The evolution of campus networks towards multimedia

The authors consider the problem of providing bandwidth for multimedia services in a campus network. The campus network is composed of a number of subnetworks, interconnected by a backbone. The authors study each subnetwork in isolation, indicating what kinds of topologies should be used as a function of the bandwidth requirement, and then discuss the connection of the subnetwork to the backbone. They also touch upon issues other than the network infrastructure, commenting on the effect of providing multimedia communications on the other layers of the OSI model. Finally, they consider the Stanford Campus Network (SUNET), presenting measurements to characterize its current performance.<
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