Another FORE endorsement:
Marcus FiberLink Completes Nation's Largest ATM/MPEG-2 Video Distance Network 32 Sites Connected Throughout the State of Wisconsin
/CAUTION -- ADVANCE FOR AYEMS SATURDAY, AUGUST 1/
July 23, 1998 12:50 PM
/ADVANCE/MADISON, Wis., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Marcus FiberLink officials announced today that they have formally completed the largest distance learning network to be constructed in the United States. The KSCADE(K-12 Schools/College Alliance for Distance Education) network connects 32 Wisconsin schools impacting 70,000 students. Officials credit the unique partnership of several of the country's leading communications companies for their technologies in completing the network: AG Communication Systems, Anixter Inc., FORE Systems FORE , Midwest Visual, Time Warner TWX , and Marcus Cable.
KSCADE, a $6 million state-of-the-art distance learning network, provides full-motion video and data access to the Internet at all locations. In all, the 230-mile network includes three higher education facilities and 29 public schools. The network was first launched to 14 sites in January 1998.
"KSCADE is arguably the most technologically advanced distance education network in existence," said Greg Joseph, President of the KSCADE consortium. "What sets this network apart from all other distance networks is its technology and capacity. Marcus FiberLink provided digital technology that met all of the future operational standards that we required. The capacity, quality, and speed of the digital network far exceeded our expectations and other competitive offerings." Joseph stated that the network employs international standards providing each school access to the Internet at speeds 300 times faster than dial-up modems.
The digital video is transported across the backbone network using a transfer method called Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). ATM is extremely fast, and provides a high-speed "pipe" into each member site to allow the services provided by the network to be easily expanded.
The video is transported across the ATM network in a digital format, encoded by an international standard encryption scheme known as MPEG-2 (Motion Picture Experts Group). MPEG-2 is digital video, and complies with the latest world wide video standards.
The video network allows teachers to conduct classes at multiple schools simultaneously from a single site, allowing schools to share quality educational programs as both sending and receiving sites. To date, over 250 television monitors have been installed at the sites. The network access speed is 155 megabits per second (Mbps), while video and data are transmitted at the speed of 10 Mbps. However, schools have the option to vary the bandwidth.
"Students who will have the opportunity to take KSCADE courses are part of an exciting new facet of education, where distance is no longer a factor in a student's decision to seek out new and challenging courses," said Mary Guyette, KSCADE network manager at Fox Valley Technical College.
James Rice, general manager of Marcus FiberLink, said, "The KSCADE network represents our commitment to offer the educational community the first standards-based and most technologically advanced distance education network available at a price competitive with older proprietary technologies available on the market today." He noted that the technologies being offered by cable television are the driving force behind the project. "The bandwidth that cable operators, such as Marcus Cable and Time Warner, offer makes projects like KSCADE a reality. We are able to share resources to better serve the schools and area cable customers." He credited several "partners" for their outstanding products to enable the KSCADE project to provide the speed and sophistication that it offers.
PARTNERS AG COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
AG Communication Systems provided the ATIUM VIA 188 video codec, ATIUM Time conferencing software and ATIUM View management software in the KSCADE distance education network. The VIA 188 video codec is about the size of a home video cassette recorder and fits into most existing equipment cabinets. It works with conventional video cameras and monitors.
"The VIA 188 prevents staff resources from being a limiting factor in our children's education," said Wayne Williams, marketing director of video products for AG Communications Systems. "It allows students and teachers to span time and distance by linking classrooms at various remote locations. In addition, students can use the latest multimedia tools to take advantage of new and improved instructional methods."
ANIXTER INC.
Anixter's engineers fine-tuned the general design of the network including the IP addressing scheme and technical issues relating to the interoperability of the ATM equipment. In addition, Anixter supplied and staged the AG Communication video codec and FORE System's ATM equipment. The network hardware was prepared for installation at Anixter's Memphis Staging and Integration Center. At this state-of-the-art facility, expertly trained engineers burned in, tested and pre-configured all the equipment, including a Sun Microsystems Unix server used for classroom scheduling and network management. This pre-installation work assured the interoperability of the equipment once it was on premises and active. Anixter's technical support continues to assist with the functional operation of the network.
"With students being introduced to emerging technologies such as the Internet and multimedia applications at increasingly younger ages, schools have been forced to reevaluate not only their curriculums, but also the delivery mechanisms and network infrastructures necessary to support them. For the KSCADE project, our primary goal was to fine-tune the network design and ensure the interoperability of all the hardware, while optimizing the latest scalable technology solutions, so the network can grow with the changing needs of the students and faculty," said Bob Eck, Regional Vice President, Networking Systems, Central Region, for Anixter Inc.
MARCUS FIBERLINK
Marcus FiberLink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marcus Cable, was created in April of 1995 to develop and serve the emerging high-speed data market including applications for video, voice and data networks. With the addition of the KSCADE network, Marcus FiberLink operates three distance learning networks serving over 50 sites. Marcus Cable is one of the largest cable system operators in the state of Wisconsin serving nearly 400,000 customers.
FORE SYSTEMS
FORE Systems Inc., recognized as the pioneering ATM networking company, provided the backbone switches for the KSCADE project with its ForeRunner(R) ATM Switch and PowerHub(R) LAN Access Switch networking products and ForeThought(TM) internetworking software. FORE Systems is a leading global supplier of networking solutions based on an Intelligent Infrastructure(TM) designed to handle the networked applications of today and tomorrow. FORE's Networks of Steel(TM) deliver the increased capacity, reduced complexity and unparalleled flexibility and scalability necessary to build networks that last. Thousands of enterprise and service provider customers worldwide have put FORE Systems' solutions at the heart of their networks. For more information on FORE's Networks of Steel, call 888-404-0444 or visit the FORE Systems web site at www.fore.com.
MIDWEST VISUAL
Midwest Visual Communications, formerly Midwest Visual Equipment Company, provided classroom electronics, a customer user interface, Creston control system programming and development of communications protocols between classroom electronics and the ATIUM Time scheduling software. "Our goal was to provide a feature-rich system that is user friendly," said Barbara Holck, branch manager at Midwest Visual. "Accomplishing this required creative and inventive software programming and hardware integration allowing, for example, city to city control system communications via Ethernet."
MARCUS CABLE
Marcus Cable is principally engaged in the ownership and operation of domestic wired telecommunications networks including cable television systems, distance education networks and Internet services. It is currently the nation's tenth largest cable operator serving over 1.2 million customers in 16 states. It serves over 430 communities in the state of Wisconsin and has partnerships with two other distance learning networks in the state. More information on Marcus Cable can be found on the Internet at www.marcuscable.com.
For additional information contact:
Marshall Frey Marcus FiberLink 608-238-9690
Dara Leslie Marcus Cable 608-238-9690
Chris Doyle Time Warner 920-831-9108
Mike Mitchell AG Communications 602-581-4198
Jackie Drake Anixter 847-715-2729
Rich Borden FORE Systems 724-742-7716
Barbara Holck Midwest Visual 414-784-5880
Serena Tesler Geltzer & Co. (Anixter PR Rep.) 212-575-1976
Michael Feldman Geltzer & Co. (Anixter PR Rep.) 212-575-1976
Mary Guyette Fox Valley Technical College 920-735-2507
Greg Joseph KSCADE Board President 920-779-7900
SOURCE Marcus FiberLink |
