CELEX: 51986PC0547
Language: en
Date: 1986-10-29
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ON A COMMUNITY ACTION IN THE FIELD OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES R AND D IN ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS-TECHNOLOGIES IN EUROPE ( RACE )

No C 304/2                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                28. 11. 86
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on a Community action in the field of telecommunications
                                                          technologies
                                 R & D in advanced communications-technologies in Europe
                                                     (RACE programme)
                                                      COM(86)     547final
                              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 29 October 1986)
                                                        (86/C 304/02)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           processing and wider public services the trend is towards
                                                                   a     Europe-wide      integrated   broadband     network
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              (integrated broadband communication — IBC) capable of
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                  supporting a wide range of customers and service
therof,                                                            providers;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 Whereas developments in telecommunications will
                                                                   benefit the international competitiveness of the European
                                                                   economies in general and of the telecommunications
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                  industries in particular;
liament,
                                                                   Whereas advanced telecommunications will contribute to
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   regional development within the Community and
Social Committee,                                                  specifically support for the development of common
                                                                   functional specifications for equipment and services will
Whereas the Community has as its task, by establishing a           permit the less-developed regions to benefit fully from
common market and progressively approximating the                  the efforts of Member States piloting the telecommuni-
economic policies of Member States, to promote                     cations developments in the Community;
throughout the Community a harmonious development
of economic activity and closer relations between the              Whereas the development of the IBC offers a wide range
States belonging to it;                                            of opportunities for small and medium-sized companies
                                                                   in the manufacture of equipment and in the provision of
Whereas the Heads of State and Government, meeting in              specialized services within the Community;
Stuttgart, Athens, Fontainbleau and Brussels, emphasized
the importance of telecomunications as a major source              Whereas in response to the requirement of using fully
for economic growth and social development;                        the economic and market potential of telecommuni-
                                                                   cations, the Commission has submitted a programme of
Whereas the European Parliament, in its assessment of              action which has been recognized as a base for further
the situation and development of telecommunications,               work by the Council;
stressed the key role of telecommunications for the
future political, social and economic development of the
                                                                   Whereas cooperation in R & D and the development of
Community;
                                                                   standards can make a major contribution, notably by
                                                                   facilitating the evolution towards future IBC in terms of
Whereas on 17 December 1984 the Council agreed on                  transnational connections and also at regional and local
the main elements of a Community telecommunication                 levels;
policy in the field of advanced telecommunication
services and networks involving actions at the
                                                                   Whereas the 'Single European Act' provides a new
Community level;
                                                                   political and legal base for the development of a
                                                                   scientific and technological strategy with particular
Whereas with the emergence of new services and the                 importance being given to the goal of promoting
progressive convergence of telecommunications, data                industrial competitiveness;
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11. 86                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 304/3
Whereas the Research Council on 4 June 1985                        2.     The action is designed, in concertation with public
recognized the importance of the rapid establishment of            and private actions in the field of telecommunications
a definition phase for the RACE programme, in order to             technologies undertaken at national and international
prepare a general European framework for the                       level, to promote the competitiveness of                      the
development of advanced systems of communications for              Community's telecommunications industry, operators
the future and to promote technological and industrial             and service providers in order to make available to the
cooperation;                                                       final users, at minimum cost and with minimum delay,
                                                                   the services which will sustain the competitiveness of the
Whereas the Council adopted by Decision 85/372/                    European economy over the coming decades and
EEC (') the RACE definition phase of 18 months on                  contribute to maintaining and creating employment in
which to base the decision for the main programme by               the Community.
the end of 1986;
                                                                                                Article 2
Whereas the constitution or consolidation of a
specifically European industrial potential in the                  1.     The action programme, as set out in more detail in
technologies concerned is an urgent necessity; whereas             Annex 1, shall consist of three parts:
its beneficiaries must be network operators, research
establishments, undertakings, including small and
medium-sized enterprises and other bodies established in                                            Parti
the Community which are best suited to attain these                     IBC    DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
objectives;                                                                                    STRATEGIES
                                                                        shall comprise work required for the development of
Whereas the RACE definition phase has produced the                      functional specifications, systems and operations
requisite conclusions;                                                  research towards the definition of proposals for Open
                                                                        Systems-conforming (2) standards, concepts and
Whereas the RACE Management Committee has carried                       conventions and analytical work serving the objective
out an initial assessment and called for the necessary                  of establishing interoperability for IBC (3) equipment
decisions to be taken in time to ensure the follow-up of                and services. This work is to be carried out by appro-
the work;                                                               priate organizations, groups and other bodies
                                                                        including, where required, contract work.
Whereas it is in the Community's interest to consolidate
the scientific and financial basis of European research by
means of the involvement to a greater extent of parti-                                             Part II
cipants from European third countries in certain                                          IBC TECHNOLOGIES
Community programmes and particularly in programmes
involving cooperation in research and development of                    shall comprise        R&D         cooperation     in    ICB
telecommunications technology;                                          technologies at the pre-competitive stage.
Whereas RACE will benefit from the results of ESPRIT;                                             Part III
                                                                          PRE-NORMATIVE FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION
Whereas the implementation of concerted actions in the
COST framework is an essential element to complement                    shall comprise pre-normative and pre-competitive
industrially oriented R & D projects;                                   R & D relating to cooperation in the realization of
                                                                        an 'open verification environment' designed to assess
Whereas the Treaty does not provide for the necessary                   functions, operational concepts and experimental
powers;                                                                 equipment with respect to functional specifications
                                                                        and standardization proposals arising from the work
                                                                        in Part I.
Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research
Committee (CREST) has expressed its opinion,
                                                                                                Article 3
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                       1.     Projects relating to the programme shall be
                                                                   executed, where required, by means of shared-cost
                           Article 1                               contracts. Contractors shall be expectd to bear a
1.     A Community action in the field of telecommuni-             (2) Open Systems-conformity stands for an international stan-
cation technologies, called RACE, is adopted for an                    dardization effort to make equipment and services from
initial period of five years commencing 1 January 1987.                different suppliers, operators and service providers interop-
                                                                       erable.
                                                                   (3) IBC = integrated broadband communication (advanced
                                                                       telecommunication services relying on high-performance
C) OJ No L 210, 7. 8. 1985, p. 24.                                     infrastructures).
 ---pagebreak--- No C 304/4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 28.11.86
substantial proportion of the costs, which should                 detailed objectives, the type of projects and actions to be
normally be at least 50 % of the total expenditure.               undertaken and the corresponding financial plans.
2.    The contracts shall, generally, be awarded by open          3.    In accordance with the procedure laid down in
tendering procedure and involve the participation of at           Article 8 (2) the Commission shall consult the
least two independent industrial partners not all                 Committee on the selection of individual projects. It may
established in the same Member State. The invitation to           consult the Committee on any other matter falling within
tender shall be published in the Official Journal of the          the scope of this Regulation.
European Communities.
                                                                                            Article 7
3.    In exceptional cases different conditions from those
                                                                  The Commission shall be assisted in the performance of
laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 may be adopted in
                                                                  its tasks by a management committee, hereinafter
accordance with the procedure in Article 8(1).
                                                                  referred to as the 'Committee'. The Committee,
                                                                  consisting of two representatives of each Member State,
4.    The contracts shall be concluded with network               shall be set up by the Commission on the basis of
operators,     research   establishments,     undertakings,       nominations by the Member States.
including small and medium-sized enterprises, and other
bodies established in the Community or, under appro-              Members of the Committee may be assisted by experts or
priate conditions fixed in implementation agreeements to          advisors depending on the nature of the issues under
be concluded, established in one of the non-member                consideration.
States referred to in Annex 2, hereinafter referred to as
'partners'.                                                       The Committee shall be chaired by a Commission
                                                                  representative.
5.    Annex 2 may be changed by the Council acting by
qualified majority on the basis of a proposal submitted           The proceedings of the Committee shall be confidential.
by the Commission.                                                The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
                                                                  The secretarial services shall be provided by the
                                                                  Commission.
                         Article 4
The Commission is hereby authorized to conclude in                                          Article 8
accordance with the conclusions approved by the
Council on 18 July 1978, agreements with non-member               1.    Where the procedure laid down in this paragraph is
States participating in European cooperation in the field         to be followed, the chairman shall submit to the
of scientific and technological research (COST) with a            Committee a draft of the measures to be adopted.
view to ensuring concerted action between the
                                                                  The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft
Community activities relating to the collaboration in
                                                                  measures within a time limit set by the chairman in
research and development referred to in Annex 1 and the
                                                                  accordance with the urgency of the matter. An opinion
relevant programmes of such States.
                                                                  shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article
                                                                  148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of Decisions which the
                         Article 5                                Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the
                                                                  Commission. The votes of the representatives of the
1.    The Community shall contribute to the per-                  Member States within the Committee shall be weighted
formance of the programme within the limits of the                in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall
appropriations entered to this end in the budget of the           not vote.
European Communities.
                                                                  The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply
2.    The amount of the appropriations estimated                  immediately. However, if these measures are not in
necessary for the Community's contribution to the per-            accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they
formance of the programme amounts to 800 million                  shall be communicated by the Commission to the
ECU over five years, including expenditure on staff,              Council forthwith. In that event the Commission may
whose cost shall not exceed 4,5 % of the Community                defer application of the measures which it has adopted
contribution.                                                     for not more than one month from the date of such
                                                                  communication.
                         Article 6                                The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a
                                                                  different Decision within one month.
1.    The Commission shall ensure that the programme
is properly performed and establish the appropriate               2.    Where the procedure laid down in this paragraph is
implementation measures.                                          invoked the Committee shall deliberate on requests for
                                                                  an opinion formulated by the Commission. The
2.    In accordance with the procedure laid down in               Commission, in inviting the opinion of the Committee,
Article 8(1) the Commission shall establish for each year         may fix a period within which the opinion should be
and update as required a draft workplan defining the              given. The deliberations of the Committee shall not be
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.86                               Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 304/5
followed by a vote. Nevertheless, any member of the                                         Article 10
Committee may request that his opinion be entered in
the minutes.                                                      With regard to the coordination activities provided for in
                                                                  Article 1 (2), the Member States and the Commission
                                                                  shall exchange all appropriate information to which they
                         Article 9                                have access and which they are free to disclose
                                                                  concerning activities in the areas covered by this Regu-
1.    The programme shall be reviewed after 30 months.            lation, whether or not planned or carried out under their
The Commission shall inform the Council and European              authority.
Parliament of the results of this review.
                                                                  Information shall be exchanged according to a procedure
                                                                  to be defined by the Commission after consulting the
2.    The programme may be extended for a second
                                                                  Committee, and shall be treated as confidential at the
period of five years, following a proposal from the
                                                                  suppliers' request.
Commission.
                                                                                            Article 11
3.    After the completion of the first five-year period of       This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1987.
the programme the Commission, after consulting the
Committee, shall send to the Member States and the                It shall apply until 31 December 1991.
European Parliament a report on the performance and               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
results of the programme.                                         directly applicable in all Member States.
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                                                                      ANNEX       1
                                                                       RACE (')
                                                            SUMMARY OF AREAS
             Part I: IBC development and implementation strategies
                   1.1.    IBC reference model (continuation of RDP work)
                   1.2.    System analyses and functional specification
                   1.3.    Implementation and planning support
             Part II: IBC technologies
                  II. 1.   Enabling and supporting IBC technologies
                  11.2.    Communication software technologies
                  11.3.    Basic technologies for IBC users
       /          II.4.    Subsystems and techniques
             Part III: Pre-normative functional integration
                  III. 1.  Customer facilities
                  111.2.   User access
                  111.3.   Network functions
                                                 R A C E W O R K P L A N S U M M A R Y (2)
            In order to achieve the underlying objectives described in the previous section, RACE main would be
            structured into three main parts:
                                                                          PARTI
                                     IBC DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
                  Relating to the development of functional specifications, the systems and operations research towards
                  the definition of proposals for IBC standards, concepts and conventions conforming to an open
                  systems approach, and the analytical work serving the objective of establishing interoperability for IBC
                  equipment and services.
                                                                         PART II
                                                                IBC T E C H N O L O G I E S
                  Covering the technological cooperation in pre-competitive R & D addressing key requirements of new
                  technology for the low-cost realization of IBC equipments and services.
                                                                         PART III
                                            PRE-NORMATIVE FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION
                  Relating to pre-normative cooperation in the realization of an 'open verification environment'
                  designed to assess functions, operational concepts and experimental equipment with respect to func-
                  tional specifications and standardization proposals arising from the work in Part I.
            The corresponding work areas, tasks and approaches are specified in detail in the RACE workplan which
            is under preparation and will be submitted separately.
            (') The scope of the work referred to here is described in the following pages.
            (2) The full RACE workplan is a detailed technical document which evolves with technological progress and improved
                perception of the demand characteristics. Each year it is to be submitted for approval by the management committee.
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.86                                Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s            N o C 304/7
         This work is to be carried out by industry, academics and telecommunication operators. The latter are
         expected to finance independently the work falling within their domain.
         The following sections provide a description of the scope and nature of the work to be undertaken.
         Part I: IBC DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
         Objective
         The main objectives of the work under Part I are to achieve, throughout the introduction and further
         enhancement of IBC:
         — a common understanding of the evolution towards introduction of IBC and its implications including
              market research and promotion of the IBC concept and services in Europe and internationally,
         — a common definition and understanding of the IBC system and subsystems, between all main actors
              concerned,
         — guidelines for the functional specification of IBC systems and subsystems and the development of
              integrated services,
         — a framework in which to identify the technology requirements and to assess the implications of
              technological advances and the evolution of service demands for the priorities in RD & E,
         — a tool for the evaluation of cost-effectiveness of various technological solutions, implementation
              schemes and evolutionary routes starting from the given situation,
         — mechanisms for analyzing and assessing, at an early stage, the requirements for standardization
              proposals and functional specifications in order to facilitate and accelerate the emergence of inter-
              national standards.
          Scope
         To meet these objectives, P a n I would comprise two major areas of activity:
         — maintenance and further development of the European reference model for integrated broadband
              communication, defined in its initial form during the RACE definition phase,
         — systems analysis and engineering work to transform the concepts derived in the reference model into
              systems and subsystems functional specifications.
          1.1. Further development of the IBC reference model
          Objective
          IBC is a broad field of activities which requires the purposeful work of many independent actors. They all
          need to be able to situate their respective work in the context of evolving objectives, conditions and rapid
          technological change and demand. In functional terms it covers:
          — transport, relating to the infrastructural functions needed to interconnect users to users and users to
               service providers,
          — processing, which relates to the equipment functions (hardware and software) required for users and
               service providers,
          — applications, corresponding to the needs of a wide range of end users and/or service providers.
           Scope
          The work in this part will, therefore, consist of three areas of strongly interrelated reference model
          activities:
                 Network reference model
                Based on definitions of IBC services, requirements of network functions, and of network operation
                and maintenance services, interfaces (with customer premises, non-IBC networks, service providers),
                etc., will be defined to form the main network reference model. This base of information will then be
                used to generate standards and system specifications. Taking into account technology resources,
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 304/8                               Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s            2 8 . 1 1 . 86
                 geo-demographic environments, evolution of techniques, etc., scenarios of an implementation of the
                 IBC main network will be built to assess best techno-economic strategies for IBC introduction and
                 the progressive integration of other telecommunication services.
                 Customer premises reference model
                 From specific requirements of domestic and business applications a functional reference model is to be
                 set up to provide guidelines with respect to functional specifications and standards of future customer
                 products like terminals, home network, etc. T o complement this reference model, scenarios of
                 implementation, taking into account the various environment constraints, will be built to assess the
                 various techno-economic solutions for the introduction of IBC customer premises networks and the
                 progressive integration of services into common equipment.
                 Applications and services reference model
                 Potential application domains of IBC (i. e. entertainment, education, press distribution, bank, office
                 computing), have to be surveyed to identify their specific requirements, in terms of information type,
                 information access, information security, etc., from which services will be derived. A reference model
                 of service characteristics and performances will be developed and constantly refined according to
                 information collected from specific surveys, e.g. results of exploitation of new experimental national
                 networks, so that IBC services comply as nearly as possible with user needs and evolution trends.
                 Mobile communications integration
                 Broadband communication networks will be accessed from mobile terminals as integration of services
                 takes place. Alternative solutions to realize the integration such as total overlay networks and
                 gateways between mobile and IBC networks, or partial integration of mobile and IBC networks will
                 be assessed on a techno-economic base. Specific functional, performance, and standardization
                 requirements will be defined to allow development of the equipment. Particular attention will be paid
                 to identification of radio frequencies able to support transmission of wide-band services, and on the
                 use of micro-cellular techniques vis-a-vis other possibilities. Needs for further R & D on mobile
                 technologies will be identified and will complement the work to be carried out in Part II (IBC
                 technology).
                 Note:
                 Support in the form of an analytical assessment service will be provided, as a tool to help adjust
                 dynamically the emphasis and thrust of the work, as well as keeping its information base up to date.
                 The detailed rationale, objectives and scope of the reference model activities will largely evolve from
                 those of the definition phase Part I activity.
            1.2. Systems analysis and functional specification
            Objective
            The reference model work of 1.1 represents a major concertation exercise to produce consensus views on
            the evolution towards IBC and its broad functional specifications. To formulate more specific functional
            specifications for IBC systems, subsystems and services, and to provide a two-way link between the
            reference model and the other RACE activities, area 1.2 will carry out the required systems analysis.
             Scope
            The scope includes the consideration of:
            — network architectures,
            — high-layer functions in an integrated network,
            — terminals and gateways,
            — customer premises networks,
            — channel definitions, code conversion and redundancy reduction,
            — switching subsystem,
            — signalling subsystem,
            — customer access subsystem,
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.86                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                      No C 304/9
         — network management and operation,
         — man-machine interfaces (human factors),
         — security and privacy,
         — needs of mobile communications,
         — standards, conventions and codes of practice for hardware, software, simulation and testing.
         Specifically the work in the following areas is envisaged:
              Network architecture
             The two major aspects of this work concern the definition of a long-range target network architecture
              and the definition of evolutionary strategies to meet that target. These studies will particularly address
              the problem of moving from the present fragmental technical and marketing situation to convergence
              upon a single cost-effective IBC network.
              High-layer Junctions in an integrated network
              Advanced telecommunications networks such as the IBC network transport all information as digital
              bit streams and implement layers 1 to 3 of the OSI model. The IBC network, however, will also carry
              out the processing and other functions needed to manage and maintain the network. This means
              implementing the higher layers (4 to 7) of the OSI model in certain cases.
              IBC termination
              The IBC will provide terminations for customers and service providers and will also require gateways
              to other networks. Work in this area will cover the definition and implementation of the many
              interfaces involved in these terminations, including user/network interfaces for HDTV, video-
              telephony etc., the human factor aspects of terminal interface design and the interworking interfaces
              that will be required during the emergence of the IBC network.
               Channel definition, code conversion and redundancy reduction
              The transmission of high-definition TV, video and audio information will require high-bit-rate, high-
              quality communication channels and one set of tasks in this area will be to define the channels to be
              provided by the IBC network. Signal processing and coding techniques such as redundancy reduction
              will be exploited to reduce the bit rates required and hence to enable the IBC to offer new wide-band
              services at an early date and at an acceptable cost.
               Switching requirements
              The IBC will demand new generations of switching equipment operating at 20 times or more the
              speed required for the ISDN, whilst offering considerably enhanced functionality. Work in this area
              will focus on the design implications of these requirements and will examine a number of switching
              configurations, including new kinds of circuit switch and packet switch and new technological options
              such as optical switching.
               Signalling techniques
               The IBC will offer a wide range of sophisticated services in an integrated manner and will therefore
               need enhanced signalling protocols both for user-network signalling and for signalling within the
               network, e.g. CCITT signalling system No 7.
               Customer access system
               Users will gain access to the IBC network via a terminal, a customer premises network (CPN) and the
               customer access system (CAS) which connects the customer premises network to user-dedicated
               termination equipment within the IBCN. The customer access system thus makes available the IBC
               services demanded by the user, and in particular manages the mixing and separation of communi-
               cation and distribution traffic-streams.
               Functional network reference model
              The large bandwidth offer of IBC will result in a high degree of function distribution in the network.
               Functions such as network management, network maintenance, network measurement, and network
               statistics, charging and subscriber administration will be supplied by separate hardware units with the
               corresponding software. This has to be realized for a heterogeneous network situation characterized
               by different types and generations of installations.
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                  The work in this area covers the definition and specification of a functional network reference model
                  for the IBCN including the consideration of these requirements.
             1.3 Implementation and planning support
             Objective
             The convergence and transition to IBC represents a major problem in managing the complexity of the
             technical issues. This does require a specific effort which is the objective of the work defined here.
             Scope
             Specifically the work is to concentrate on:
                   Common tool environment for telecommunications design, development, testing and maintenance
                  Moving towards IBC implies a complex R & D process relying on the concerted efforts of a large
                  number of actors. Powerful tools will be needed to support the R & D process and this area is aimed
                  at the development of the common parts of such a tool environment jointly, or according to joint
                  specification, for common use. The aim is to minimize waste of effort and to maximize what is
                  common between R & D projects by agreeing, developing and promulgating common facilities for
                  testing, simulation and software development.
                  Joint definition of common test facilities
                  The task is to analyze and recommend common test facilities and the formats for data interchange.
                  This will allow the use of common test facilities for system development, installation and acceptance.
                  Test reports will follow an identical format so that test results can be interchanged.
                  Development of IBC simulations for Junctional integration
                  In order to ensure the unification of the functional integration, a set of IBC environmental simulators
                  is required. These simulators must evolve in sophistication in step with the advancing knowledge of
                  the IBC characteristics, in some cases being gradually replaced by actual hardware or software
                  implementations of the environment.
                  Joint definition of software development environments
                  It is necessary for the software developed during the RACE programme to be compatible and, at least
                  to some extent, portable. This will require in turn that a common software infrastructure be adopted
                  for the generation of those software parts that need to be compatible and/or portable (see II.2 for
                  software infrastructure development). This part of the programme involves investigations and
                  negotiations in order to agree on a policy to be followed and to specify the software infrastructure to
                  be employed.
                  Standards and conventions for portability and re-usability
                  RACE cannot be conceived without an active two-way relationship with international standards
                  organizations. A specific mechanism will need to be embedded in RACE so as to generate the
                  execution of this essential task. In addition, resulting from the work on the reference model and the
                  system analysis and specification of Part I, there will be a very considerable volume of results relating
                  to common conventions, standards and codes of practice which will need to be collated, tested for
                  consistency and promulgated in a coherent manner to the RACE participants.
                  Programme management support
                  These activities concern specific and substantial tasks necessary to ensure an adequate degree of
                  programme management and coordination. Dominant issues are the analysis and promulgation of
                  scenarios underlying the IBC reference model and the IBC configuration management and documen-
                  tation control.
             Part II: IBC T E C H N O L O G I E S
             Objective
            The objective of this Part is to carry out cooperative R & D on the key technologies required for low-cost
            realizations of IBC equipment and services. As such, it will be system-driven and sepcifically related to the
            functional specifications derived by Part I.
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         Scope
         The scope of the work will include the research, test and experimentation needed to explore the techno-
         economic characteristics of the new technologies relevant to IBC.
         The content covers IBC-specific hardware and software topics including:
         II. 1. Enabling and supporting IBC technologies
         Specific ICs for IBCN
         Specific components are required for low-cost implementation of customer access circuits (TDM multi-
         plexer/demultiplexers, line coder/decoders, etc.) making use of the maturity of silicon technology as well
         as the progress in gallium arsenide material technology in order to obtain better cost-performance trade-
         offs.
         Integrated optoelectronic devices required for broadband communications systems
         The potential advantages of optoelectronic circuits (OEICs) associating monolythically on a single
         semiconductor chip several electronic, optical and optoelectronic functions are to be exploited on
         compound semiconductors, in particular, on InP-based materials. Improvement in performance (speed and
         noise), reliability and reduction of cost is aimed at.
         Broadband switching techniques
         Competing techniques have to be explored in parallel until the potential of a specific approach can
         conclusively be judged with respect to time of availability and area of application. Low-power-dissipation
         space switching and time-division switching place stringent requirements on semiconductor components as
         well as system design. Optical switching may offer an alternative solution, but requires further intensive
         research focusing on developing the required features and performance characteristics.
         Design tools for complex systems
         Expansion of existing techniques for systems and subsystems specifically oriented towards the
         implementation of equipment for broadband communications, as well as simulation on optical transmission
         media including the electrical terminations.
         Low-cost optical components
         In any large scale introduction of IBC some components will be needed in very large volumes and have a
         significant impact on the systems-costs both due to their price as well as performance characteristics such
         as mean time before failure. T o produce key components such as reliable sources and detectors the device
         and process technologies need to be advanced very considerably.
         High-bit-rate links
         High-bit-rate transmission in the customer loop would precipitate an enormous increase in long-haul
         traffic, which leads to requirements additional to those met by direct detection techniques. The
         development of coherent links (homodyne or heterodyne detection) implies an intensification of the work
         on specific devices such as DFB lasers, optical amplifiers, etc. In addition to long-haul applications
          coherent systems might revolutionize network architectures in the customer loop.
          II.2. Communications software technologies
          Software infrastructure
         The IBC network will require software whose requirements are at least as complex as those of present day
          telecommunications systems. Significant increases in programming productivity can be achieved by the
          provision of a unified software infrastructure, covering specification, implementation, on-line environment,
          testing, re-usability and the corresponding tool set.
          Requirements definition tools
         The process of requirements capture and their subsequent mapping onto a system architecture precedes the
          life-cycle for both hardware and software development. Requirements in the telecommunication field are
          characterized by a large number of necessary options. These requirements cover the functional system
          behaviour, interfaces (ISO-OSI) and performance. Considerable effort is needed to establish a framework
          for the requirements work, which will allow for checking of consistency and completeness.
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             11.3. Basic technologies for IBC users
             Audio/video processing — redundancy reduction
             Present quality TV transmission and 'enhanced'/HDTV, to a much higher degree, impose severe
             transmission and switching requirements. Optimum trade-offs between transmission bit-rate and bandwidth
             compression have to ensure a minimum acceptable cost for the user. Extensive work is required in video
             signal processing, coding techniques, system design etc., coupled with advances in semiconductor
             technology in order to develop cost-effective coding/decoding devises.
             Broadband in the customer premises network
             RACE is addressing the provision of advanced telecommunications services to the general public. The need
             to make advanced integrated services available to the general user at an acceptable cost implies the func-
             tional integration with television (and HDTV), telephony (and video-telephony) as well as new services
             such as home shopping, electronic mail, etc. To achieve this at a cost level acceptable to the general public
             represents a major cost-performance challenge. The purpose here is to develop the systems concepts and
             systems technology with advanced cordless links or optical bus for office and home applications fully
             coherent with public networks specification basis and applications functional requirements. Main lines of
             work will include switching and transmission.
             Image sensors
             The dominant characteristic of IBC networks is their ability to support moving image applications up to
             H D T V standards and to support high-quality professional documents transfer. Therefore work will
             concentrate on the technology work required to generate cost-effective image processing capabilities for
             the widespread provision of IBC applications, with particular emphasis on television and videotelephony.
             Communications display technology
             Large and small size high-quality displays will be key elements in encouraging the widespread use of IBC
             services. In this area work will address the development of items needed to support HDTV. In addition
             resources will be devoted to guarantee that optimal economy of scope is achieved in the design of
             components of the various advanced cost-effective display systems required by IBC.
             Digital image recording techniques
             Image-based applications of IBC will require recording systems designed to meet requirements      specific to
             IBC networks operations. These requirements call for the development of both sequential and       continuous
             video access methods (both for recording and reading) that need to be realized with low-cost      techniques
             before IBC applications can be made available on a sufficiently low-cost basis, including image    store-and-
             forward functions.
             HDTV components
             This work relates to critical components for the realization of advanced H D T V concepts.
             11.4. Subsystems and techniques
             In this area work will aim at developing laboratory models for IBC-subsystems based, wherever possible,
             on technologies developed in areas II. 1, 2 and 3.
              Customer access realization
             The customer access system comprises the physical bearer that carries the customer's information together
             with the optoelectronic equipment providing the multiplexing, signal processing, routing, signalling and
             other functions at the interfaces to the users terminal and to the IBC network.
              Broadband switching modules
             Optical and electronic crosspoint matrices will need to be developed and qualified for use in the various
             switching applications within the IBCN, and these will require interfacing to the control/signalling infra-
             structure and to the management/maintenance infrastructure. Loss, power dissipation, reliability, crosstalk
             and other parameters will need to be optimized.
             Broadband links
             Trunk links able to support high-bit-rate transmission (exceeding 565 Mbit/s) over long distances are the
             objective of the work. This work will concentrate on key components, like couplers, repeaters, transmitters,
             receivers and optical fibres with respect to meeting IBCN requirements in terms of transmission quality,
             reliability, and maintenance.
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         Satellite broadband links are especially attractive for distributive traffic over a wide area but impose severe
         demands upon frequency spectrum and on-board power. In the IBC, satellites will probably operate as
         intelligent switching machines rather than as passive relay-stations and the design of on-board equipment
         and earth terminals will form the major subject of these studies.
         Human factor and terminal engineering
         Most IBC users will be laymen and the IBC terminals will need to buffer much of the IBC complexity from
         the user and provide a simple, user-friendly interface orientated towards user needs, including special
         groups such as naive and disabled users. The study of human factors and the associated terminal design
         features is an essential part of the IBC workplan.
         IBC systems organization, management and maintenance
         The introduction of IBCN implies the ability to deal effectively and economically with all operational
         aspects. The work will include:
         — traffic and network control,
         — subscriber service management (metering, charging, monitoring, etc.),
         — network maintenance and configuration management,
         — network fault diagnostics and recovery procedures,
         — provider services management, etc.
          Part III: PRE-NORMATIVE FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION
          Objective
         The work is aimed at the validation of standardization concepts and pre-normative work as deriving from
         work done in other parts of RACE. The parts of the IBC systems or subsystems will be tested by means of
          simulation or research experimentation with particular reference to the needs of technological work in
          preparation of standardization proposals.
          Pre-normative functional integration serves several important functions. It will:
         — permit the verification of concepts, standardization options, reliability, security, as well as other key
              functional characteristics by simulation and testing at the research stage,
          — contribute to the reduction of risks for development and implementation by permitting the evaluation of
              the functional features by operators, industry and, where applicable, service providers and users,
          — provide a mechanism for demonstrating interoperability features and compliance to standards and
              specifications.
          Scope (3)
          The scope of the work is:
          — to test new technology, and devices from projects in Part II RACE, ESPRIT, relevant national
               programmes, international projects as an integral part of an IBC system to evaluate its functionalities
               and techno-economic performance characteristics,
          — to explore relevant performance parameters and confirm the feasibility of meeting the relevant
               requirements of the functional entity as defined within the reference model activities,
          — where necessary to assemble functional blocks into skeleton network configurations in order to test
               their interaction, with the objective of establishing that the IBC system operates as defined, and to
               verify that operation and maintenance procedures are meeting the overall network requirements.
          Within the overall IBCN there are numerous functions for which this type of work will need to be carried
          out. Though there are different classifications possible the issues can be grouped according to the dominant
          functions.
          (') The work envisaged within this part of the RACE programme is not expected to have the nature of demonstration
              projects or field trials. Such trials or prototype installations will be required before operational implementation of a
              harmonized set of IBC services can be undertaken but are beyond the scope and scale of effort under consideration for
              the RACE programme.
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            111.1. Customer facilities
            Fixed terminal functions
            Prototypes of IBC terminals utilizing new technologies. An example is a multifunction IBC workstation
            capable of accessing a range of new services with special emphasis on video applications (e.g. HDTV,
            video telephone, etc.). The subject is the realization of aspects such as new display technologies (e.g. flat
            panels), the realization of functional and modular standardization concepts, the operation of internal bus
            structures, etc., in the context of advanced telecommunications termination of the IBC network.
             Customer premises network Junctions
            To allow interworking of terminals with the network interface (NT 1) within the customer premises,
            specific interfaces and telecommunications functions need to be realized to serve the variety of network
            structures and implementations to be expected. The telecommunication functions to be developed for IBC
            range from simple customer premises networks (e.g. simple interconnection of domestic equipment to
            external lines) up to complex customer premises networks (e.g. interworking of a variety of terminal
            equipment and a switching capability to the external lines). The functionalities to be realized need to
            permit the interoperation with a variety of external networks (public, private, DBS, etc.).
            Mobile termination
            Mobile terminals will need to be compatible with future IBC networks and services. The work in this
            domain will include the examination of the technical feasibility of overlaying or integrating various mobile
            radio infrastructures in IBC, and the level at which gateways between them and the IBC network should
            exist. This work will also include some work on mobile IBC termination.
            111.2. User access
             Customer access Junction
            To connect the customer premises to the first switching node in the main (broadband) network, a
            transmission link is required to carry several channels/circuits and provide a standardized method of
            connection between the two. Work in this area will range from basic access experiments (a few enter-
            tainment channels with a few telecommunication channels) for typical domestic and small business
            customers, up to broadband integrated-service PBX access systems for large, sophisticated customer
            systems.
            Local switching Junctions
            In the local switching area typical functions to be addressed relate to the separation of entertainment from
            telecommunication services, methods of providing selection between entertainment programmes, the
            mechanisms of choice of the services themselves, etc.
            Head-end Junctions
            This work will address the functions required for the collection of entertainment services from a variety of
            sources (nationally distributed cable, local production facilities, DBS, off air, etc.) and distributing them to
            dependent local switching units.
             Local exchange Junctions
            To provide an interface between the customers and the main broadband telecommunications network a
            switching, concentrating and multiplexing function is required. This represents the traditional
            telecommunication exchange, although it may additionally be used to handle nationally distributed enter-
            tainment services. Integration projects in this domain would test new technologies and concepts particularly
            associated with enhanced bandwidths for IBC (the broadband switching function in particular), and alter-
            native methods of performing the switching function.
            111.3. Network functions
             Trunk exchange Junctions
            These are to provide interconnection including switching and multiplexing functions, between trunk
            transmission circuits in the long-distance part of the overall IBC network. Work in this area is similar in
            kind to that in realizing enhanced local exchange functions, but relates to the specific conditions of higher
            traffic densities corresponding to the higher relative position in the network architecture.
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          Transmission Junctions
         The work in this domain relates to the realization of high-data-rate functions between exchanges. It
         includes the necessary transmitters, couplers, receivers, etc., as well as the transmission medium itself. It is
         expected that these links will need to work at transmission speeds in excess of 565 Mbit/s using, for
         example, wavelength division multiplex (WDM) techniques to increase the overall transmission capacity.
          Operating and maintenance Junctions
         These are to provide a monitoring and control capability for the integrated broadband communication
         network functions. Integration projects in this area would include experiments on network management,
         fault detection and diagnosis, maintenance (on main network and customer links), etc., and would aim to
         test the new technologies, software and system concepts developed elsewhere within RACE, for suitability
         and techno-economic performance in this field.
                                                              ANNEX       2
         The non-member States referred to in Article 2 (1) are:
         — Republic of Austria,
         — Republic of Finland,
         — Kingdom of Norway,
         — Kingdom of Sweden.
         — Swiss Confederation.