Basic Equipment...
At CareGroup, the TeleMedicine team attempts to make videoconferencing as easy as using your home telephone and television. Thus, the technological innovations which make it all possible are generally out of view. These are the basic pieces of equipment which, when configured properly, make it possible to share voice, video and data across town and around the world.
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ISDN (Integrated Services Digital network) is a system that provides simultaneous voice and high-speed data transmission through a single "phone" line. It is an international standard for end-to-end digital transmission of voice, data and signaling. User networks can dial network channels of bandwidth in incriments of 64 kbit/s, up to 1536 kbit/s. |
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IMUX (Inverse Multiplexer) - an electronic device that enables two or more signals to pass over a single communications circuit, whether analog or digital. An inverse multiplexer allows individually dialed channels across a network to be combined into a single, higher-speed data stream. Each end of the connection uses an inverse multiplexer, or inverse mux. |
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CODEC -- COder-DECoder - is the computer interface located in the base of the videoconference cart which translates analog and digital information for sending and receiving. In the videoconferencing world, a video codec converts analog video signals from a video camera to digital signals for transmission over digital circuits (ISDN lines or IP networks), and then converts the digital signals back to analog signals for display. In the audio world, an audio codec converts analog audio signals to digital signals for transmission over digital circuits, and then converts the digital signals back to analog signals for reproduction. Our videoconference equipment incorporates both. |
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Monitor(s) - A video display that looks much like a television set. There may be one or two monitors. If there are two, one shows the information which you are Sending to the far end, the other shows what is being Received. |
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Camera and Limelight - The camera captures visual images of the room and transmits them to the Codec for distribution to the far end. The Limelight is a microphone with triangulating sensors which, when set on automatic, will move the camera to the location where sound is being generated. |
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Power Microphone - a very senstive disk-shaped microphone, typically is located in the middle of a room, which automatically adjusts audio levels for the far end to hear. |
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Infared Remote Keypad - in addition to the dialing mechanism, the keypad enables both Near and Far End Control of the main camera as well as any peripheral devices. |
| Other Peripherals can be added to the sytem to enhance interaction: |
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