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diff --git a/doc/rfc/rfc1686.txt b/doc/rfc/rfc1686.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f7c170 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/rfc/rfc1686.txt @@ -0,0 +1,787 @@ + + + + + + +Network Working Group M. Vecchi +Request for Comments: 1686 Time Warner Cable +Category: Informational August 1994 + + + IPng Requirements: A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint + +Status of this Memo + + This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo + does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of + this memo is unlimited. + +Abstract + + This document was submitted to the IETF IPng area in response to RFC + 1550. Publication of this document does not imply acceptance by the + IPng area of any ideas expressed within. The statements in this + paper are intended as input to the technical discussions within IETF, + and do not represent any endorsement or commitment on the part of the + cable television industry or any of its companies. Comments should + be submitted to the big-internet@munnari.oz.au mailing list. + +Table of Contents + + 1. Executive Summary .......................................... 2 + 2. Cable Television Industry Overview ......................... 2 + 3. Engineering Considerations ................................. 5 + 3.1 Scaling .................................................. 5 + 3.2 Timescale ................................................ 5 + 3.3 Transition and deployment ................................ 6 + 3.4 Security ................................................. 7 + 3.5 Configuration, administration and operation .............. 7 + 3.6 Mobile hosts ............................................. 8 + 3.7 Flows and resource reservation ........................... 8 + 3.8 Policy based routing ..................................... 10 + 3.9 Topological flexibility .................................. 10 + 3.10 Applicability ............................................ 10 + 3.11 Datagram service ......................................... 11 + 3.12 Accounting ............................................... 11 + 3.13 Support of communication media ........................... 12 + 3.14 Robustness and fault tolerance ........................... 12 + 3.15 Technology pull .......................................... 12 + 3.16 Action items ............................................. 13 + 4. Security Considerations .................................... 13 + 5. Conclusions ................................................ 13 + 6. Author's Address ........................................... 14 + + + + +Vecchi [Page 1] + +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 + + + +Vecchi [Page 2] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + are expected to grow as the cable industry moves into new interactive + digital services and telecommunications. + + The cable industry's broadband integrated services network + architecture is based on a hierarchical deployment of network + elements interconnected by broadband fiber optics and coaxial cable + links. In a very simplified manner, the following is a view of this + architecture. Starting at the home, a coaxial cable tree-and-branch + plant provides broadband two-way access to the network. The local + access coaxial cable plant is aggregated at a fiber node, which marks + the point in the network where fiber optics becomes the broadband + transmission medium. Current deployment is for approximately 500 + homes passed by the coaxial cable plant for every fiber node, with + variations (from as low as 100 to as many as 3000) that depend on the + density of homes and the degree of penetration of broadband services. + The multiple links from the fiber nodes reach the headend, which is + where existing cable systems have installed equipment for + origination, reception and distribution of television programming. + The headends are in buildings that can accommodate weather protection + and powering facilities, and hence represent the first natural place + into the network where complex switching, routing and processing + equipment can be conveniently located. Traffic from multiple headends + can be routed over fiber optics to regional hub nodes deeper into the + network, where capital-intensive functions can be shared in an + efficient way. + + The cable networks are evolving quite rapidly to become effective + two-way digital broadband networks. Cable networks will continue to + be asymmetric, and they will continue to deliver analog video. But + digital capabilities are being installed very aggressively and a + significant upstream bandwidth is rapidly being activated. The + deployment of optical fiber deeper into the network is making the + shared coaxial plant more effective in carrying broadband traffic in + both directions. For instance, with fiber nodes down to where only + about 100 to 500 homes are passed by the coaxial drops (down from + tens of thousands of homes passed in the past), an upstream bandwidth + of several MHz represents a considerable capacity. The recent + announcement by Continental Cablevision and PSI to provide Internet + access services is but one example of the many uses that these two- + way broadband capabilities can provide. + + The cable networks are also rapidly evolving into regional networks. + The deployment of fiber optic trunking facilities (many based on + SONET) will provide gigabit links that interconnect regional hub + nodes in regional networks spanning multiple cable systems. These + gigabit networks carry digitized video programming, but will also + carry voice (telephone) traffic, and, of course, data traffic. There + are instances in various parts of the country where these regional + + + +Vecchi [Page 3] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + networks have been in successful trials. And given that compressed + digital video is the way to deliver future video programs (including + interactive video, video on demand, and a whole menu of other + applications like computer supported collaborative work, multiparty + remote games, home shopping, customized advertisement, multimedia + information services, etc.), one can be guaranteed that gigabit + regional networks will be put in place at an accelerated pace. + + The cable networks are evolving to provide broadband networking + capabilities in support of a complete suite of communication + services. The Orlando network being built by Time Warner is an + example of a Full Service Network(TM) that provides video, audio and + data services to the homes. For the trial, ATM is brought to the + homes at DS3 rates, and it is expected to go up to OC-3 rates when + switch interfaces will be available. This trial in Orlando represents + a peek into the way of future cable networks. The Full Service + Network uses a "set-top" box in every home to provide the network + interface. This "set-top" box, in addition to some specialized + modules for video processing, is really a powerful computer in + disguise, with a computational power comparable to high-end desktop + workstations. The conventional analog cable video channels will be + available, but a significant part of the network's RF bandwidth will + be devoted to digital services. There are broadband ATM switches in + the network (as well as 5E-type switches for telephony), and video + servers that include all kinds of movies and information services. An + important point to notice is that the architecture of future cable + networks maps directly to the way networked computing has developed. + General purpose hosts (i.e., the set-top boxes) are interconnected + through a broadband network to other hosts and to servers. + + The deployment of the future broadband information superhighway will + require architectures for both the network infrastructure and the + service support environment that truly integrate the numerous + applications that will be offered to the users. Applications will + cover a very wide range of scenarios. Entertainment video delivery + will evolve from the current core services of the cable industry to + enhanced offerings like interactive video, near-video-on-demand and + complete video-on-demand functions. Communication services will + evolve from the current telephony and low-speed data to include + interactive multimedia applications, information access services, + distance learning, remote medical diagnostics and evaluations, + computer supported collaborative work, multiparty remote games, + electronic shopping, etc. In addition to the complexity and diversity + of the applications, the future broadband information infrastructure + will combine a number of different networks that will have to work in + a coherent manner. Not only will the users be connected to different + regional networks, but the sources of information - in the many forms + that they will take - will also belong to different enterprises and + + + +Vecchi [Page 4] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + may be located in remote networks. It is important to realize from + the start that the two most important attributes of the architecture + for the future broadband information superhighway are integration and + interoperability. The Internet community has important expertise and + technology that could contribute to the definition and development of + these future broadband networks. + +3. Engineering Considerations + + The following comments represent expected requirements of future + cable networks, based on the vision of an integrated broadband + network that will support a complete suite of interactive video, + voice and data services. + + 3.1 Scaling + + The current common wisdom is that IPng should be able to deal with + 10 to the 12th nodes. Given that there are of the order of 10 to + the 8th households in the US, we estimate a worldwide number of + households of about 100 times as many, giving a total of about 10 + to the 10th global households. This number represents about 1 + percent of the 10 to the 12th nodes, which indicates that there + should be enough space left for business, educational, research, + government, military and other nodes connected to the future + Internet. + + One should be cautious, however, not to underestimate the + possibility of multiple addresses that will be used at each node + to specify different devices, processes, services, etc. For + instance, it is very likely that more than one address will be + used at each household for different devices such as the + entertainment system (i.e., interactive multimedia "next + generation" television(s)), the data system (i.e., the home + personal computer(s)), and other new terminal devices that will + emerge in the future (such as networked games, PDAs, etc.). + Finally, the administration of the address space is of importance. + If there are large blocks of assigned but unused addresses, the + total number of available addresses will be effectively reduced + from the 10 to the 12th nodes that have been originally + considered. + + 3.2 Timescale + + The cable industry is already making significant investments in + plant upgrades, and the current estimates for the commercial + deployment indicate that by the year 1998 tens of millions of + homes will be served by interactive and integrated cable networks + and services. This implies that during 1994 various trials will be + + + +Vecchi [Page 5] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + conducted and evaluated, and the choices of technologies and + products will be well under way by the year 1995. That is to say, + critical investment and technological decisions by many of the + cable operators, and their partners, will be made over the next 12 + to 24 months. + + These time estimates are tentative, of course, and subject to + variations depending on economic, technical and public policy + factors. Nonetheless, the definition of the IPng capabilities and + the availability of implementations should not be delayed beyond + the next year, in order to meet the period during which many of + the early technological choices for the future deployment of cable + networks and services will be made. The full development and + deployment of IPng will be, of course, a long period that will be + projected beyond the next year. Availability of early + implementations will allow experimentation in trials to validate + IPng choices and to provide early buy-in from the developers of + networking products that will support the planned roll out. + + It is my opinion that the effective support for high quality video + and audio streams is one of the critical capabilities that should + be demonstrated by IPng in order to capture the attention of + network operators and information providers of interactive + broadband services (e.g., cable television industry and partners). + The currently accepted view is that IP is a great networking + environment for the control side of an interactive broadband + system. It is a challenge for IPng to demonstrate that it can be + effective in transporting the broadband video and audio data + streams, in addition to providing the networking support for the + distributed control system. + + 3.3 Transition and deployment + + The transition from the current version to IPng has to consider + two aspects: support for existing applications and availability of + new capabilities. The delivery of digital video and audio programs + requires the capability to do broadcasting and selective + multicasting efficiently. The interactive applications that the + future cable networks will provide will be based on multimedia + information streams that will have real-time constraints. That is + to say, both the end-to-end delays and the jitter associated with + the delivery across the network have to be bound. In addition, the + commercial nature of these large private investments will require + enhanced network capabilities for routing choices, resource + allocation, quality of service controls, security, privacy, etc. + Network management will be an increasingly important issue in the + future. The extent to which the current IP fails to provide the + needed capabilities will provide additional incentive for the + + + +Vecchi [Page 6] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + transition to occur, since there will be no choice but to use IPng + in future applications. + + It is very important, however, to maintain backwards compatibility + with the current IP. There is the obvious argument that the + installed technological base developed around IP cannot be + neglected under any reasonable evolution scenario. But in + addition, one has to keep in mind that a global Internet will be + composed of many interconnected heterogeneous networks, and that + not all subnetworks, or user communities, will provide the full + suite of interactive multimedia services. Interworking between + IPng and IP will have to continue for a very long time in the + future. + + 3.4 Security + + The security needed in future networks falls into two general + categories: protection of the users and protection of the network + resources. The users of the future global Internet will include + many communities that will likely expect a higher level of + security than is currently available. These users include + business, government, research, military, as well as private + subscribers. The protection of the users' privacy is likely to + become a hot issue as new commercial services are rolled out. The + possibility of illicitly monitoring traffic patterns by looking at + the headers in IPng packets, for instance, could be disturbing to + most users that subscribe to new information and entertainment + services. + + The network operators and the information providers will also + expect effective protection of their resources. One would expect + that most of the security will be dealt at higher levels than + IPng, but some issues might have to be considered in defining IPng + as well. One issue relates, again, to the possibility of illicitly + monitoring addresses and traffic patterns by looking at the IPng + packet headers. Another issue of importance will be the capability + of effective network management under the presence of benign or + malicious bugs, especially if both source routing and resource + reservation functionality is made available. + + 3.5 Configuration, administration and operation + + The operations of these future integrated broadband networks will + indeed become more difficult, and not only because the networks + themselves will be larger and more complex, but also because of + the number and diversity of applications running on or through the + networks. It is expected that most of the issues that need to be + addressed for effective operations support systems will belong to + + + +Vecchi [Page 7] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + higher layers than IPng, but some aspects should be considered + when defining IPng. + + The area where IPng would have most impact would be in the + interrelated issues of resource reservation, source routing and + quality of service control. There will be tension to maintain high + quality of service and low network resource usage simultaneously, + especially if the users can specify preferred routes through the + network. Useful capabilities at the IPng level would enable the + network operator, or the user, to effectively monitor and direct + traffic in order to meet quality and cost parameters. Similarly, + it will be important to dynamically reconfigure the connectivity + among end points or the location of specific processes (e.g., to + support mobile computing terminals), and the design of IPng should + either support, or at least not get in the way of, this + capability. Under normal conditions, one would expect that + resources for the new routing will be established before the old + route is released in order to minimize service interruption. In + cases where reconfiguration is in response to abnormal (i.e., + failure) conditions, then one would expect longer interruptions in + the service, or even loss of service. + + The need to support heterogeneous multiple administrative domains + will also have important implications on the available addressing + schemes that IPng should support. It will be both a technical and + a business issue to have effective means to address nodes, + processes and users, as well as choosing schemes based on fair and + open processes for allocation and administration of the address + space. + + 3.6 Mobile hosts + + The proliferation of personal and mobile communication services is + a well established trend by now. Similarly, mobile computing + devices are being introduced to the market at an accelerated pace. + It would not be wise to disregard the issue of host mobility when + evaluating proposals for IPng. Mobility will have impact on + network addressing and routing, adaptive resource reservation, + security and privacy, among other issues. + + 3.7 Flows and resource reservation + + The largest fraction of the future broadband traffic will be due + to real-time voice and video streams. It will be necessary to + provide performance bounds for bandwidth, jitter, latency and loss + parameters, as well as synchronization between media streams + related by an application in a given session. In addition, there + will be alternative network providers that will compete for the + + + +Vecchi [Page 8] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + users and that will provide connectivity to a given choice of many + available service providers. There is no question that IPng, if it + aims to be a general protocol useful for interactive multimedia + applications, will need to support some form of resource + reservation or flows. + + Two aspects are worth mentioning. First, the quality of service + parameters are not known ahead of time, and hence the network will + have to include flexible capabilities for defining these + parameters. For instance, MPEG-II packetized video might have to + be described differently than G.721 PCM packetized voice, although + both data streams represent real-time traffic channels. In some + cases, it might be appropriate to provide soft guarantees in the + quality parameters, whereas in other cases hard guarantees might + be required. The tradeoff between cost and quality could be an + important capability of future IPng-based networks, but much work + needs to be advanced on this. + + A second important issue related to resource reservations is the + need to deal with broken or lost end-to-end state information. In + traditional circuit-switched networks, a considerable effort is + expended by the intelligence of the switching system to detect and + recover resources that have been lost due to misallocation. Future + IPng networks will provide resource reservation capabilities by + distributing the state information of a given session in several + nodes of the network. A significant effort will be needed to find + effective methods to maintain consistency and recover from errors + in such a distributed environment. For example, keep-alive + messages to each node where a queuing policy change has been made + to establish the flow could be a strategy to make sure that + network resources do not remain stuck in some corrupted session + state. One should be careful, however, to assume that complex + distributed algorithms can be made robust by using time-outs. This + is a problem that might require innovation beyond the reuse of + existing solutions. + + It should be noted that some aspects of the requirements for + recoverability are less stringent in this networking environment + than in traditional distributed data processing systems. In most + cases it is not needed (or even desirable) to recover the exact + session state after failures, but only to guarantee that the + system returns to some safe state. The goal would be to guarantee + that no network resource is reserved that has not been correctly + assigned to a valid session. The more stringent requirement of + returning to old session state is not meaningful since the value + of a session disappears, in most cases, as time progresses. One + should keep in mind, however, that administrative and management + state, such as usage measurement, is subject to the same + + + +Vecchi [Page 9] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + conventional requirements of recoverability that database systems + currently offer. + + 3.8 Policy based routing + + In future broadband networks, there will be multiple network + operators and information providers competing for customers and + network traffic. An important capability of IPng will be to + specify, at the source, the specific network for the traffic to + follow. The users will be able to select specific networks that + provide performance, feature or cost advantages. From the user's + perspective, source routing is a feature that would enable a wider + selection of network access options, enhancing their ability to + obtain features, performance or cost advantages. From the network + operator and service provider perspective, source routing would + enable the offering of targeted bundled services that will cater + to specific users and achieve some degree of customer lock-in. The + information providers will be able to optimize the placement and + distribution of their servers, based on either point-to-point + streams or on multicasting to selected subgroups. The ability of + IPng to dynamically specify the network routing would be an + attractive feature that will facilitate the flexible offering of + network services. + + 3.9 Topological flexibility + + It is hard to predict what the topology of the future Internet + will be. The current model developed in response to a specific set + of technological drivers, as well as an open administrative + process reflecting the non-commercial nature of the sector. The + future Internet will continue to integrate multiple administrative + domains that will be deployed by a variety of network operators. + It is likely that there will be more "gateway" nodes (at the + headends or even at the fiber nodes, for instance) as local and + regional broadband networks will provide connectivity for their + users to the global Internet. + + 3.10 Applicability + + The future broadband networks that will be deployed, by both the + cable industry and other companies, will integrate a diversity of + applications. The strategies of the cable industry are to reach + the homes, as well as schools, business, government and other + campuses. The applications will focus on entertainment, remote + education, telecommuting, medical, community services, news + delivery and the whole spectrum of future information networking + services. The traffic carried by the broadband networks will be + dominated by real-time video and audio streams, even though there + + + +Vecchi [Page 10] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + will also be an important component of traffic associated with + non-time-critical services such messaging, file transfers, remote + computing, etc. The value of IPng will be measured as a general + internetworking technology for all these classes of applications. + The future market for IPng could be much wider and larger than the + current market for IP, provided that the capabilities to support + these diverse interactive multimedia applications are available. + + It is difficult to predict how pervasive the use of IPng and its + related technologies might be in future broadband networks. There + will be extensive deployment of distributed computing + capabilities, both for the user applications and for the network + management and operation support systems that will be required. + This is the area where IPng could find a firm stronghold, + especially as it can leverage on the extensive IP technology + available. The extension of IPng to support video and audio real- + time applications, with the required performance, quality and cost + to be competitive, remains a question to be answered. + + 3.11 Datagram service + + The "best-effort", hop-by-hop paradigm of the existing IP service + will have to be reexamined if IPng is to provide capabilities for + resource reservation or flows. The datagram paradigm could still + be the basic service provided by IPng for many applications, but + careful thought should be given to the need to support real-time + traffic with (soft and/or hard) quality of service requirements. + + 3.12 Accounting + + The ability to do accounting should be an important consideration + in the selection of IPng. The future broadband networks will be + commercially motivated, and measurement of resource usage by the + various users will be required. The actual billing may or may not + be based on session-by-session usage, and accounting will have + many other useful purposes besides billing. The efficient + operation of networks depends on maintaining availability and + performance goals, including both on-line actions and long term + planning and design. Accounting information will be important on + both scores. On the other hand, the choice of providing accounting + capabilities at the IPng level should be examined with a general + criterion to introduce as little overhead as possible. Since + fields for "to", "from" and time stamp will be available for any + IPng choice, careful examination of what other parameters in IPng + could be useful to both accounting and other network functions so + as to keep IPng as lean as possible. + + + + + +Vecchi [Page 11] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + 3.13 Support of communication media + + The generality of IP should be carried over to IPng. It would not + be an advantage to design a general internetworking technology + that cannot be supported over as wide a class of communications + media as possible. It is reasonable to expect that IPng will start + with support over a few select transport technologies, and rely on + the backwards compatibility with IP to work through a transition + period. Ultimately, however, one would expect IPng to be carried + over any available communications medium. + + 3.14 Robustness and fault tolerance + + Service availability, end-to-end and at expected performance + levels, is the true measure of robustness and fault-tolerance. In + this sense, IPng is but one piece of a complex puzzle. There are, + however, some vulnerability aspects of IPng that could decrease + robustness. One general class of bugs will be associated with the + change itself, regardless of any possible enhancement in + capabilities. The design, implementation and testing process will + have to be managed very carefully. Networks and distributed + systems are tricky. There are plenty of horror stories from the + Internet community itself to make us cautious, not to mention the + brief but dramatic outages over the last couple of years + associated with relatively small software bugs in the control + networks (i.e., CCS/SS7 signaling) of the telephone industry, both + local and long distance. + + A second general class of bugs will be associated with the + implementation of new capabilities. IPng will likely support a + whole set of new functions, such as larger (multiple?) address + space(s), source routing and flows, just to mention a few. + Providing these new capabilities will require in most cases + designing new distributed algorithms and testing implementation + parameters very carefully. In addition, the future Internet will + be even larger, have more diverse applications and have higher + bandwidth. These are all factors that could have a multiplying + effect on bugs that in the current network might be easily + contained. The designers and implementers of IPng should be + careful. It will be very important to provide the best possible + transition process from IP to IPng. The need to maintain + robustness and fault-tolerance is paramount. + + 3.15 Technology pull + + The strongest "technology pull" factors that will influence the + Internet are the same that are dictating the accelerated pace of + the cable, telephone and computer networking world. The following + + + +Vecchi [Page 12] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + is a partial list: higher network bandwidth, more powerful CPUs, + larger and faster (static and dynamic) memory, improved signal + processing and compression methods, advanced distributed computing + technologies, open and extensible network operating systems, large + distributed database management and directory systems, high + performance and high capacity real-time servers, friendly + graphical user interfaces, efficient application development + environments. These technology developments, coupled with the + current aggressive business strategies in our industry and + favorable public policies, are powerful forces that will clearly + have an impact on the evolution and acceptance of IPng. The + current deployment strategies of the cable industry and their + partners do not rely on the existence of commercial IPng + capabilities, but the availability of new effective networking + technology could become a unifying force to facilitate the + interworking of networks and services. + + 3.16 Action items + + We have no suggestions at this time for changes to the + directorate, working groups or others to support the concerns or + gather more information needed for a decision. We remain available + to provide input to the IPng process. + +4. Security Considerations + + No comments on general security issues are provided, beyond the + considerations presented in the previous subsection 3.4 on network + security. + +5. Conclusions + + The potential for IPng to provide a universal internetworking + solution is a very attractive possibility, but there are many hurdles + to be overcome. The general acceptance of IPng to support future + broadband services will depend on more than the IPng itself. There is + need for IPng to be backed by the whole suite of Internet technology + that will support the future networks and applications. These + technologies must include the adequate support for commercial + operation of a global Internet that will be built, financed and + administered by many different private and public organizations. + + The Internet community has taken pride in following a nimble and + efficient path in the development and deployment of network + technology. And the Internet has been very successful up to now. The + challenge is to show that the Internet model can be a preferred + technical solution for the future. Broadband networks and services + will become widely available in a relatively short future, and this + + + +Vecchi [Page 13] + +RFC 1686 A Cable Television Industry Viewpoint on IPng August 1994 + + + puts the Internet community in a fast track race. The current process + to define IPng can be seen as a test of the ability of the Internet + to evolve from its initial development - very successful but also + protected and limited in scope - to a general technology for the + support of a commercially viable broadband marketplace. If the + Internet model is to become the preferred general solution for + broadband networking, the current IPng process seems to be a + critical starting point. + +6. Author's Address + + Mario P. Vecchi + Time Warner Cable, + 160 Inverness Drive West + Englewood, CO 80112 + + Phone: (303) 799-5540 + Fax: (303) 799-5651 + EMail: mpvecchi@twcable.com + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Vecchi [Page 14] + |