National Communications Forum: Session T-01

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National Communications Forum Session T-01

• Fundamentals of Broadband Access
• Session T-01
• Tuesday, October 17

Judith Hellerstein, President Hellerstein
Associates 2400 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 1023C
Washington, DC 20037 Phone [phone] Fax
[phone] Judithh_at_jhellerstein.com www.jhelle
rstein.com
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Outline

• What is Broadband?
• Technology Drivers The Shift Towards Data
• Broadband Applications
• Broadband Demand
• Four Access Technologies
• DSL, Cable Modem, Fixed Wireless, Satellite
• Benefits of Broadband Access
• Download and Performance Comparison Information

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What is Broadband?

• DSL 386K-7 Mb
• Cable Averages at 1 Mb
• Fixed Wireless 10Mb/s - 10Gb/s
• Satellite 300K- 2Mb

Need is 10x to 100x higher bit rate than todays
offerings
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The Internet will be THE Information
andCommunication Platform for the Future
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Technology Drivers The Shift Towards Data

• Strong Demand for Broadband access from
  Residential, SOHO, and Business
• High speed Internet Access
• Super-fast Web browsing
• Almost instantaneous file downloading
• Streaming video/audio
• Voice over DSL
• E-commerce
• Distance Learning
• Content Delivery

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Technology Drivers The Shift Towards Data
(continued)

• Educational/Health Services
• Work-at-Home
• Telecommuting
• Telephony
• Small Office / Home Office
• Teleconferencing
• Remote video monitoring
• Intranet
• Internet
• Other Business Applications, e.g., Voice over DSL
• Remote LAN Access through VPNs
• Demand for Hosted Applications

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Technology Drivers The Shift Towards Data
(continued)

• Entertainment
• Video services
• Movies
• Games
• Additional Voice Lines
• VoDSL

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2003 Broadband Demand

• More than 60 of all Internet access will be
  through broadbandDSL, Cable or Wireless
• More than half of all broadband access will be
  through DSL
• One in four users will be in smaller markets
• Strong demand in small, midsize and semi-rural
  markets

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Four Access Technologies

• DSL
• Cable Modems
• Fixed Broadband Wireless
• Satellite

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Standards Based Access Solutions

• Benefits of using a standards-based solution
• Lack of standards leads to market fragmentation,
  low volumes, and high cost
• Promotes interoperability of technologies and
  devices and leads to increased customer choice
• Allows the market to provide more product and
  supplier alternatives than possible without a
  standard
• Helps focus industry on resolving other
  challenges necessary to reach mass deployment
• Lowers costs to suppliers and to consumers
• Increases choice of providers and greater
  selection of products

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Interoperability

• Interoperability is key, both among different
  technologies and among equipment providers
• In each of the access technologies there are
  groups actively working on interoperability.
• DSL DSL Forum
• University of New Hampshires Interoperability
  lab
• Both UNH www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/index.html
  and the DSL Forum, www.dslforum.org, hold
  frequent plugfests to test interoperability of
  equipment and technology amongst a large
  collection of companies in the same room
• Open DSL Consortium
• Cable Cable Labs
• Fixed Wireless Wireless DSL Consortium
• Interoperability is a critical first step in
  getting to certification
• Service providers need to provide deployment
  models so that products can be tested and
  certified

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DSL Forum

• DSL Forum Interoperability Working Group and the
  UNH Interoperability Lab hold frequent plugfests
• G8 Interoperability Group 8, Members working to
  develop a long term framework for accelerating
  interoperability and providing leadership at
  ongoing plugfests
• Developed a framework for facilitating
  interoperability and driving towards
  certification
• Testing is currently taking place on an
  accelerated schedule

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Cable Labs

• A non-profit research and development consortium
  that represents cable TV operators. Ongoing
  Projects include
• Cable Modem
• DOCSIS Project defined the requirements for high
  speed access over cable modems
• Open cable
• Produced a series of specifications that define
  all next generation set-top boxes other digital
  devices used by cable operators
• Created a process the facilities to test and
  certify for interoperability Open cable devices
• Packet cable
• A process for delivering interoperable
  specifications for delivering advanced real-time
  multimedia services over two-way cable plant
• In-home networking

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Wireless DSL Consortium

• New group formed in July 2000 and composed of
  Fixed Broadband Wireless equipment and chip
  manufacturers, system integrators, and service
  providers whose goals are
• To define, develop, and implement a set of open
  interfaces for MMDS products.
• Enable quality of service control to the end-user
• Improve Wireless broadband coverage to non
  line-of-sight customers
• Create protocol specifications, interoperability
  standards, and validation methods for testing of
  new standard

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Spectrum Compatibility and Management

• Along with Interoperability, Spectrum
  Compatibility and Management is a crucial issue
  that needs to be addressed for all access
  technologies
• Development of spectrum compatibility standards
  is critical for DSL and is essential to reduce
  cross talk and other forms of spectrum
  interference

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DSL Flavors

• Eight Flavors of DSL
• Each flavor is dependent on
• The distance between the end user and the central
  office.
• The DSL equipment used
• DSL functionality is determined by the chipset
  that is included in the flavor offered.

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Standards Based DSL Variants

• Standards Based DSL Variants
• Asymmetric and Symmetric
• ADSL and G.Lite
• HDSL2 and G. Shdsl
• Non-standards based DSL
• RADSL, SDSL, HDSL, IDSL, and VDSL
• Propreitary solutions
• Nortel One Meg Modem
• Paradynes Reach DSL

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DSL Flavors

• ADSL
• The most popular DSL technology. Can be either
  splitter or splitterless from 384k to 7 Mb
• ADSL-Lite or G.Lite
• A stripped down version of ADSL that was meant
  for consumers that offers a lower data rate
• RADSL
• Simply a name given to the rate adaptive feature
  built into the original ADSL standard
• SDSL
• A symmetric technology that is vendor specific
  and proprietary

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DSL Flavors (continued)

• SHDSL
• Emerging ITU standard (G.shdsl)
• Spectrally compatible with ADSL and other
  technologies
• Rate adaptive form of HDSL2
• Offers superior reach over a single copper pair.
• Decision expected by Feb 2001
• Speeds from 324K to 2.3 Mbps.
• HDSL
• A vendor specific solution used mostly as a
  replacement for T-1 lines.
• Requires 4-wires or 2 copper pairs

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DSL Flavors (continued)

• HDSL2
• ITU decision on standard expected by the end of
  2000
• An improved version of HDSL that requires only
  one copper pair and no line conditioning
• Can be deployed out to 24,000 feet from the
  central office
• ANSI standard symmetric solution that is
  spectrally compatible with ADSL
• IDSL
• ISDN based low bandwidth solution (144K).
• Original choice of DLECs entering into the
  market.
• Today used mostly for loops that are too far from
  the Central Office or are served through a
  Digital Loop carrier
• VDSL
• Very High speed DSL that provides ultra-high
  bandwidth for video delivery

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Cable Modems

• Two way Broadband service provided through local
  cable operators
• Three main cable Internet providers
• _at_Home
• Roadrunner
• High Speed Access

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Structure of Networks

• Cable networks designed as a tree structure
  Branches of the tree the pathways into the
  neighborhood Leaves identifying individual
  households.
• Pathways or neighborhood nodes support around 500
  or less homes
• Nodes can be split down further to ease congestion

Regional Headends
Secondary Hubs
Primary Hubs
10-20 neighborhood nodes
Fiber rings
Fiber rings
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Cable Modem Speeds

• Two-way cable modems provide downstream data
  rates from 2 to 10 Mbps over a shared connection
• Speeds expected to climb to between 27 Mb and 34
  Mbps.
• Two way cable plant must have at least 550 MHz to
  transmit multiple advanced video and multimedia
  services.
• Majority of upgraded cable plants have 750 MHz,
  or even 860 MHz to support multimedia services,
  including true video-on demand.

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Fixed Broadband Wireless

• Wireless Access refers to delivering services
  using radio waves rather than copper, fiber, or
  coax cable.
• Can be used as a last mile technology for a
  network that uses coax and/or fiber cables.
• Services available include
• Digital info such as voice, video, and data
• Broadband access similar to ADSL
• Extensions of the PSTN or VPN
• Wireless local loop

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Fixed Broadband Wireless Technology

• Technology used to deliver wireless access
• Point-to-point
• Point-to-multipoint
• Allows high speed, high capacity two way
  multimedia service to be delivered quickly to
  consumer.
• Fixed wireless access uses spectrum between 24-42
  GHz
• ATM air interface supports voice, data, and video
  services
• Bandwidth shared among users in a cell
• Bandwidth applications from 64K to 155 Mb

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Frequencies

• Frequencies available for delivering broadband
• Spectrum used is typically above 2 GHz
• Lower frequencies often used for mobile
  applicationsHigher frequencies often used for
  fixed wireless access
• Fixed Wireless technologies include LMDS, MMDS,
  and DEMS
• Fixed wireless spectrum lies between 24-42 GHz
• Both Licensed and unlicensed bands are available
• Unlicensed 2.5, 5, 18, and 60 GHz bands (ex.
  Metricoms Ricochet)
• Licensed 2.6, 24-26, 28-30, and 38-40 GHz bands

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Fixed Wireless Broadband Access Providers and
Target Markets

• Teligent
• Winstar
• Advanced Radio Telecom
• ATTs Project Angel
• Sprint
• WorldCom
• Target Markets
• SOHO
• Small Business
• Medium Business

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Benefits of Fixed Broadband Wireless

• Provides bandwidth and access speeds equal or
  greater than ADSL or cable modems
• Can extend the reach of fiber or coax by
  providing the last mile of the network
• Fast market entry for service providers as
  compared to wired systems
• Low startup and entry costs
• Pay as you go approach carriers only required to
  add equipment as the number of users grow
• Operator control over facilities
• Flexibility of deployment, especially in
  medium--high population densities where
  penetration rates are initially low

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Challenges

• Overcoming line-of-sight limitations
• Broadband wireless technology not as well
  understood as broadband wired technologies
• Although spectrum is available, equipment is not
  readily available
• Technology for the higher frequencies is just now
  coming to market
• Lack of any high volume production of equipment
  needed
• 155 Mb modems are only produced in low-volume,
  high-cost production
• Technology for low-cost, high speed burst modems
  is available but systems have not been produced.

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Satellites

• Geostationary (GEOs) satellites have a line of
  sight to almost every location
• Low earth orbit (LEOs) multi satellite systems
  have a line of sight to every location above
  ground
• Two way Satellite systems are just being launched
• Current data access uses the Ku band of spectrum
• Future broadband access will be provided through
  the use of the Ka band of spectrum
• Broadband access through Ka spectrum have only
  been tried in labs and thus is untested and
  unproven. Best examples are Teledesic and iSky

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Satellite Providers

• Tachyon.net offers three different levels of
  service
• 300K, 800K, and 2Mb
• Services sold through ISPs
• Gilat-to-Home
• Planned deployments by end of the year through
  VSATs
• 40Mb outbound, 150K inbound (shared)
• Hughes
• DirectPC offers a one way broadband service

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Benefits of Broadband Access

• High Speed always on connections to the
  Internet
• Cost-effective
• Less expensive to deploy than fiber, frame relay,
  or T-1 services
• Operates over ordinary 2-wire phone lines
• Does not require huge upfront costs
• Users can be added incrementally
• Workers no longer need to be located on site to
  gain access to corporate LAN
• No waiting for connection or busy signals
• Faster time to market

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Bandwidth Requirements for Broadband Applications
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Download Comparison
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Performance Comparison
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Conclusion

• Data traffic demand is driving access market to
  provide high-capacity transport
• Limitations of Fiber/DSL technology are driving
  the broadband wireless industry
• Cost-effectiveness of broadband access
• Great market potentials

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• Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
• Judith Hellerstein, President
• Hellerstein Associates
• 2400 Virginia Avenue NW Washington, DC 20037
• Phone [phone] Fax [phone]
• Judith_at_jhellerstein.com www.jhellerstein.com
• Thank You