Broadband network using cable television network for elementary and secondary education in Japan

摘要

Internet is more broadly used recently in Japan and it is becoming more important to research elementary and secondary education related with network technology. Currently, both backbone network as well as access network in Japan are being constructed with Mega-bps or even Giga-bps level transmission capability. We conducted several field researches on elementary and secondary education using cable television network and/or backbone network, and concluded that these networks have a possibility of being effectively utilized for the educational application. There are three issues to be considered. The first is that Japanese government is strongly promoting regional information systems which is bringing higher speed network. The second is that cable television network can be used as a high speed access network combined with regional high speed backbone and nationwide super high speed backbone. The third is that a solution using Cable Modem/PC and/or Digital Settop Box/TV are available or will be available soon which can achieve Video on Demand(VOD) and teleconference at relatively lower cost while they will be technically advanced thanks to industry standard such as DAVIC/TV Anytime and Anywhere. Taking these three things into consideration, we hereby propose that broadband network using cable television network linked with nationwide high speed and/or regional high speed backbone network shall provide more effective educational system. [1][2]