The Hindu : Convergence technology to make TV sets 'smart'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 20, 2003

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National

Convergence technology to make TV sets 'smart'

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI June 19. A convergence technology from India is expected to make the whole debate about the CAS obsolete by turning the television world over as smart as a computer by enabling it to access interactive broadband services.

Called RAMNet (Remote Access Metroplitan Network), the convergence technology is developed by a team led by Mr. P.R. Eknath and Mr. Sanjay Wandhekar who had played a key role in the development of the country's first super computer, Param. These technocrats and their associates have formed a company, Divinet Access Technologies Ltd, to set up the Net.

Mr. Eknath told a press conference here today that the new network enabled set top box allowed a subscriber not only choose channels but also make the choice event or period specific and pay accordingly.

Besides, the new convergence technology for mass use virtually turns the TV set into a smart information and communication device, enabling one to send and receive SMS, e-mail, video on demand, do online chatting and gaming, attend educational classes and do even shopping, besides watching the channels.

He said that the technology had been globally recognised and had won the E-Biz award of Dubai Internet City for the world class idea in a tough competition of 1385 entries from 34 countries.

Its set top box interfaces to link multiple existing gadgets like TV, personal computer, music system and telephone in a home. The box is linked to the local centre having servers hosting services. This is linked to a local loop which is connected to an area loop. The area loop, is in turn, connected to the trunk loop which is tied to the operating centre housing a number of servers hosting various services.

From the distribution loop onwards, the network uses optical fibre cable, having virtually limitless capacity. Mr. Eknath said that his team could have made the network wireless like a cellphone network but that would have affected the quality of service because of spectrum limitations.

He said that the network also enabled the user to choose the speed of the connection for a particular period, unlike the present dial up connectivity, say from kbs to MBs.

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