Tapping the television cable.
Immediate access to patient data is essential to support good clinical decision making and support. However, away from the surgery, the doctor is currently unable to have any access to the clinical database. Solutions exist to support remote access, such as modems or radio data networks, but these are slow, with typical speeds in the 2-10 kbaud region. We propose a novel solution, to use the TV cable already installed in many homes. Using this technology, a suitably equipped computer (RF modern) is capable of connecting at speeds in excess of 500 kbaud and will run applications in exactly the same way as if connected to a surgery network: the cable TV becomes a LAN, but on a metropolitan scale. Brunel University, in collaboration with the Cable Corporation, has been piloting such a network. Issues include not only levels of service, but also security on the network and access, since the data are being effectively received in every home. However, close scrutiny of channel use can create closed networks reserved for specific users. The technology involves use of an RF modem to transmit data on a reverse channel (based at 16 MHz) on each subnet to a router at the head end of the cable network. This frequency translates the packet and retransmits it to all the subnets on a forward channel (based at 178 MHz). Each channel occupies the bandwidth normally allocated to one TV channel. Access is based on a modified CSMA/CD protocol, so treating the cable network as single multiple access network. The modem comes as a standard card installed in a PC and appears much as an ethernet card, but at reduced speed. With an NDIS driver it is quite able to support almost any network software, and has successfully demonstrated Novell and TCP/IP. We describe the HomeWorker network and the results from a pilot study being undertaken to determine the performance of the system and its impact on working practice.