High-capacity local and metropolitan area networks Book

The state of the art and the latest advances in high-speed Local and Metropolitan Area Networks (LAN/ MAN) are reviewed and discussed in the workshop papers presented in this volume originating from a NATO Advanced Research Workshop. The first generation LANs had throughputs of 1-20 Mbit/sec. The second generation allowed throughputs of 100-200 Mbit/sec. The third generation will have throughputs of 1-10 Gbit/sec. The possibility of all-optical networks in the future is being examined. Using such a high-speed network it will be feasible to distribute high-quality video to the home, to carry out rapid retrieval of radiological and other scientific images, and to enable multi-media conferencing between various parties. Despite the complexity of the field, this book attempts to cover all the aspects in order to give as complete and accurate a picture as possible.