A Metropolitan Area Network

Most high-speed multiple-access networks on the market, or those currently under design, operate in a limited geographical environment and are devoted either to data-only or voice-only transmission. However, challenges issued by the marketplace require the full integration of voice, data, and video in a real-time environment. This paper proposes a metropolitan area network that covers a campus environment and truly integrates voice, data, and video under a single transmission medium. Furthermore, the transmission is achieved through a single media-access schema. This paper also presents marketing issues, network requirements, and technology constraints. The proposed mediaaccess schema is also being considered by the IEEE 802.6 MAN Committee for Standardization.