AGOCG logo
Graphics Multimedia VR Visualization Contents
Training Reports Workshops Briefings Index
This report is also available as an Acrobat file.
Back Next Contents

Appendix 4: Useful Contacts

Note: Much of the explanatory material for the contacts is taken from publicity information on the National Hosts for the ACTS Programme.

UKERNA (UK Education and Research Networking Association)

UKERNA is a company that has been set up to manage the networking programme for the UK higher education and research community and has taken over the staff and resources of the former Joint Network Team, which managed the programme for the past 15 years. This programme has gained an international reputation for both innovation and for delivering high quality services and support to the research community. It is recognised as one of the most advanced in the world and includes the JANET and SuperJANET networks. UKERNA's remit is to continue and expand the already well-established networking programme and to bring the benefits to wider communities. UKERNA has a well established close working relationship with the UK research community, including the IT research sector, and with the funding bodies and government departments that support the community.

For more information contact:
Liaison Desk                	Tel: 0235 445517
UKERNA	                        Fax: 0235 446251
Atlas Centre                    E-mail:  Liaison-Desk@ukerna.ac.uk
Chilton, Didcot,
OXON OX11 OQS

SuperJANET

SuperJANET forms part of the UK's higher education and research networking programme funded principally by the Higher Education Funding Councils of England, Scotland and Wales via their Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

SuperJANET is a national high performance network supporting UK education andresearch. It currently provides three services: a high performance IP service to all connected sites, an ATM service to a sub-set of the connected sites and a video network to the ATM sites. Access to the IP and ATM services is at 34 Mbps; developments are in progress to upgrade the ATM network to 155 Mbps. The network uses SMDS and PDH/SDH network services provided by BT, supplemented by other facilities such as 34 Mbps leased lines and dark fibre links. SuperJANET is connected to the European PNO ATM Pilot.

SuperJANET's primary role is to provide stable, high quality network services to meet the requirements of the UK university and research community. In addition, it is able to support network research and development activities to the extent that those activities are compatible with, and do not disrupt, the service provision to the wider user community. All use will be governed by the JANET and SuperJANET Acceptable Use Policy.

Technical information

Users gain access to the IP service via the local-area network (LAN) (e.g. Ethernet or FDDI) that serves the user's site. The LAN is connected to SuperJANET via a router with a high performance interface, the type of interface required depends on the type of SuperJANET access selected (e.g. SMDS, PDH link or dark fibre).

Access to the SuperJANET ATM network is via equipment on the user's site (e.g. an ATM switch or host computer) equipped with an ATM interface that is linked to the appropriate SuperJANET ATM switch. The type of interface required depends on the type of access selected (e.g. PDH or SDH link, dark fibre).

Access to the video network is via a video codec on the users site linked to the appropriate SuperJANET video switch via a 2 Mbps channel provided as a leased line or via the ATM network.

UKERNA will advise on the most suitable type of connection and the equipment required for that connection.

User community

SuperJANET has a large and growing user community. 60 institutions are currently connected of which 57 are universities and 2 are major national research laboratories. The network provides access to four national supercomputer centres and several other national research facilities.

A major expansion programme has recently been launched which is expected to increase the total number of organisations connected to more than 110 over the next three years, including all UK universities. It is expected that a growing number of organisations outside the university sector will connect to the network over the same period.

For more information contact:
Liaison Desk                          Tel: 0235 445517
UKERNA                                Fax: 0235 446251
Atlas Centre                          E-mail: Liaison-Desk@ukerna.ac.uk
Chilton, Didcot,
OXON OX11 OQS                         WWW http://www.ja.net/SuperJANET/SuperJANET.html

NORTHERN INFORMATICS APPLICATIONS AGENCY LTD

Based on initiatives from the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria the Northern Informatics Applications Agency (NIAA) has been created to become the focus for telematics developments that will give the Northern Region of the UK a leading competitive advantage both nationally and internationally in the application of broadband communications and information services.

By stimulating and co-ordinating the creation of a Regional data network which is also a testbed for developing and piloting services and applications, the NIAA is providing an open forum in which suppliers and customers can co-operate for mutual advantage.

One of the primary objectives of the initiative is to co-ordinate the integration of a region-wide communications infrastructure as well as an associated programme of applications. This is being achieved by the integration of existing regional and national networks together with selective in-filling of the gaps. For example, the SuperJANET network is providing a core network of broadband-width services and is being interfaced with networks from utilities, Tecs and Business Links. Other large businesses in the region are also offering to integrate their communications networks into the regional infrastructure.

The objective is not only to provide excellent regional facilities but to make the region a key node on the world wide network.

User Community

The Northern Region covered by the NIM comprises the area of the five counties of Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. Costs

For more information contact:

Chris Drew                                    Tel:   091 284 3151
Northern Informatics Applications Agency,     Fax:  091 284 0378
Northumbria House, Regent Centre,             E-mail: CHRIS.DREW@Newcastle.ac.uk
Gosforth, Newcastle, NE3 3PX.

INTREPID (The IBC Network Trans-European Pilot Interoperability Demonstrator)

A RACE funded project, INTREPID, aims to provide a broadband infrastructure connecting users in two objective one regions of Europe, addressing issues with respect to interoperability and Quality of Service, and expanding the trials and user community across the network.

The INTREPID consortium comprises MARI (Northern Ireland) Limited, University College Dublin, the University of Ulster at Jordanstown and Mentec Picturecom Ltd. The trials are currently in the areas of tourism, educational teleworking and education multimedia database access tools.

Description of facility

INTREPID operates at the national and international level, linking networking facilities at the local level to the BT SMDS and the Dublin Metropolitan Area Network.

In Northern Ireland this will be done by connecting to the UK academic network SuperJANET or directly to BT SMDS, and thus connecting through to the ATM node in London. In Ireland the Metropolitan area network will be connected to the Telecom Eireann ATM Node.

Connectivity to the ATM pilot will provide opportunities to interwork with other broad band islands in Europe and carry out interoperability experiments across INTREPID.

Access to the service will be either via SuperJANET or via a direct connection to BT SMDS (UK) or the Dublin Metropolitan Area Network (Ire).

For more information contact:
Patricia Jones                            Tel: 0232 669500
MARI (Northern Ireland) Limited           Fax: 0232 669800
Bridgewood House, Newforge Lane           E-mail: jones@mari.co.uk
Belfast, BT9 5 NW

INTTELEC

The INTTELEC user group, co-ordinated by LEDU and MARI (Northern Ireland) Ltd is comprised of actors selected from LEDU's client base of nearly 7000 small and medium sized business enterprises (SMEs).The ten SMEs selected for the INTTELEC user group are geographically dispersed throughout Northern Ireland, an area of approximately 5,500 square miles.

The current user group consists of three common interest groups (ClG) working in Printing & Publishing, Training & Education, and Information Technology & Telematics. They have identified opportunities to work together for common business objectives in diverse markets by communicating and working at a distance.

For more information contact:
Stuart McLean (LEDU)                      Tel: 0232 491031
LEDU House,                               Fax: 0232 691432
Upper Galwally,                           E-mail: 100336,2311(Compuserve)
Belfast, BT8 4TB
    
Garry McMullan                            Tel: 0232 669500
MARI (Northern Ireland) Ltd,              Fax: 0232 669800
Bridgewood House, Newforge Lane           E-mail: mcmullan@mari.co.uk
Belfast, BT9 5 NW

Queen's University Belfast

The host facility at Queen's University is partitioned into two areas of interest. The first of these concerns the interconnection of Computer Supported Collaborative Working (CSCW) and Multimedia applications over an ATM enterprise LAN, and the interconnection of Wireless LANs using an ATM switch. This is supported by the DSP & Telecommunications Research Group. The second area of interest involves distributed and/or high performance computing and networking applications. This is supported by the Parallel Computer Centre.

Technical Information

The CSCW/ Multimedia/ WLAN facility consists of a two ATM switches connected via an 8Mbps E2 line. One local switch then connects to the DV2 SuperJANET connection. A number of Sun and PC-based workstations are directly connected to each switch via a TAXI interface and internal ATM cards. TCP/IP is supported throughout the configuration, while direct ATM encoded video is available locally at each switch (using ML5). It is also intended to connect two Wireless LAN (WLAN) base stations to one of the switches. it is anticipated that the WLANs will conform to WlNDATA's FreePort architecture which supports 8Mbps Ethernet in the 2.4Ghz and 5.8 GHz frequency bands (downlink & uplink respectively); other WLAN connections will be considered .

The Distributed / High Performance Computing facility consists of 8 SGI Indy workstations, each with 64MB RAM, 1 GB disc and R4400 processor. All workstations are connected by a local ATM switch via a TAXI interface and internal ATM cards. The local ATM switch then connects to the DV2 SuperJANET connection. TCP/IP is supported throughout this configuration.

For more information on CSCW/Multimedia/WLANs contact:
Dr. A. Marshall                              Tel:  0232 245133 ext. 4248
Dept. Electrical & Electronic Engineering,   Fax:  0232 667023
Queen's University,                          E-mail: A.Marshall@ee.qub.ac.uk
Belfast, BT9 5AH.
For more information on Distributed/High Performance Computing contact:
Dr. R. F. Rankin                             Tel: 0232 245133 ext. 3819
Parallel Computer Centre    
Queen's University,                          E-mail:  R.Rankin@Queens-Belfast.ac.uk
Belfast, BT9 5AH.

HD THAMES LTD.

HD Thames is an SME independent production company, created by former members of Thames Television in 1992, to explore new opportunities in multimedia, broadcast and non-broadcast.

As an independent producer the company has substantial experience of cost-effective production (including the particular problems of using prototype equipment) and the creation and management of multi-national high technology operations.

For more information please contact Ian Martin or Paul Kafno at:
HD Thames Ltd.                                       Tel: 0181 614 2965
Teddington Studios,                                  Fax:0181 614 2955
Broom Road, Teddington Lock,
Middlesex,  TW11 9NT.

Mercury One-2-One/Cable and Wireless/Ericsson Radio Systems

The vision of Mercury One-2-One is to lead the market for personal communications, satisfying people's needs for affordable, convenient and reliable telecommunications in the home, at work and on the move. Cable and Wireless have telecommunications interests throughout the world. In the UK, they are the principal shareholder of Mercury Communications Ltd, a fixed PSTN operator. Ericsson is a leading international supplier of telecommunications equipment and is a market leader in the area of mobile communications.

The first stage of the Mercury One-2-One network, implemented mainly with Ericsson supplied equipment, was switched on in September 1993. By mid October 1994, the network provided access to 30% of the UK population, representing about 16 - 17 million people. Mercury One-2-One will provide coverage to 90% of the UK population by the end of the decade.

For more information contact:
Dr Alan Marsh                                 Tel: 0181 214 2233
Mercury One-2-One,                            Fax: 0181 905 1671
Imperial Place,
Borehamwood, WD6 1EA.

Yorkshire Cable (with University of Bradford)

Yorkshire Cable is a rapidly expanding cable operator with coverage of the major conurbations of Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster. They have established a productive collaboration with the University of Bradford in both originating new network services and in initiating research into the 'radio over fibre' environment for personal communications.

Yorkshire Cable offer a wide range of entertainment and telecommunications services which include the following.

Among other new services to be introduced in the near future are: The network is also configured to support interactive TV, a facility which will be commissioned shortly, while a wide range of cell-based services are also the subject of feasibility studies. Immediate future planning covers the availability of full data (Internet) multimedia service supporting E-Mail, Home Shopping and Banking as well as educational and information services.

For more information contact:
Kevin Truby                              Tel: 0274 828282
Engineering & Operations Manager         Fax: 0274 828400
Yorkshire Cable Communications Ltd       E-mail: Kevin@truby.demon.co.uk
Mayfair Business Park,
Broad Lane,
Bradford, BD4 8PW.

EUROBELL

Eurobell was one of the first independent telecommunications companies to enter the deregulated UK market. It owns and operates a franchise in the Horley-Crawley- Gatwick area south of London which includes London Gatwick airport.

The Eurobell commercial facility comprises Cable TV distribution and digital telecommunications networks built in the last two years using state-of-the-art technologies. Both networks share a ring topology using optical fibres. A good cross section of both residential and business users are connected.

The cable TV facility offers almost 40 channels to its subscribers. The digital telecommunications network offers telephony, ISDN and other advanced services For more information contact:

Peter Woodward                           Tel: 0293 400 444
Eurobell Ltd                             Fax: 0293 400 440
                                         E-mail:  100325.605@compuserve.com

BT Laboratories Futures Test-Bed

The BT Laboratories Futures Test-Bed is being developed as a test-bed for R&D activity into multimedia information services and broadband networks. The network will provide a broadband capability to 600+ desks in the Advanced Applications and Technologies Department and will provide a basis for work in fields as diverse as fibre- optics, networks, network management, multimedia databases, information engineering, services and applications (including business, medicine, education, library of the future, shopping and entertainment).

The network will include a single mode optical fibre backbone carrying switched 155MBit/s ATM. It will provide an Ethernet segment (10MBit/s) to every desk, with 155MBit/s ATM where required for higher bandwidth applications. A wide range of servers or terminal equipment can be connected to the network via an appropriate interface card. Optical fibre technology will be exploited on part of the network to provide much greater bandwidths (GBit+) and free application developers from concerns over bandwidth limitations.

The Futures Test-Bed has a link to SuperJANET (currently SMDS) to facilitate joint research with Universities on applications, networks and network management.

For more information contact:
Steve Sim                                            Tel: 0473 642041
Applications Research,                               Fax:0473 637400
BT Development and Procurement,                      E-mail: sim_s_p@bt-web.bt.co.uk
Advanced Applications and Technologies Department,
Martlesham Heath,
Ipswich, IP5 7RE.

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) supports the entire UK academic community with scientific skills and facilities. It provides a wide range of support services for scientific, commercial and industrial applications, serving more than 7000 different users.

Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing is one of the many facilities available. RAL is one of 14 sites on the UK's pilot ATM network and this is the backbone of an active videoconferencing network using H.320 codecs.

Videoconferencing capability is available from a number of rooms, ranging from a video booth through regular meeting rooms up to a full 200-seater lecture theatre equipped with three video projectors. The kernel of the video conferencing system is located next to the Atlas Video Facility; this provides a flexible interface between the video conferencing system and many types of computer and video source: Unix workstations, personal computers, video disks and most videotape formats.

RAL also uses the MBONE system over Internet and is currently installing ISDN video conferencing equipment. Bridges between all these various video conferencing domains are being developed to allow the maximum inter-connectivity and allow flexible conference structures, with groups, individuals, computer sources and video sources to be used simultaneously.

Satellite Ground Terminal

The satellite ground terminal is operated by RAL's Advanced Communications Unit. In the past it has mainly been used to access European Communications Satellites (ECS) satellites. It is a Ku-band station with a manually steered 3-metre dish. The terminal can be used to access satellites giving European coverage or satellites providing transatlantic links.

The terminal operates in the 12-13/14 GHz frequency range. It has a solid-state transmitter amplifier. Transmission is digital with bit rates up to 8 Mbps possible. Transmissions may be continuous or burst mode (for packet transmission).

For more information on RAL Support Services contact:
Terry Mawby                               Tel: 01235 445787
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,           Fax: 01235 445147
Chilton, Didcot,                          E-mail: tpm@inf.rl.ac.uk
Oxon, OX11 OQX.
For more information on RAL Videoconferencing contact:
Chris Osland                              Tel: 01235 445733
Atlas Video Facility,                          01235 446565 (message)
Atlas Centre,                             Fax: 01235 446626
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory            E-mail: Chris.Osland@rl.ac.uk
Chilton, Didcot,
Oxon, OX11 OQX.
For more information on the RAL Satellite Ground Terminal contact:
Prof. John Burren                         Tel: 01235 446671
Advanced Communications Unit              Fax: 01235 445753
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory            E-mail: John.Burren@rl.ac.uk
Chilton, DIDCOT
Oxon, OX11 OQX

BBC

Digital broadcasting facilities

The BBC is the national public service broadcaster in the UK. It operates two national television networks and five national radio networks. It not only makes and schedules programmes, but also runs a network of point-to-point contribution links and broadcasting transmitters. Through its Research and Development Department the BBC keeps in the forefront of technology.

The BBC is collaborating with other broadcasters in Europe to look at the possibility of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) by satellite. It is considering starting a pilot digital terrestrial broadcasting service in London towards the end of 1995, with a view to offering a public service in 1997. A limited satellite DAB service is expected to be provided in mid-1995 using an Inmarsat satellite.

Optical fibre transmission

The BBC expects to be able to offer access to digital highways or unequipped optical fibres between some of its studio centres in London and elsewhere in the UK forming parts of its contribution and primary distribution networks. Digital highways will use the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) of ITU Recommendations G.707, 708, 709 operating at the STM-16 rate of 2.48 Gbit/s on single-mode optical fibre.

R&D TV and HDTV production facilities

The BBC R&D Department at Kingswood Warren (30 km south of the centre of London) has a small studio and recording suite equipped for TV and HDTV production and post-production. These facilities are suitable for the production of short test sequences and demonstrations.

The TV studio is equipped with 1250-line HDTV cameras and 625-line cameras, lighting and some scenery. 625-line and HDTV signals can be recorded on professional quality digital recorders. Post-production facilities include editing and captioning. Programme output is normally on tape, but satellite links can sometimes be set up with advance notice for live events.

For more information contact:
Andrew Oliphant                          Tel: 0737 836657
BBC Research & Development Department,   Fax: 0737 836665
Kingswood Warren, Tadworth,              E-mail: andrew.oliphant@rd.eng.bbc.co.uk
Surrey, KT20 6NP.

Sony Broadcast & Professional - Viewing Facilities

Sony Broadcast and Professional is a major supplier of broadcast equipment throughout Europe. It houses a large, well established, R&D facility which is developing new ideas and techniques for use by the broadcast industry and professional video users. With that aim, the facility uses a network of computers and video equipment to allow complex image processing to be explored and the results displayed as well as developing high performance gate arrays to the latest available specifications.

The viewing facility is capable of showing standard and high definition pictures recorded on a number of formats to be displayed on a 4 metre screen. The facility allows up to 24 people to be seated in a small cinema-like environment.

For more information contact:
Mr J Wilkinson                                      Tel: 0256 483330
Sony Broadcast & Professional,                      Fax: 0256 810950
Jays Close, Basingstoke,                            E-mail: jhw@adv.sbc.sony.co.jp
Hants, RG22 4SB.

University of Plymouth

For advice on satellite services:
Ray Winders                                         Tel: 0752 233635/9
University of Plymouth,                             Fax: 0752 233638
The Hoe Centre, Notte Street,
Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2AR.

Cambridge University

For advice on the use of echo cancellers:
David Hurworth                                      Tel: 0223 334392
Technical Manager, Audio Visual Aids,    
                                                             
Cambridge University,
Cambridge.

University College London - Multimedia Support and Communications Centre

Connection to:
Dr D. G. Jameson (Gordon)                           Tel: 0171 380 9320
Audio Visual Centre,                                Fax: 0171 580 0995
Windeyer Building, Cleveland Street,                E-mail: g.jameson@ucl.ac.uk
London W1P 6DB.
Alternative contacts:
Mr Nick Leach                                       E-mail: n.leach@ucl.ac.uk
            
Mr Piers O'Hanlo                                    E-mail: piers@cs.ucl.ac.uk

University of Edinburgh

Graeme Wood                                         Tel: 0131 650 5003
Computing Services,                                 Fax: 0131 650 6552
The University of Edinburgh,                        E-mail: Graeme.Wood@ucs.ed.ac.uk
James Clerk Maxwell Building,
Mayfield Road,
Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ.
Part of the: Scottish MICE National Support Centre For multimedia conferencing support:
E-mail: mice-nsc-scotland@ed.ac.uk
WWW http://mice.ed.ac.uk/mice/

Loughborough University of Technology

For enquiries about the MBONE:
Jon Knight                                             Tel: 01509 228225
Department of Computer Studies                         Fax: 01509 211586
Loughborough University of Technology,                 E-mail: J.P.Knight@lut.ac.uk
Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU.
    
Martin Hamilton                                        Tel: 01509 222799
Department of Computer Studies                         Fax: 01509 265393
Loughborough University of Technology,                 E-mail: martin@mrrl.lut.ac.uk
Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU.

University of Manchester Computing Centre

Janusz Lukasiak                                        Tel: 0161 275 6007
University of Manchester Computing Centre,             Fax: 0161 275 6040
Oxford Road,                                           E-mail: J.Lukasiak@mcc.ac.uk
Manchester, M13 9PL.

University of Liverpool

Dr. J. S. Morgan (Steve)                               Tel: 051-794-3746
Computing Services Department,                              051-794-3719 (for messages)
The University of Liverpool,                           Fax: 051-794-3759
P.O. Box 147,                                          E-mail: J.S.Morgan @ UK.AC.LIVERPOOL
Liverpool, L69 3BX.

University of York

Leon Watts                                             Tel: 01904 433186
HCI Group,                                             Fax: 01904 433181
Department of Psychology,                              E-mail: law4@tower.york.ac.uk
University of York,                                    WWW: http://www.york.ac.uk/~law4
York, YO1 5DD.

Motion Media Technology Limited

Stephen Maudsley                                       Tel: 01454 329115 (Direct)
Motion Media Technology Limited,                            01454 313444 (Switchboard)
Horton Hall, Horton Hill, Horton,                      Fax: 01454 313678
Bristol, BS17 6QN.                                     E-mail: stevem@mmtech.co.uk
                                                       or:     market@mmtech.co.uk

Back Next Contents

Graphics     Multimedia      Virtual Environments      Visualisation      Contents