2006_0515_Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Institutional Network Long before MediaQne conceived of "broadband," the ability of coaxial cable to transmit a wide variety of communicationtypes was well known to local franchising authorities. As early as the franchises ofthe 1970's, cable companieswere offeringthe construction of two-way cable networks, separate from the subscriber network, to serve the public institutions in their communities. These Institutional Networks, or I- Nets, were key components ofthe package of community benefits that cable companies offered to cities in return for using their public rights-of-wayto sell cable television. Among the services touted by cable companies eager to be the winning bidder for the franchise was security services, meter reading, and data communications. The original cable company's proposal forthe 10 cities ofthe North Suburban Communications Commission (NSCC) devotes nine pages to a description of what couldlwould be done over the Institutional Network. Until the mid-'[ 99Q's, however, most I-Nets were used primarilyto facilitatethe cable- casting of live programming, such as parades, concerts in the park, and high school sports, from a remote site. There were two reasons for this underuse of a very valuable resource. The first was the slow development of the necessary electronic equipment for data transmission. Although the coaxial cable was ideally suited for transmitting all kinds of signals, there were few options for modems, translators and routers because there was very little demand for them. And, �fhere was very little demand because cable companies. t�y and large, saw their business as cable television and entertainment, not communications. So, while I-Nets were one of the hooks used to get a cable franchise, the �ompar�ies had little interest in developingtheir �ommunications capabilities beyond video, especially �h�n the service was being provided for free. Developing the connection That began to change as the larger cable �ompanies realized that they would have to sell more Ihan television in order to compete in the lelecommun€catiorts marketplace. In addition, more instutions, especially schools, finally had enough :omputers deployedthroughoutthe organizationthat networking those computers became important. That was why in 1994 stafffrom the RosevilleArea Schools �pproached the North Suburban Communications Be�ins to Fulfill Promise Commission about using the I-Net as the backbone of a wide area network (WAN) connecting all of their facilities. NSCC is a consortium of 10 cities in northern Ramsey County establishedthrough a joint powers agreement. The I-Net connects every city building, fire station, library, and school (both public and private, primary, secondary and post-secondary) in the ten cities, for a total of almost 10� drops. The 400 Megahertz (MHz) system has 38 channels down-stream and 16 channels upstream. The original network was primarily coaxial cable with some fiber optics; the current network is primarily fiber, with some coaxial connections. To establish the data connections, the Roseville Schools and NSCC (with its non-profitcommunity programming affiliate, CN15} installed 4 Megabits per second (Mbps) Zenith cable modems and Cisco routers at each of their locations. The school district also purchased a translatorthat is located in the cable company's head end. The modems take the data off the network, while the router sends it to each institution's internal network. The translator routes the incoming and outgoing signals to the appropriate frequencies on the I- Net. In addition,the CableCompanyinstalledfilters throughoutthe network to keep signals from the various frequencies from interferingwith one another. The Roseville school district uses the WAN to transmit data and internal e-mail between its facilities. The district distributesthe Internetto its facilities over the I-Net, as well. Testing the technology The first year was a tough one. Data is less forgiving of infrastructureperformance deficienciesthan video signals are, and the initial year with most of the Roseville public schools connected was the winter of 1995196, when temperatures dropped 40 degrees below zero on several occasions. The extreme cold resulted in "suck outs," where the coaxial cable shrinks and literally pulls out of its fittings. By the second year of the project, the company's enhanced maintenance of the I-Net began to pay offwith significantlyimproved performance, and there were no significant outages during winter of 1996197. With the technology now proven and interest in Internet access heating up among the NSCC member cities, in 1997 the commission staff established a second pair of 6 MHz frequenciesto distribute the Internet to the