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the Internet. In fact, they could be connected, since many actually are TCP/IP networks, but it is doubtful that this will be done rapidly due to the depth of established security procedures involved. In fact, this might be a good example of where convergence may not happen for a long time.

In the US, cable television is operated over a private cable company TCP/IP network. In a similarly ubiquitous fashion, in Europe, for example, another technology than cable, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), allows various companies to deliver to home computers both Internet for their personal computer and video-on-demand services for their television. On personal electronic devices like mobile handsets, television can be served through third generation cellular phone services, or through another path specifically designed to that effect, Digital Video Broadcast for Handsets (DVB-H). We discussed earlier about third generation; digital broadcast allows direct broadcasting to handsets using a part of TCP/IP for the one-way communication typical of television applications, i.e. IP broadcasting. Convergence is at hand between digital subscriber line and third generation technologies, as both are TCP/IP based technologies. Essentially, this will facilitate video access on the general Internet. Digital cable delivery of Internet content together with voice services today means that cable has already converged in the US, and the same can be said of digital subscriber lines in Europe and elsewhere. Broadcast, whether by satellite or DVB-H, may be part of another convergence phenomenon, that of general broadcasting over the Internet, but this may not be actual before the next generation of Internet.

Current Content Architectures

In the next chapter, we’re going to explore the rationale behind an interaction model for computer networks. Essentially, the approach provides client-server access from an individual client to content that is accessible on the network on a server. For the moment, however, we need to lay the groundwork for personal electronic services to support this access to content. In the general network model, we will consider four basic constituents: (a) the trusted core of the client personal electronic device, (b) the client personal electronic device, (c) the content service gateway, which provides access to the content institution, and (d) the content service institution, where the server lies.

From a purely networking perspective, at issue is individual access to an institution, or the work product of the institution, via the network. The trusted core of the personal electronic device represents the identity and credentials of the individual, the personal electronic device provides a means to connect to the network, the gateway provides an entry point, a sentinel if you will, to the network content, and the institution contains the data or processes that the individual needs to access.

Personal electronic devices use a trusted core, whether called a Subscriber Identity Module in telecommunications, a chip card in banking or simply a smart card in other applications like television and government. The personal electronic device provides power to the trusted core, and uses it to communicate to the network. When the personal electronic device establishes a link to an institution on the network, it points to the secure core for the institution to identify whom it is talking with. In order for the secure core to function in a device, it needs to be accessed by a class of software that we earlier termed middleware. Secure core middleware in the personal electronic device allows the device to talk with the secure core, and to use specific functions of the secure core that the device is interested in, typically information about you and your preferences.

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