……

"This set of equipment with many functions is also worth the price, such as switching back and forth between programs and advertisements in the future, and even the process of broadcasting programs 24 hours a day, which can be many times more intelligent, and the power of digitalization is really extraordinary."

Watching the various functions demonstrated by the DVO-1 system, Ted Turner exclaimed: "You are forcing the entire broadcast industry to engage in an arms race, and my side needs to be armed quickly, after all, the opening of the first Friendship Games is only a few months away." ”

Tang Huan smiled on the ground, "Then you have to quickly arrange for people to be trained, no matter how advanced my tools are, I also need your operator quality to be tough enough." ”

Ted Turner bowed slightly, and said sharply: "You can't always look at the results of your high-tech continuous entry into the traditional radio and television field, you promised me that it is time for the technology of cable TV networks and high-tech marriage to be unveiled." ”

"I knew you were in a hurry." Tang Huan laughed, and then made a gesture, motioning for the other party to go to the office on the upper floor with him.

What Ted Turner refers to as "the technology of the marriage of cable television networks and high-tech" is naturally the technology that uses cable TV bidirectional coaxial cable to provide Internet-related application services, that is, the well-known CableModem in time and space.

The basic principle is to set aside an uplink frequency for the Internet to upload data, and the Internet to download data consumes one or more TV channel bandwidths.

The practice of using cable television networks to provide computer network functions emerged in the late 1970s, when government agencies such as the Linton Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington deployed test networks at speeds of up to 307.2 kbps.

Compared with the general speed of 300bps in the dial-up Internet mode of the traditional public telephone network at that time, this indicator can only be looked up, even if Pacific Telecom, which is now in the forefront of the Internet field, can provide network access speed of only 1200bps, 2400bps, 4800bps several grades, and the gap between the two is hundreds of times.

However, there is still a long way to go before the experimental network can truly enter the commercial application field, and the influence of this practical result is far less than that of ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet.

BY 1985, LAST YEAR, THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS' IEEE802 COMMITTEE DEFINED A STANDARD - 10BROAD36 TO REGULATE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 10M ETHERNET OVER COAXIAL CABLE ON A CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK.

Tang Huan naturally has his own rhythm of technological advancement, and there is no need to follow these institutions to explore by feeling the stones across the river.

The reason why the current Internet has no way to speed up is that the underlying architecture is many times more complex than a LAN like Ethernet; However, the traditional public telephone network and cable television network use their own network resources to provide Internet services, which further increases the complexity.

Fundamentally speaking, the microscopic view to the extreme, the physical line and the signal stream transmitted on it, they are carrying out various encoding and decoding conversions all the time, which is also the ultimate meaning of IT technology. Whether it's mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, or optoelectronic and quantum computers that are still in the science fiction stage, the tools are different, and they have evolved only to provide faster efficiency and convert such mathematical encoding and decoding.

These encodings and decoding are software achievements that can be deduced as long as the intellectual resources are sufficient; However, the conversion of these encoding and decoding computing devices is subject to the objective level of hardware development.

Similar to Tang Huan's research center, flash memory has been launched, but at this stage, it can only be used for simple storage of solidified programs such as boards, and it is also difficult to pile up a solid-state drive at any cost, because it is impossible to get a main controller with sufficient computing power.

The same is true of the Internet now, where the encoding and decoding of various schemes and the computing power of signal processors are mutually restricted, and researchers cannot find an optimal solution.

Tang Huan is different, he was born with a global view, and he knows how to find a solution now from the successful Data-Over-CableServiceInterfaceSpecifications - the wired cable data service interface specification that is DOCSIS after decades of success.

In the era of DOCSIS, cable television networks have basically developed to the Hybrid fiber-coaxial - hybrid fiber coaxial cable network, or HFC stage.

It is composed of three parts: optical fiber trunk line, coaxial cable branch line and user wiring network: the program signal from the cable TV station is first turned into an optical signal and transmitted on the trunk line; After reaching the user area, the optical signal is converted into an electrical signal, which is distributed by the distributor and sent to the user through a coaxial cable.

Now, although the application of optical fiber technology has begun to receive great attention, the cable television network is still in the stage of CableTelevision-CATV, that is, the trunk line is also served by coaxial cables.

Under such layers of decomposition, and then discarding QualityofService - Quality of Service (QoS), VoiceoverIP - Internet protocol call technology (VoIP), data encryption and decryption, network security and other characteristics that cannot be used for the time being or can be considered later, Tang Huan finally got a set of his own CableModem Internet service technology solutions that meet the current objective conditions.

The reason why Tang Huan is willing to spend more than a billion dollars to help Ted Turner buy Metropolitan Media's cable TV network is that in addition to wanting his own power to enter the media field, Hollywood's entertainment industry and the media industry marriage, it is also because the cable TV network has the ability to provide Internet access.

You know, in the original time and space, in another decade or so, CableModem forced telecom companies to vigorously promote ADSL technology to compete, and become a major Internet access service. This shows how much potential it has.

Ted Turner, who had visited the Cupertino R&D center in Silicon Valley, was so frenzied by Tang Huan's speculation about such prospects that the expansion of Turner's cable network was so frenzied.

"What is the speed at which your CableModem can provide network access right now?" Ted Turner may not know much about high technology, but he still knows some important indicators.

"Under the current version 1.0 technical standard specification, CableModem can theoretically provide a network access speed of 320kbps." Seeing that Ted Turner's eyes seemed to glow green as soon as he heard this answer, Tang Huan hurriedly emphasized further: "Attention, this is just a theory. ”

"The actual situation has shrunk from the hundreds to the tens of digits, right? Today, the public telephone networks controlled by telecommunications companies can reach single-digit speeds. Ted Turner, who was excited, reasoned as a matter of course.

"You're really right, my plan is that in the first phase, the network access speed for individual users will be 14.4kbps, and commercial users will be higher." Tang Huan nodded, "The excessive speed has strict performance requirements for various hardware, including the core component signal processor; In addition, compared to the current network service content, too fast speed is also a waste. Bringing CableModem's network access speed to the double-digit mark is enough to shock the market. Providing users with terminal equipment at an acceptable price is the first factor that needs to be prioritized. ”

While listening to Tang Huan's introduction, Ted Turner personally operated, and on the fourth-generation Fangyuan personal computer connected to the American online server in the form of CableModem, he quickly received an illustrated email, and even a music greeting card in it, so happy that he couldn't help but scratch his cheeks.

"You went to Germany to participate in the Hannover Messe in person this time, and you probably plan to sell these products to European countries, right?" Ted Turner, who was happily enjoying the "high-speed Internet", asked casually.

"Of course." Tang Huan nodded unabashedly, "It's just that, compared to the simplicity of DVO-1's practical application, CableModem is a bit complicated, after all, the European TV system is different from that of North America, and they have their own definition of the use of electronic signal frequencies, and they are also used to being different from the United States." ”

Ted Turner put down the mouse and glanced at Tang Huan with a smile, "I believe that with your shrewdness, you have already woven a tight network of intellectual property rights, and even if Europe wants to leave you alone, it will have to come up with corresponding benefits in exchange." ”

"To do business at the national level, you must know how to measure proportions, know how to advance and retreat, and you can't force too hard." Tang Huan snorted a haha.

"Since you have provided a high-speed Internet connection technology solution for cable networks, CableModem, is there a new similar "high-speed" R&D that operates on the telecommunications network, in addition to the original dial-up Internet? Ted Turner asked tentatively.

"In fact, the quality of the public telephone network built by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in the United States before it was dismantled is definitely the best in the world, and Europe and Japan cannot be compared at all. Therefore, it is very possible that the speed of dial-up Internet access will reach CableModem's current 14.4kbps in the near future, or even double to 28.8kbps, or even higher 56kbps. Of course, this requires a more complex upgrade of the communication protocol. ”

Tang Huan's addition made Ted Turner gasp, and he couldn't help but worry about the growth of CableModem, but fortunately, the other party's next turn made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"However, 56kbps has reached the technical limit of dial-up Internet access, and I did look for a new solution called DigitalSubscriberLine, or DSL, to continue the existing huge public telephone network in the Internet age."

"There is just one point, the encoding and decoding operations involved require more complex calculations than CableModem, which is only suitable for demonstration in the laboratory for the time being, and key components such as signal processors can further improve the data throughput capacity before entering the market."

"So, CableModem doesn't need to worry, it has to face strong competitors as soon as it is born, and there is actually plenty of room for growth."

Ted Turner still asked, "Are you going to Hannover Messe to show this technology this time?" ”

"You don't want me to trigger DSL for the time being, do you? I'm afraid it won't work. Tang Huan shook his head apologetically, "First of all, we are not the only institutions that carry out research in this field, and the old technology cradles like Bell Labs will definitely not be idle." Once we have made decisive research results in key technologies of great significance, we must not only quickly protect patents, but also speak out in a timely manner to let the public know that they belong to them. ”

"Secondly, there is also a technical battle between the present and the future."

"As you may have heard, there are plans to implement a new telephone network, the Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN, in Europe."

"Different from the 'analog line' of the traditional public telephone network, ISDN completely adopts digital circuits, with only two states of 0 and 1, so it is not as sensitive to interference as analog lines, can provide stable data services and connection speeds, and is relatively easy to carry out more digital information services that analog lines cannot or are difficult to ensure quality, such as video, images, faxes, video conferences, distance teaching, personal computer communication and data services outside the basic functions of making calls."

"In this regard, Germany is the most active and the quickest."

"As a result, the traditional telephone network is perceived as running out by uninformed investors, and even Pacific Telecom is suffering from this downturn."

"I went to Germany this time, just to use DSL to knock on Europe, your technical direction may not be the best."

"You're obviously going to other people's turf to smash the field." Ted Turner muttered to himself with a look in his eyes. (To be continued.) )