The era of multimedia communications on the public network is dawning. Video-on-demand (VoD) trials are currently running in a number of countries. Other services, such as multimedia conferencing and distance learning, are also being demonstrated. Mass deployment of these and other services requires an ongoing increase in available bandwidth. This is the driving force behind the emergence of broadband telecommunications networks. To access different services on a heterogeneous network, a common access point for all service users will be needed. A level 1 gateway (L1GW) may be in a perfect position to take up this role. Its essential functionality then can be identified as that of it 'white pages' server. Nevertheless, the expected functionality of the broadband network often exceeds this capability. This paper sets out to define the possible L1GW functionality in a clean, high-level partitioning model for a multimedia communications network. It proposes three basic principles with respect to the L1GW: its non-mandatory use by subscribers, its service-independent conception and operation, its qualities as a unique access point to both service users and service providers. These principles should provide secure directions for designing viable ATM-based network architectures for tomorrow's community of multimedia customers.
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