Internet Access Technology: Upstream

and Downstream
Internet access technology refers to a data communications
system that connects an Internet subscriber to an ISP
such as a telephone company(DSL) or cable company
How is access technology designed?
Most Internet users follow an asymmetric pattern
a subscriber receives more data from the Internet than sending
a browser sends a URL that comprises a few bytes
in response, a web server sends content
Upstream to refer to data traveling from a subscriber to an
ISP
Downstream to refer to data traveling from an ISP in the
Internet to a subscriber
Figure 12.1 illustrates the definitions

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Internet Access Technology: Upstream
and Downstream

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 Narrowband and Broadband Access
Technologies
A variety of technologies are used for Internet access
They can be divided into two broad categories based on the
data rate they provide
Narrowband
Broadband
In networking terms, network bandwidth refers to data rate
Thus, the terms narrowband and broadband reflect industry
practice
Narrowband Technologies
Broadband Technologies

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 Narrowband and Broadband Access
Technologies
Narrowband Technologies
refers to technologies that deliver data at up to 128 Kbps
For example, the maximum data rate for dialup noisy phone lines is
56 Kbps and classified as a narrowband technology
Figure 12.2 (below) summarizes the main narrowband access
technologies

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 Narrowband and Broadband Access
Technologies
Broadband Technologies
generally refers to technologies that offer high data rates, but the
exact boundary between broadband and narrowband is blurry
many suggest that broadband technologies deliver more than 1 Mbps
but this is not always the case, and may mean any speed higher than dialup
Figure 12.3 (below) summarizes the main broadband access
technologies

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Narrowband vs Broadband

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Internet connectionnarrow or broadband

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 ISP Hierarchy

customer

Local loop or Last mile

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 Local Loop Technologies

Electric local loop(POTS lines): Voice, ISDN, DSL

Optical local loop: Fiber Optics services such as FiOS
Satellite local loop: communications satellite and cosmos
Internet connections of satellite television (DVB-S)
Cable local loop: Cablemodem
Wireless local loop (WLL): LMDS, WiMAX, GPRS, HSDPA,
DECT

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 The Local Loop and ISDN
Local loop describes the physical connection between a
telephone company Central Office (CO) and a subscriber
consists of twisted pair and dialup call with 4 KHz of bandwidth
It often has much higher bandwidth; a subscriber close to a CO may be able
to handle frequencies above 1 MHz
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
ISDN offers three separate digital channels
designated B, B, and D (usually written 2B + D)
The 2 B channels (each 64 Kbps) are intended to carry
digitized voice, data, or compressed video
Both of the B channels can be combined or bonded to produce a
single channel with an effective data rate of 128 Kbps
The D channel (16 Kbps) is used as a control channel
Newer local loop technologies provide higher data rates at
lower cost, relegating ISDN to a few special cases
ISDN has little niche market in US, pretty popular in Japan &
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Europe
 What is ISDN?
INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK

ISDN is a set of standards which define

an end to end Digital Network
WAN Technology
 Features of ISDN
Uses Digital Signal
Uses Existing telephone wiring
Charges are generally based on the duration of
call (How long the WAN link was used)
Alternate to using leased lines
Can transport many types of Network traffic
(Voice, Data, Video, Text, Graphics etc)
Faster Data transfer rate than modems
Faster Call setup than Modems
 ISDN Components
Terminal Equipment type 1 (TE1)
* ISDN compatible device (Router with ISDN Interface)
* TE1s connect to the ISDN network through a four-wire,
twisted-pair digital link
Terminal Equipment type 2 (TE2)
* ISDN Non-compatible devices.
* Will require a terminal adapter.
Terminal Adapter (TA)
* Converts standard electrical signals into the form used by ISDN
* Needed for connection with TE2 devices
* The ISDN TA can be either a standalone device or a board inside
the TE2
 ISDN Components
Network termination type 1 (NT1)
* Network-termination devices that connect the four-wire
Subscriber wiring to the conventional two-wire local loop
* Is a customer premises equipment (CPE) device (North America)

Network termination type 2 (NT2)

* Intelligent device that performs switching & concentrating.
* Provides multiple ISDN interfaces on an ISDN line. The NT2
may be as simple as a bridging device connected to an NT1 unit
or it may be as complicated as a PBX (Private Branch
exchanges)
 ISDN Reference points
ISDN specifies a number of reference points that define logical
interfaces between functional groupings, such as TAs and NT1s.
ISDN reference points include the following:

R---The reference point between non-ISDN equipment and a TA.

S---The reference point between user terminals and the NT2.
T---The reference point between NT1 and NT2 devices.
U---The reference point between NT1 devices and line-termination
equipment in the carrier network. The U reference point is
relevant only in North America, where the NT1 function is not
provided by the carrier network
 ISDN Reference points
Reference points are a series of specifications that
define the connection between specific devices,
depending on their function in the end-to-end
connection
 ISDN Encapsulation
HDLC
(High-Level Data Link Control)

PPP
(Point to Point Protocol)

LABP
(Link Access Procedure Balance)

ISDN interfaces allow only a single encapsulation type

 Telecommuter/Remote User

Using Modem>

Using ISDN>
 Telecommuter/Remote Office
Components & Considerations
ISDN Router
Multiple remote users at the same location
 ISDN Service
BRI (Basic Rate Interface)
Connection from the ISDN office to the user location provides for
access to three channels. The channels are two 64Kb B-channels and
one 16Kb D-channel
The B-channels and the D-channel provide the user with access to the
circuit switched network
 ISDN Service
PRI (Primary Rate Interface)
ISDN Primary Rate Interface service provides digital access via a T1
line. A T1 line provides a 1.544 bandwidth. This bandwidth is divided
into 24 64Kb channels. The ISDN PRI service uses 23 B channel
access and uses the 24th (D) channel for signaling purposes
 ISDN Protocols
Protocols which start with the following letter:

E - Protocols recommend telephone network standards for ISDN

(International Telephone Numbering Plans)

I - Protocols for I.400=User-Network Interface & I.100=Concepts,

Structures & Terminology

Q - Protocols, how switching and signaling should operate, call

setup etc. (Q.921=LAPD & Q.931=ISDN Network layer)

LAPD is used to deliver signaling messages to the switch (call setup)

Link Access Procedure on the D channel
(not between routers, only between router and ISDN switches)
Asymmetrical Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL)
Introduction
ADSL is a form of DSL, a data communications
technology that enables faster data transmission over
copper telephone lines

ADSL is capable of providing up to 50 Mbps, and

supports voice, video and data.

ADSL is the #1 Broadband Choice in the World with

over 60% market share

ADSL is now available in every region of the world

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 What does ADSL mean

Asymmetric - The data can flow faster in one direction

than the other. Data transmission has faster downstream
to the subscriber than upstream

Digital - No type of communication is transferred in an

analog method. All data is purely digital, and only at the
end, modulated to be carried over the line.

Subscriber Line - The data is carried over a single twisted

pair copper loop to the subscriber premises

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 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Technologies
DSL is one of the main technologies used to provide high-speed data
communication services over a local loop
Figure 12.4 (below) lists DSL variants
Because the names differ only in the first word, the set is collectively referred
to by the acronym xDSL
Currently, ADSL is most popular

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 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Technologies
ADSL is the most widely deployed variant
and the one that most residential customers use
ADSL uses FDM to divide the bandwidth of the local loop
into three regions
one of the regions corresponds to traditional analog phone service,
which is known as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
and two regions provide data communication
Figure 12.5 (below) illustrates how ADSL divides bandwidth

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 How does ADSL work
ADSL exploits the unused analogue bandwidth
available in the wires

PSTN Upstream Downstream

4 25,875 138 1104 KHz

ADSL works by using a frequency splitter device to split a
traditional voice telephone line into two frequencies
 Local Loop Characteristics and
Adaptation
ADSL technology is complex
because no two local loops have identical electrical characteristics
ADSL is adaptive
That is, when a pair of ADSL modems are powered on, they probe
the line between them to find its characteristics
agree to communicate using techniques that are optimal for the line
ADSL uses Discrete Multi Tone modulation (DMT)
that combines frequency division multiplexing and inverse
multiplexing techniques
FDM in DMT is implemented by dividing the bandwidth into
286 separate frequencies called sub-channels
255 sub-channels allocated for downstream data transmission
31 allocated for upstream data transmission

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 Local Loop Characteristics and
Adaptation
Two of the upstream channels are reserved for control
information
There is a separate modem running on each sub-channel,
which has its own modulated carrier
Carriers are spaced at 4.1325 KHz intervals to keep the signals from
interfering with one another
To guarantee that its transmissions do not interfere with
analog phone signals
ADSL avoids using the bandwidth below 26 KHz
Two ends assess the signal quality at each frequency
Use the quality to select a modulation scheme
If a particular frequency has a high signal-to-noise ratio
ADSL selects a modulation scheme that encodes many bits per baud
If the quality on a given frequency is low
ADSL selects a modulation scheme that encodes fewer bits per baud

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 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line
Background
motivation for developing ADSL

historical development

DSL end-to-end environment and reference model

Line environment - characteristics of local loop (LL)
Why conventional modems dont work so well in LL?
Modem technology in ADSL
DSL flavors: ISDN (!), HDSL, ADSL, VDSL ...
Standards
interfaces
terminals standards
rx-tx channel services
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Motivation for developing ADSL
Need for high-speed Internet access - also telephone
modem speeds have peaked and cable modems have
turned out
DSL means methods to transmit high speed data to local
loop by using unshielded 2-wire twisted pairs
DSL allows rates varying from 160 kb/s up 50 Mb/s on
down link (DL) depending on technology used!
In the most popular commercial ADSL 512 kbit/s upstream
and 2048 kb/s downstream
Different operation modes developed to serve symmetric
and asymmetric traffic requirements and different rates
(STM and ATM supported by ADSL)

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 History of digital access in PSTN

Through analog voice:

Connecting a voice-band
modem (as V.90)
No switch or network
infra changes
The first DSL technique

Through ISDN switch:

Yields basic rate access (BRI)
fixed throughput 2B+D

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Digital access in PSTN (cont.)
Digital/analog switch

Using POTS
splitters

Requires new in-house wiring here

POTS FDM splitters separate voice and DSL channels
Using digital
switch

Next generation intelligent switch recognizes subscriber devices and adjusts its HW
parameters (PSTN telephone, voice-band modem, DSL modem)
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 Short history of ADSL

1985 -- Bell Labs discovers a new way to make traditional copper wires
support new digital services - especially video-on-demand (VOD)
Phone companies start deploying High-Speed DSL (HDSL) to offer T1
1990 -- service on copper lines without the expense of installing repeaters -
first between small exchanges
Phone companies begin to promote HDSL for smaller and smaller
companies and ADSL for home internet access
1993 evaluation of three major technologies for ADSL:
QAM, DMT and CAP
1995 -- Innovative companies begin to see ADSL as a way to meet the need
for faster Internet access
DMT was adopted by almost all vendors following ANSI T1.413 -
1998 -- issue 2 (in contrast to CAP)
1999 -- ITU-T produced UADSL G.992.2 (G.lite) and G.922.1 (G.full)
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 Generic DSL reference model
CO CP
repeater
Switch or LT MDF NID
multiplexer
ADSL repeater NT TE

Local loop

CO: Central office

CP: Customers premises - local loop connects to switch (CO)
TE: Terminal equipment - PC or telephone
NT: Network terminal - DSL modem at CP
ATU-R
NID: Network interface device - all customers installation reside right from this
point and telephone company's to the left in the diagram
MDF: Main distribution frame - wire cross-connection field connects all
loops to CO
ATU-C LT: Line termination eg DSL modem
repeater: signal regeneration for transmission introduced impairments
local loop: in ADSL 2-wire connection between CO and CP
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 ADSL network components

The ADSL modem at the customer premises(ATU-R)

The modem of the central office (ATU-C)

DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM)

Broadband Access Server (BAS)

Splitter - an electronic low pass filter that separates the

analogue voice or ISDN signal from ADSL data
frequencies DSLAM.
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ADSL Loop Architecture

DSL

Voice Switch

ISP

Central Subscriber
Office premises
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Using
ADSL

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 What is specified in ADSL standard?
ANSI T1.413 ADSL reference model:
T/S not defined by T1.413
Cross connections

PC

In T1.413 the V-C and T-R interfaces

are defined only in terms of their
functions but they are not technically
SM: service module
specified

Standard specifies interfaces and units as for example

ATU-R: ADSL transceiver unit - remote terminal
ATU-C: ADSL transceiver unit - central office terminal units
U-C (2), U-R (2) interfaces
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 ADSL Requirements

Phone-line, activated by your phone company for ADSL

Filter to separate the phone signal from the Internet

signal

ADSL modem

Subscription with an ISP supporting ADSL

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ADSL challenge:
bad quality local loop cables
Attenuation
Crosstalk
Near-end crosstalk (NEXT) appears when same

frequency band used for UL and DL - between A-A

Far-end crosstalk (FEXT) appears in the link A-B

Interference: other lines, overlapping RF-spectra

Bridged taps, loading coils
Weather-conditions (moisture, temperature) affect
crosstalk and line impedance

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ADSL meets local loop challenges
Restricted bandwidth
careful allocation of bits for each sub-carrier

Changing circumstances (whether, bridged taps)

Adaptive setup phase

High attenuation
Usage of relatively high bandwidth for transmission

Compatibility to old POTS

Own band for POTS by splitters

Interference and cross-talk

Coding

Interleaving
Note: loading coils must
be removed from cables
Modulation (OFDM/DMT)
in order to ADSL to work
Echo cancellation
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 The Data Rate of ADSL
How fast can ADSL operate? ADSL can achieve
a downstream rate of 8.448 Mbps on short local loops
and an upstream rate of 640 Kbps
Network control channel requires 64 Kbps
The effective upstream rate for user data is 576 Kbps
ADSL2 can download at close to 20 Mbps
Adaptation has an interesting property
ADSL does not guarantee a data rate
ADSL can only guarantee to do as well as line conditions allow
Those farther(physical distance) from a CO (or local loop passes near
sources of interference) lower data rates than subscribers who live near
the CO (or a local loop does not pass near sources of interference) thus
the downstream rate varies from 32 Kbps to 8.448 Mbps
the upstream rate varies from 32 to 640 Kbps

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 ADSL Installation and Splitters
Analog phones operate at frequencies below 4 KHz
lifting a receiver can generate noise that interferes with DSL signals
ADSL uses an FDM device known as a splitter
It divides the bandwidth by passing low frequencies to one output
and high frequencies to another
A splitter is passive; it does not require power
A splitter is usually installed at the location where the local loop
enters a residence or business
Figure 12.6 illustrates the connection
A variation of ADSL wiring (DSL-lite) has become popular
it does not require a splitter to be installed on the incoming line
a subscriber can install DSL by plugging a splitter into a wall jack
and plugging a telephone into the splitter

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ADSL Installation and Splitters

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 ADSL standards :

Standard name Common name Downstream Upstream

rate rate
ITU G.992.1 ADSL (G.DMT) 8 Mbit/s 1.0 Mbit/s
ITU G.992.2 ADSL Lite (G.Lite) 1.5 Mbit/s 0.5 Mbit/s
ITU G.992.3/4 ADSL2 12 Mbit/s 1.0 Mbit/s

ITU G.992.3/4 Annex J ADSL2 12 Mbit/s 3.5 Mbit/s

ITU G.992.3/4 Annex L RE-ADSL2 5 Mbit/s 0.8 Mbit/s
ITU G.992.5 ADSL2+ 24 Mbit/s 1.0 Mbit/s
ITU G.992.5 Annex L RE-ADSL2+ 24 Mbit/s 1.0 Mbit/s
ITU G.992.5 Annex M ADSL2+ 28 Mbit/s 3.5 Mbit/s
ADSL Speed Comparison

Pure Fibre
Hybrid Fibre/Copper
FTT
H
Enhanced
Copper FTTx,
VDSL2,
ADSL2plus
ADS
L
ISD
Voice band N
Modem
ADSL Range
In general, the maximum range for DSL without a repeater
is 5.5 km
As distance decreases toward the telephone company
office, the data rate increases
Data Rate Wire gauge Wire size Distance
1.5 or 2 Mbps 24 AWG 0.5 mm 5.5 km
1.5 or 2 Mbps 26 AWG 0.4 mm 4.6 km
6.1 Mbps 24 AWG 0.5 mm 3.7 km
1.5 or 2 Mbps 26 AWG 0.4 mm 2.7
For larger distances, you may be able to have DSL if your
phone company has extended the local loop with optical
fiber cable
ADSL Speed Factors
The distance from the local exchange

The type and thickness of wires used

The number and type of joins in the wire

The proximity of the wire to other wires carrying ADSL,

ISDN and other non-voice signals

The proximity of the wires to radio transmitters.

 DIGITAL LOOP CARRIER $YSTEMS

The primary purpose of a digital loop carrier( DLC) system

is to reduce or eliminate copper pairs from a central office to the
vicinity of a group of subscriber

The key advantages to DLC carrier systems are the cost

effective transmission and the ability to rapidly add, delete, or
change customer services without having to dispatch an
installation technician.

The DLC system offers improved efficiency through the use of

existing distribution cabling systems. DLC systems also offer
the ability to extend the range of access lines from the central
office to the end customer as the RDT effectively operates as a
repeater.
 Universal Digital Loop Carrier system(UDLC)

The UDLC is a system that consists of RDTs and central

office terminals (COTs).
The remote digital terminal(RDT) provides an interface
between the digital transmission line (e.g., DS1) and the
customers access line
The RDT can dynamically assign time slots from the
communication line to customer access lines.
 Integrated Digital Loop Carrier - IDLC

IDLC systems are the integration of the integrated digital

terminal (IDT) and remote digital terminal (RDT)
The IDT is part of the local digital switch (LDS) and it acts
like a concentrator to put more channels on a digital
communications line
The IDLC system moves some of the switching services
from the local switches into RDTs to increase the efficiency
of communication lines between customers and the central
office.
Integrated Digital Loop Carrier (IDLC) System Diagram
 Cable Modem Technologies
A variety of wireless and wired technologies have been
developed for use in the local loop
An alternative access technology that uses the wiring
already in place for cable television
It is also known as Community Antenna TeleVision (CATV)
It uses FDM to deliver TV signals over coaxial cable
CATV is not available in all countries
Coaxial cable has high bandwidth and is less susceptible to
electromagnetic interference than twisted pair
CATV systems use FDM to deliver many channels
In CATV the bandwidth is insufficient to handle a FDM scheme that
extends a channel to each user
Using a separate channel per subscriber does not scale
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Cablemodem connection

57
Home Network connection

58
 The Data Rate of Cable Modems
How fast can a cable modem operate?
In theory, a cable system can support data rates of 52 Mbps
downstream and 512 Kbps upstream.
In practice, the rate can be much less
The data rate of a cable modem only pertains to
communication between the local cable office and the
subscriber's site
The bandwidth is shared among a set of N subscribers (the
size of the set is controlled by the cable provider)
sharing the bandwidth with other subscribers can be a disadvantage
because the effective data rate available to each individual subscriber
varies over time
if N subscribers share a single frequency
the amount of capacity available to an individual subscriber will be 1/N
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Cable Infrastructure

60
 Cable Modem Installation
Cable modem installation is straightforward
Cable modems attach to the cable wiring directly
The FDM hardware in existing cable boxes and cable
modems guarantees that data and entertainment channels
will not interfere with one another

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 Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC)
HFC can provide high-speed data communications
a HFC system uses a combination of optical fibers and coaxial cables
fiber used for the central facilities and coax used for connections to
individual subscribers
An HFC system is hierarchical
It uses fiber optics for the portions that require the highest bandwidth
and it uses coax for parts that can tolerate lower data rates
Trunk to refer to the high-capacity connections between the
cable office and each neighborhood area
Feeder circuit to refer to the connection to an individual
subscriber
Trunk connections can be up to 15 miles long
Feeder circuits are usually less than a mile

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Hybrid Fiber Coax

63
 Access Technologies That Employ
Optical Fiber
There are available a variety of technologies that either
employ optical fiber in a hybrid system or deploy optical fiber
all the way to each subscriber
Figure 12.8 summarizes names of key technologies

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 Access Technologies That Employ
Optical Fiber
Fiber To The Curb (FTTC)
it uses optical fiber for high capacity trunks
the idea is to run optical fiber close to the end subscriber
and then use copper for the feeder circuits
it uses two media in each feeder circuit to allow the cable system to
provide an additional service, such as voice
Fiber To The Building (FTTB)
it will use optical fiber to allow high upstream data rates for businesses
Fiber To The Home (FTTH)
uses optical fiber to deliver higher downstream data rates to
residential subscribers
The emphasis is on many channels of entertainment and video
Fiber To The Premises (FTTP)
A generic term, FTTP, encompasses both FTTB and FTTH
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 Head-End and Tail-End Modem
Terminology
An access technology requires a pair of modems
with one at the subscriber's site and one at the provider's site
Head-end modem to refer to a modem used at the CO
Head-end modems are not individual devices
Instead, a large set of modems is built as a unit that can be
configured, monitored, and controlled together
A set of head-end modems used by a cable provider is known as a
Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS)
Tail-end modem to refer to a modem used at the subscriber
Data Over Cable System Interface Specifications (DOCSIS)
specifies both the format of data that can be sent as well as the
messages that are used to request services (e.g., pay-per-view)

66