System Control Facilities: Head-Ends and Central Processors. A Survey of Technical Requirements for Broadband Cable Teleservices; Volume Four.

The system control facilities in broadband communication systems are discussed in this report. These facilities consist of head-ends and central processors. The first section summarizes technical problems and needs, and the second offers a cursory overview of systems, along with an incidental mention of processors. Section 3 looks at the question of the computer needs laid upon the central processor at head-ends or subhead-ends by particular service requirements; the following section considers the problems of coupling the computer into a communications system. Privacy and security, worrisome areas in time-shared computers to say nothing of cable television systems, are considered in section 5, while performance standards, both present and future, are treated in section 6. Section 7 deals with the measurements required by Federal Communications Commission regulations. A set of appendixes covers such areas as the characteristics of television signals and existing standards. (Author)