Home Sweet Home' to 'Home Smart Home'	p. 228
11.3 Who are the Customers?	p. 233
11.4 From Discovery to Delivery	p. 241
11.5 Summary	p. 243
Part 4 Applications	p. 245
12 Clients, Servers and Broadband	p. 251
12.1 Introduction	p. 251
12.2 Implementation	p. 255
12.3 Putting it all Together--the Future	p. 259
13 Bandwidth-on-Demand Networks--a Solution to Peer-to-Peer File Sharing?	p. 263
13.1 Introduction	p. 263
13.2 Limiting Bandwidth to Trusted Applications	p. 268
13.3 Service Description	p. 269
13.4 Network Solutions	p. 271
13.5 Software Solution--IP	p. 276
13.6 Billing Solution	p. 277
13.7 Controlling Your Content	p. 278
13.8 Satellite, Cable and Digital Terrestrial TV Opportunities	p. 279
13.9 Summary	p. 279
14 A 3-D Telepresence Collaborative Working Environment	p. 283
14.1 Introduction	p. 283
14.2 System Overview	p. 286
14.3 The HACM Disparity Estimator	p. 288
14.4 Experimental Studies	p. 294
14.5 Summary	p. 299
15 A Virtual Studio Production Chain	p. 303
15.1 Introduction	p. 303
15.2 The Prometheus Project	p. 303
15.3 Considering the Future of Entertainment Experiences	p. 306
15.4 Summary	p. 311
Part 5 The Future Digital Home	p. 315
16 Personal Virtual Humans--from Inhabiting the TalkZone to Populating the Digital Home	p. 317
16.1 Introduction	p. 317
16.2 Overview	p. 318
16.3 The AvatarBT Exhibit	p. 319
16.4 Vandrea--The Virtual Newscaster	p. 325
16.5 AvatarBT Applications	p. 331
16.6 User Evaluation of AvatarBT	p. 338
16.7 The Future of Personalised Virtual Humans	p. 340
17 Hype and Reality in the Future Home	p. 347
17.1 Introduction	p. 347
17.2 Engineering Fashions--Are You Being Served?	p. 347
17.3 Agents	p. 349
17.4 Does Smart Imitate Life?	p. 350
17.5 Is Incrementalism the Enemy of Innovation?	p. 351
17.6 Bits AND Atoms, Not Bits OR Atoms	p. 352
17.7 Well Beings	p. 352
17.8 'Psyence'--Fact or Fiction?	p. 353
17.9 Kitchen Rage	p. 354
17.10 Voices in your Head	p. 355
17.11 So What Will Work?	p. 355
17.12 Networks	p. 360
17.13 Storage-Based Networks	p. 362
17.14 Summary	p. 363
Acronyms	p. 365
Index	p. 375

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