Multimedia networking and IEEE 802.12 demand priority

This paper introduces the 100VG-AnyLAN LAN technology that is being standardised in the IEEE 802.12 committee. The network is designed as a low-cost 100 Mb/s upgrade for IEEE-802.3 10Base-T or IEEE-802.5 and key features of the network are discussed such as its support for installed Category 3 cable and cascading to cover campus areas without bridges. The access protocol, Demand Priority, supports two priorities and the paper presents how this can be used to provide guaranteed bandwidth and delay services for emerging applications such as real-time multimedia. Finally some of the areas of work under consideration in the new IEEE 802.1 working group on multimedia are described.