Was the Sega Channel the earliest form of Cable connections?

I STILL remember playing the Sega Channel when I was younger, and it seems so advanced when I look back. If I remember correctly, a TV cable would go in the back (as well as a AC adapter), and connect to server at sega with various ROM images on it (As well as pay to play games for newer releases). I wonder if it was one of the earlier form of a public cable internet (Although it connected to a server and not the internet, which was empty back then)....

EDIT: Also, was there different versions of the sega channel? When I look at other peoples pictures and screenshots of the device, it looks nothing like I have seen (The skinny cart version). I may just have a bad memory, but mine was in the shape of the 32X, not a cart.

 

Is that a cable connection, or one of the older modems?

 

The Intellivision was the first though I believe it was only tested in cretain areas in California. It hooked up throught the a cable line like the Sega Channel.

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/hardware/playcable_tech.html

 

Hmm...then the technology is older then I thought. VERY impressive for that time period.

 

When you're playing games weighing in at 4 kilobytes, baud rate hardly matters :smt042

 

EE 4984 Telecommunication Networks Project 1
SEGA CHANNEL

Jeff Lazzuri and Stan Gutowski

Sega Channel is the first of its kind. It is the first interactive service, that provides video games on demand 24 hours a day to its subscribers. It began in 1994 as a consortium between Sega of America, Inc., Telecommunications, Inc. (TCI) and Time Warner Entertainment Company.

Overview
Sega Channel will provide Sega Genesis video games directly to the homes of it's subscribers. They will have access to the following features.

* Approximately $12.95 /month (depending on your location)
* Up to 50 games a month
* 24 hours a day
* Previews of games to be released
* Unlimited playing time
* Game playing tips, video game news
* Sega game guide

Sega Channel uses the existing compression technology in conjunction with the cable system interface to provide the users with almost instant access to their favorite games. The games are sent by the following procedures.

1. Information for the games sent via satellite

2. Special adapters with on-board memory connect the Sega Genesis to the cable signal coming in

3. The user selects which game he/she wants to play, via on-screen programming and the D-pad controller

4. The game is then downloaded to the respective Sega Genesis machine. This takes less than a minute.

5. The user can then play the game for as long as he/she likes as long as the unit is turned on.

NOTE: These games play exactly like the cartridges. They are not changed in any way.

Sega has also rated each game and supllied the parents with a password (4 digit pin#) if so desired.

Technical Information

The Sega Channel signal originates in Denver, CO. It is carried over the Galaxy-7 satellite, located 91.0 degrees W longitude using transponder 1 with horizontal polarization. It is then delivered to individual cable providers. It is currently in three major markets: Dallas, TX., Los Angeles, CA., and Atlanta GA.

The uplink signal is at a carrier frequency of 1.435 GHz and occupies 8 MHz bandwidth using QPSK modulation.

The downlink signal is at a frequency of 1.1 GHz and occupies 6 MHz bandwidth using QPSK.

Subscriber Loop
# occupies two 3 MHz non-contiguous channels
# data rate=6 Mbps
# tunable to 68 different operating frequencies between 51 and 118 MHz
# BER is <10E-06
# uses Quadrature Partial Response (QPR) modulation

QPR is a modulation scheme that uses a controlled inter-symbol interference. The receiver is capable of logically decoding the signal. QPR provides 20% better bandwidth performance than QPSK with only a minor increase in signal power.

The only hardware required by the customer is the Sega Channel adapter designed by Scientific Atlanta. The adapter plugs into the Sega unit like a cartridge and is connected to the existing coaxial cable TV wiring and to an auxillary power supply. The adapter can be used on any 16 bit Sega Genesis unit.

This adapter allows the customer to download the game selected in less than 1 minute. The adapter contains 4 MB DRAM, which will hold a game up to 32 Mb in size. Once the game is downloaded, it responds exactly as if it were a cartridge.

Below is a block diagram illustrating the uplink/downlink operations.

although im not too shure now but Galaxy-7 should of been decomissioned in 2000 but its still hard at work...

 

Galaxy 7 Nation: USA. Program: Galaxy. Mass: 2,968 kg. Class: Communications. Spacecraft: HS 601. Agency: HCI. Perigee: 35,917 km. Apogee: 35,968 km. Inclination: 1.5 deg. Period: 1,444.1 min. COSPAR: 1992-072A. USAF Sat Cat: 22205. Duration: 2,947.00 days.

Geostationary at 91 deg W. The Galaxy 7 satellite failed on November 22, 2000, the third such satellite to fall victim to a design flaw in the on-board computers. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 91 deg W in 1992-1999 Last known longitude (1 September 2001) 32.55 deg E drifting at 2.022 deg W per day. References: 1 , 2

Get your mits redy thers gona be some Heat on this fast ball.
After all its gota come down some time?

 

What the hell? I don't remember it being like that. Maybe it's just me, but the way it was done was Sega would give you about 20 or so random games a month to play on the sega channel server, plus the pay to play games, and change it the next month. Besides connecting to it, there was no downloading to do.

Edit: Oh, I get what they are saying now. Eh, until I saw the RAM part, I thought they were talking about something else.

 

Wish some one Could reverse engener the Rom to work with emulators...

 

There was no rom. Only ram. Once the unit was turned off, the data was lost.

 

I think there was a splash screen/BIOS. And I believe it was dumped. Also, I believe I've played a "ROM" or two dumped from a Sega Channel demo.

 

i have that bios rom and it keeps giving me a error about there not being a adapter or something like that. I realy wanted the music from it but i cant get past that error menu. :smt022