And Others Signal Transmission and Delivery Between Head-End and Office of Telecommunications
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 084 875 EM 011 699 AUTHOR Chadwick, Russell B.; And Others TITLE Signal Transmission and Delivery Between Head-End and Subscriber TerminalS. A Survey of Technical Requirements for Broadband Cable Teleservices. Volume Three. INSTITUTION Office of Telecommunications (DOC), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Jul 73 NOTE 226p.; See Also EM 011 495 through EM 011 500 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$9.87 DESCRIPTORS *Cable Television; Communications; *Media Technology; *Technical Reports; Technological Advancement; *Technology; *Telecommunication IDENTIFIERS *Broadband Cable Teleservices; CATV; FCC; Federal Communications Commission; Head End; National Cable Television Association; NCTA; Subscriber Terminals ABSTRACT Technical factors involved in the delivery of broadband information between a cable television (CATV) system head-end and subscriber terminals are discussed. Recommendations pertaining to the need for research in specified areas are given and a review of the system's hardware is provided, including details about device noise and distortion characteristics. A treatment of various types of trucking systems, including two-way configurations, is presented and attention is devoted to the applications of advanced communications techniques, encompassing digital transrissiop, multiple-access systems, and signal transmission via optical waveguides. The report concludes with a review and listing of standards and tests for the delivery system, including those set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Cable Television Association.(NCTA).(Author) A SURVEY OF TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BROADBAND CABLE TELESERVICES VOLUME 3 VOLUME 3 SIGNAL TRANSMISSION AND DELIVERY BETWEEN HEAD-END AND SUBSCRIBER TERMINALS RUSSELL B. CHADWICK RICHARD A. CHANDLER ROBERT L. GALLAWA LOCKETT E. WOOD 4S-St OF CO4, U.S. DEPARTMEK T OF HEALTH, EDUCATION 8 WELFARE NATIONAL INS IITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORC.ANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTEOF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Frederick B. Dent, Secretary OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS John M. Richardson. Acting Director July 1973 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS STATEMENT OF MISSION The mission of the Office of Telecommunications in the Department of Commerce is to assist the Department in fostering,serving, and promoting the Nation's economic development and technological advancement by improving man's comprehension of telecommunica- tion science and by assuring effective use and growth of the Nation's telecommunications resources.In carrying out thismission,the Office: Performs analysis, engineering, and related administrative functions responsive to the needs of the Director of the Office of Telecom- munications Policy in the performance of his responsibilities for the management of the radio spectrum; Conducts research needed in the evaluation and development of telecommunications policy as required by the Office of Telecom- munications Policy, Executive Office of the President, pursuant to Executive Order 11556; Conducts resear _ needed in the evaluation and development of other policy as required by the Department of Commerce; Assists other government agencies in the use of telecommunica- tions; Conducts research, engineering, and analysis in the general field of telecommunication sciences to meet government concerns; Acquires, analyzes, synthesizes, and disseminates information for the efficient use of telecommunications resources. FOREWORD - As information transfer becomes more important to all levels of society, a number of new telecommunication services to homes and between institutions will be required. Many of these services may require broad- band transmission. The new services may, in part, evolve fran those provided by cable television. This is one of a series of reports resulting fran a survey of the CATV industry and related technological industries. The. survey identi- fies sane of the important technical factors which need to be considered in order to successfully bring about the transitz'on from the technical state of today's cable television and services to those new teloservices which seam to be possible in the future. The current and future broadband capabilities of telephone networks are not discussed since they are described in many Bell Telephone Labora- tory and other telephone company publications.Also, the tremendous load projected for common carrier telephone and data systems in voice and data communication suggest that two-way, interactive, broadband networks, not now in existence, may be required in addition to an expanded telephone network. The many aspects of economic viability, regulation, social demand, and other factors that must be considered before the expectation of the teleservices can be fulfilled are not within tin scope of these reports. These reports concentrate on technical factors, not because they are most important, but because they have been less oondidered. A report about the state-of-the-art and projections of futUre require- ments in a complete technology draws material from a vast number of sources. While many of these are referenced in the text, much information has been obtained in discussions with operators, manufacture:s, and consulting engineers in the CATV industry.Members of the National Cable Television Association, particularly, have been most 'nelpfdl in providing information, discussing various technical problems, and in reviewing these reports. Because of the substantial amount of material to be discussed, it was believed most desirable to present a series of reports. Each individual report pertains to a sub - element of the total system.However, since some technical factors are common to more than one sub- component of the system, a reader of all the reports will recognize a degree of redundance in the material presented. This is necessary to make each report complete for its own purpose. The title of the report series is: A Survey of Technical Requirements for Broadband Cable Teleservices. The seven volumes in the series will carry a common report number: OTR 73-13. The individual reports in the series are sub-titled as: A Summary of Technical Problems Associated with Broadband Cable Teleservices Development, OT. Report No. 73-13, Volume 1. Subscriber Terminals and Network Interface, OT Report No. 73-13, Volume 2. Signal Transmission and Delivery Between Head-End and Subscriber Terminals, OT Report NO. 73-13, Volume 3. System Control Facilities and Central Processors, OT Report No. 73-13, Volume 4. System Interconnections, OT Report No. 73-13, Volume 5. The Use of Computers in CATV Two -Way Communication Systems, OT Report No. 73-13, Volume 6. A Selected Bibliography, OT Report No. 73-13, Volume 7. W. F. Utlaut Project Coordinator and Deputy Director Institute for Telecomumnication Sciences TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EOREWDRD iii LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF TABLES xii ABSTRACT 1 1. INTR3DUCrION 2 2. SUMMARYANDREODMMBNIATIONS 2 2.1 Corm onality of Terms and Definitions 3 2.2 System Tests 4 2.3 Application of Advanced Techniques 6 3. COMPONENTS ON THE DELIVERY SYSTEM 8 3.1 Amplifiers 8 3.1.1 Automatic Gain and Slope Control 10 3.1.2 Noise and Distortion Products 13 3.1.3 Operating Level Determination 22 3.1.4 Powering 3.1.5 Trap Way Systems 29 3.1.6 Device Specifications 31 3.2 Cables 3.2.1 Cable Construction 37 3.2.2 Radiated Interference to System. 38 3.3 Taps, Splitters, and Matching Transformers 39 Page 4. TRANSPORTATION TRUNKS 45 4.1 Broadband Trunks 46 4.2 Sub-Band Trunks 55 4.3 Microwave Links 60 5. DELIVERYOF SIGNALS PO SUBSCRIBER 73 5.1 One-Way Systems 73 5.2 Two-Way Systems 78 5.3 Broadband Communications in Rural Areas 83 6. APPLICATIONOF ADVANCED TECHNIQUES 87 6.1 Digital Transmission for CATV Signals 87 6.1.1 Pulse Code Mbdulation 91 6.1.2 Delta Modulation 96 6.1.3 Canparison of Systems 99 6.1.4 Source Encoding 105 6.1.5 Cascadability of Transmission Sysbams 108 6.1.6 Economic Advantages of Digital Transmission 112 6.2 Mialtiple-Access fax: TWo-Way Systems 115 6.3 Optical Waveguides 123 6.3.1 Introduction 123 6.3.2 Fiber Development 126 6.3.3 Eoonomic Conoiderations 138 6.3.4 Summary of Optical Waveguides 141 viii Page 7. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND TESTS FOR THE DELIVERY SYSTEM 147 7.1. The FCC Report and Order 147 7.2 The TASO Study 153 7.3 NCTA Standands 157 7.4 FCC Requirements and Other Recommendations 159 8. REFERENCES 167 APPENDICES I. DEFINITION OF TERMS 177 II. SUBPART K OF THE FCC REPORT AND ORDER .2 1 1 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure No. Page 1 Basic CATV system diagram for noise calculation. 15 2 Limits on system level imposed by cross adulation and thermal noise. 23 3 Attenuation of coaxial cables as a function of frequency. 34 4 Effects of temperature on cable losses. 35 5 ?4iltipath perceptibility. 42 6 Application of transportation iLzunk between outlying antenna site and lead-end. 47 7 The hub system layol 48 8 System level versus system length. Expanded version of Figure 2 illustrating level variation. 54 9 Transportation system spectrum utilization. 56 10 Overall system concept. 58 11 Frequency translation, Univertor, Model III. 59 12 Frequency locations of TV channels. 63 13 Crossmodulation versus system length for cable and microwave systems. 65 14. Outage versus fade margin for 10-mile paths in several U.S. cities. 69 15 outage versus fade margin for various path lengths in New Orleans. 69 16 Outage versus fade margin for various path lengths in Chicago. 70 17 Outage versus fade margin for various path lengths in Denver. 70 18 One-way, single- trunk, single-feeder (0SS) system. 74 19 One-way, dual -trunk, single-feeder (DDS) system. 76 Figure No. Page 20 One-way, dual-trunk, dual-feeder (ODS) system. 77 21 Two-way, single-trunk, single-feeder (TSS) system.