ELSA Cable manual

48Technical basics

computer. On the other side is the operator of the broadband cable network who would like to provide more than just radio and TV.

A headend can accommodate up to 2000 individual users with cable modems like the ELSA MicroLink Cable. The headend functions as a multiport, however, giving every user access to the cable network at any time. Unlike access through analog or ISDN modems, there are no connection attempts that could fail because all of the provider's ports are already in use. No further hardware is needed for the connection between the Internet user and the network operator as long as both the cable modem and the headend use the bidirectional MCNS standard.

On the other side, the network operator has to establish a connection to the Internet. He can either act as an Internet service provider (ISP) himself and directly establish access to the Internet, or he can outsource this task on to another ISP or an online service.

Internet

Backbone

Computer workstation in

LAN

MCNS

Server with Headend		ELSA MicroLink	Hub
DHCP		Cable
Network of the cable network	Cable TV net-	Network of the user
operator	work

This connection to the backbone is of little relevance to the user. However, the greater the performance of the network operator's backbone line, the quicker the users receive information from the Internet.

Registration in the cable network

In comparison to other data transfer media, the cable TV network has a very high bandwidth at its disposal—thus the term broadband cable network. The full bandwidth is divided up into a variety of channels that are reserved for the transmission of different kinds of information. You know this from television, where you also find different

ELSA MicroLink Cable