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papers > gifford90
David K. Gifford (1990).
Polychannel systems for mass digital communications.
Communications of the ACM, vol.33, no.2, pp.141--151.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/75577.75580
Abstract
We describe a new type of distributed computer system that looks beyond workstation and local area network assumptions towards the time when computers will be used by everyone at both home and the office. This new system is designed to provide sophisticated information services to an entire metropolitan area. We have combined digital broadcast channels and duplex communication channels in a polychannel system that uses predicate based database content labels to automatically route queries. Our thesis is that a polychannel system produces substantial cost and system scaling advantages while retaining the flexibility of client-server style duplex communication. Experimental data from two year test of the Boston Community Information System (BUS) with hundreds of users supports this thesis. The overall goal of the BCIS project is to explore a new type of computer system architecture capable of providing sophisticated information services to every home and office in a city of perhaps a million people. As part of the project we have designed and implemented a system that addresses this goal, and tested it on a sample population in the Boston area.
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