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hß · NetworksCurated

AOL from space: online service via satellite and TV cable

Summary

In 1996 Bertelsmann Online tested AOL access in which requests went out by modem and web data came back via satellite. The receiver was the Mediabox TV decoder; transmission was initially via Astra 1F at 2 Mbit/s, and the TV cable network was to follow later. Philips, Incosys and Olivetti-Hughes with DirecPC planned similar asymmetric access.

Ideas

  • A modem return channel is enough if the large amounts of data only flow in one direction.
  • Satellites distribute web content with far more bandwidth than the telephone line of the time.
  • The Mediabox turned a TV decoder into an internet receiver.
  • It was operated with a remote control with number keys and five coloured buttons.

Insights

  • Asymmetric access anticipated the later ADSL principle: lots of download, little upload.
  • New access technology is often first built on top of existing television infrastructure.

Facts

  • In 1996 AOL operated about 60 modem dial-in nodes across Germany.
  • The trial used the Astra 1F satellite with a channel bandwidth of 2 Mbit/s.
  • At CeBIT 1996, Incosys and Olivetti-Hughes showed satellite pilots with 192 and 400 kbit/s respectively.

References

Critique

  • The report says nothing about latency and cost; it was precisely the satellite delay that made such access sluggish for interactive applications.

Recommendations

  • Assess internet access separately by downstream, upstream and latency, not just by peak bandwidth.
  • With satellite connections, plan for interactive protocols suffering from the long signal delay.

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