We propose a new Internet group management protocol (IGMP) which can be used in passive optical network (PON) especially for IPTV services which dramatically reduces the channel change response time caused by traditional IGMP. In this paper, the newly proposed IGMP is introduced in detail and performance analysis is also included. Simulation results demonstrated the performance of the newly proposed IGMP, whereby, viewers can watch the shared IPTV channels without the channel change response time when channel request reaches a threshold.

This paper describes research on a cost-effective regional Personal-Computer (PC) communication network system based on Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) systems and examines its realization. A small scale prototype experimental system was developed and tested in a home-use trial. This paper specifically discusses a sophisticated system architecture with a newly developed miutiplex-port brouter (bridging router) based on the experimental system. The system provides a LAN environment and group communication services to the customers. The Low-end Card (LEC), which provides the popular Ethernet interface (10Base-T), is set up in the subscriber household. The leased circuits are connected between the LEC and the brouter. The LEC and the brouter are controlled by the management server to function as a group communication system. The brouter, which has a multiplex subscriber-port interface, must accommodate many customers in a cost effective manner. This paper presents the system design of a multiplex-port brouter with an SDH/SONET interface. Two types of interface cards at 150 Mbit/s and 50 Mbit/s are prepared making the system scalable. The brouter can accommodate up to 2,700 subscribers. The subscriber channel rate can be set from 64 Kbit/s to 1.5 Mbit/s. Ethernet packets from the PCs are transferred through each subscriber channel between the LEC and the brouter using the High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocol.

This paper describes the concept of the regional community network system. The system provides PC connectionless communication services to residential customers and a platform on which customers can construct closed user groups. The proposed system is superior to conventional dial-up PC communications from the viewpoint of quick response and communication charge. A new mechanism of group management using the MAC addresses of the interface cards embedded in the ONU and PC terminals is proposed. Conventional telecommunication services, multi-channel video distribution services, and connectionless computer communication services can be provided simultaneously by utilizing the fiber-optic access system. The regional community network system is promising for the construction of a regional information platform and would be one of the forces driving FTTH.