Return
Video Switcher: Located in the Headend, the return switcher provides
the means through which any classroom can provide multimedia content
to the system (i.e. the classroom becomes a "source"). The
infrastructure, by design, provides a dedicated path from every classroom
back to the headend, where the return video/audio becomes an input to
the return video switcher. The switcher, similar to the routing switcher,
is of wideband design, allowing it to pass the entire video/audio composite
through one crosspoint. The return video switcher has 6 outputs, which
are in turn connected as sources to the routing switcher (specifically,
each output is fed to a return video receiver and then to a multiplexer,
both of which have been omitted from the diagram for simplicity) as
6 unique inputs, so that as many as 6 classrooms can be available on
the system simultaneously for video teleconferencing or distribution
to other classrooms (shared learning), other schools (distance learning),
archiving, or the Chief Leschi Television Studios as program content.
