Design Article
The advantages of DS2 technology for Networked Entertainment
Lance Watson, Design of Systems on Silicon, S.A. (DS2
3/21/2007 3:00 PM EDT
Options for Home Networking
Communications Media
The choice for Home Networking is limited by the communications mediums available. One simple option is Ethernet cabling, where so-called CAT-5 cables are run around the home, but drilling holes in the walls and finding spaces for these cables is not an easy task in existing homes, and can be an expensive option for new homes. The alternates to CAT5 can be broadly separated into: wireless communications technologies which use the 2.4GHz and 5.4GHz radio frequency bands, coaxial home cabling which is used for distributing analogue TV signals around the home, telephone cabling which provides multiple phone sockets around the home and use of the existing electrical cables to carry the data signals. The options available for communications media for home networking are summarised in the table below, along with the 3 key selection criteria: the market phase for each of the solutions, the availability of outlets to provide whole home coverage and the potential causes for interference.
Technologies for Home Networking
Performance and availability vary greatly among the technologies available for the different media. The table below compares the relative merits of each of these technologies in terms of the available data rate, coverage and quality of service capabilities.
Data rate is the most obvious limiting factor for many types of service; for example if a technology cannot support a 20Mbps data stream, it will not be able to support streaming of High Definition TV. Beyond raw data rate, another key factor is coverage: all technologies are limited in some way by range. For example some wireless technologies have limits on distance and the obstacles that they can pass for a particular data rate, limiting them to a single room for media transmission. DS2 200Mbps technology on the other hand is capable of providing high speed streaming capabilities throughout the whole home.
Qualities of Service (QoS)
Qualities of service (QoS) capabilities also have an important impact on the types of applications and services that can be provided. Deterministic QoS to ensure that data bandwidth can be guaranteed for any particular application is a great advantage, especially when there is heavy channel loading. Lack of deterministic QoS means that high priority services such as audio and video streaming can have their service level affected by lower priority traffic such as internet browsing. The QoS standards support is also critical. as it indicates the ease with which the technology can be integrated with existing applications.
*See later in this document for DS2 class of service extensions to
Next: Data Rate Performance
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anne-francoise.pele
8/7/2012 4:03 PM EDT
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