Internet and Intranet Developments for the UfI

1. Internet and Intranet Developments for the UfI Professor Paul Bacsich Head of the Virtual Campus Programme UfI, 22-23 October 1998

2. The Requirement (2002)from a customer viewpoint • To connect 2.5 million enquirers per year occasionally to UfI Info Services • To connect 600,000 learners per year on a more permanent basis to organised programmes of learning • These parameters define the scale of the Network

3. Some requirements (2005) • 200,000 people per year in Basic Skills - via Learning Channels, DVD and WebTV? • 200,000 people per year in ICT - via PCs, CD-ROMs and Internet? • 100,000 start-ups and 50,000 SMEs - low-cost low-bandwidth temp. connections? • 500 multimedia companies - MANs? • These parameters further help to define the types of Subnetworks

4. Networks Ways of linking people to people and resources

5. Parameters of networks • Bandwidth/speed/bit rate • Distance (cf. twisted pair) • Quality of Service: latency, jitter etc • Coverage • Mobility • COSTS

6. Speed of networks (bit/s) 0,000,032,000 - modems, dial-up data 0,000,064,000 - speech, audio 0,000,128,000 - quasi-video, music 0,002,000,000 - good video, WANs 0,010,000,000 - Ethernet (old) 0,100,000,000 - ATM, Ethernet, MANs 1,000,000,000 - in labs and dreams More bandwidth  Better education

7. Internet: 2000there and stable • From nerdy&US to potentially ubiquitous information highway world-wide • Available dial-up in most developed countries, no time charge • Leased lines typical 64 kbit/s to 2 Mbit/s • Also on mobile networks but slower • Some use via satellites (cf. JANUS) • Marvellous self-extending (plug-ins) and self-enhancing (IPv6) powers

8. Access from home and SMEs • Modems: 33.6 or 56 kbit/s • ISDN=Home Highway: 64 or 128 kbit/s • ADSL over copper: 2 Mbit/s • Cable modems, share of 10 Mbit/s • Radio, mobile • Satellite, digital TV • Other minority systems, eg power lines

9. Modems • Routinised at 28.8 or 33.6 kbit/s • Stretched to 56 kbit/s by various methods • “End of the road” - no better in 2005

10. ISDN - Home Highway (v1) • Big advantage - uses phone line (digital) • 64 or 128 kbit/s • Telephone tariffs • But not much faster than modems • At last, quite simple and cheap • In reality an old technology - 20 years • Wrapped in politics

11. ADSL - blip now, relevant from 2002 • Big advantage - uses phone line • Asymmetric: 64+ kbit/s up, 384+ down • Where Home Highway should be now and will be by 2002 • Many US trials or quasi-services, some European trials • Potentially UK-wide (rural lines?) • But tariffing dilemmas • May kill “true” ISDN stone dead

12. Cable modems - good theory, relevant by 2002 in cities • Good in theory: “just” broadband Ethernet over coaxial cable TV • Reality is much harder • Many US services • Several European trials • Problem: is this an interim technology? • Tariffing, again • Tends to be city-oriented

13. Radio: 2002 but only blip? mobile: 2002 but costly • Fixed link • Ionica etc • Little used for data as yet • Obscure future? • Mobile • GSM - slow but a data service • UMTS: much faster, still R&D phase and EU lobby: 2002 • Very active research area - ACTS

14. Satellite:2000&never for large-scale use • One-way: • Return is usually terrestrial • First service was Hughes DirecPC • Now Eutelsat/BT and others • Relevant from 2000, but niche for England • Two-way: VSAT • mostly still R&D phase: ACTS etc; suspect in UK context even in 2002 • dreams of “USAT” in studies: 2005?

15. Digital broadcasting: 2000 • Hybrid Internet via DB and phone lines • Attractive in theory, not so popular with engineers (cf satellites) • Scalable? • Perhaps more oriented to information distribution than “true” Internet • Central to some UfI audiences by 2002

16. Power lines • Communication over power lines goes back to “carrier current” of 1940s • Problems are noise and transformers • Destined to remain a minority system - technically harder than phone lines; unless regulatory distortions re-intrude

17. ATM over fibre to the home?>2005 • Foreseen over 10 years ago- Mackintosh studies • Will be a long time until every UK home has a fibre connection and ATM • And high cost to get there • Thus “interim” solutions (so-called by engineers) remain important for years • Still not there universally in 2005

18. Conclusions“Enough to be going on with” • IDSN and ADSL - existing copper • Cable modems use “existing” cable • Radio and satellite - remote areas • Digital data broadcasting - good potential, but scalability? • Tariffs and protection of existing services are the main problems (for suppliers) • Long term outlook is bright for purchasers of network services

19. Further study • ADSL Forum - http://www.adsl.com • Information also at http://www.xdsl.com/ • Cable Modems - http://www.catv.org/ • ACTS information site (from InfoWin) http://www.infowin.org • Telecoms Virtual Library - http://www.analysys.com/vlib/

20. Issues • Technology issues • Pedagogic issues • Organisational issues • National issues • International issues - regulatory etc

21. Acknowledgements • EU ACTS - for InfoWin work • EPSRC - support of IGDS course on “Networked Information Engineering”http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cms/nie/ • An earlier version of this presentation was given at the European School Net launch

22. Thank you for listening Paul Bacsich Professor of TelematicsHead of Division of Computing & Networks Head of the Virtual Campus Programme