RFC 1686 (rfc1686) - Page 2 of 14

IPng Requirements: A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint

RFC 1686     A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng   August 1994


1.  Executive Summary

   This paper provides comments on topics related to the IPng
   requirements and selection criteria from a cable television industry
   viewpoint. The perspective taken is to position IPng as a potential
   internetworking technology to support the global requirements of the
   future integrated broadband networks that the cable industry is
   designing and deploying. The paper includes a section describing the
   cable television industry and outlining the network architectures to
   support  the delivery of entertainment programming and interactive
   multimedia digital services, as well as telecommunication and data
   communication services.

   Cable networks touch on residences, in addition to campuses and
   business parks.  Broadband  applications will reach the average,
   computer-shy person. The applications will involve a heavy use of
   video and audio to provide communication, entertainment and
   information-access services. The deployment of these capabilities to
   the homes will represent  tens of millions of users.  Impact on the
   network and the IPng requirements that are discussed include issues
   of scalability, reliability and availability, support for real-time
   traffic,  security and privacy, and operations and network
   management, among others.

2. Cable Television Industry Overview

   Cable television networks and the Internet are discovering each
   other. It looks like a great match for a number of reasons, the
   available bandwidth being the primary driver. Nonetheless, it seems
   that the impact of the cable television industry in the deployment of
   broadband networks and services is still not fully appreciated. This
   section will provide a quick (and simplified) overview of cable
   television networks, and explain the trends that are driving future
   network architectures and services.

   Cable television networks  in the U.S. pass by approximately 90
   million homes, and have about 56 million subscribers, of a total of
   about 94 million homes (U.S. TV CENSUS figures, 9/30/93). There are
   more than 11,000 headends, and the cable TV industry has installed
   more than 1,000,000 network-miles. Installation of optical fiber
   proceeds at a brisk pace, the fiber plant in the U.S. going from
   13,000 miles in 1991 to 23,000 miles in 1992. Construction spending
   by the cable industry in 1992 was estimated to be about $2.4 billion,
   of which $1.4 billion was for rebuilds and upgrades. Cable industry
   revenue from subscriber services in 1992 was estimated to be more
   than $21 billion, corresponding to an average subscriber rate of
   about $30 per month (source:  Paul Kagan Associates, Inc.). These
   figures are based on "conventional" cable television services, and



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