LAN system interlinks venues >BY Beth Snyder

Getting around the monstrous Olympic Stadium in the hot Atlanta sun, at least for non-athletes, could be an invitation to heat exhaustion. Fortunately for the broadcasters and scorekeepers, BellSouth is using Lucent Technologies' Systimax structured cabling system to connect the areas within each venue. The system will control the telephone and data transmission up to 100 Mb/s, forming a separate local area network-type environment at each of the 26 sports areas. Systimax SCS, a fiber backbone with copper, runs to each desktop and handles everything from low-grade data to category 5 transmission. "What's unique about Systimax SCS is that it's a total package with end-to-end connections from the desktop to the demarcation point in the building," says Randy Winfield, account manager of network cable systems for Georgia at Lucent. All the individual LANs' Systimax SCS systems will be connected to one another through the Sonet fiber networks set up by BellSouth. Telephone users calling within the Systimax SCS/Sonet network will use five-digit numbers to talk to different locations at each venue. Users will also be able to get outside connections. So although the sun beats down on the Olympic Games, you might say officials at every venue have it made in the shade.