| Abstract: | The deployment of broadband access networks will revolutionise many aspects of society in the early years of the next millennium. Manufacturers, telecommunications providers and cable television operators world-wide are investing heavily on research into networks that provide broadband multimedia services to customers. BT has developed a prototype of a full service access network that can connect customers via optical fibre, digital subscriber line or radio technologies. This paper describes the physical implementation of the prototype network and the wide range of services that it can support.This prototype network, referred to as the 'broadband access facility' is enabling BT and its partners to understand the best access architectures for a given environment through practical testing. The network now serves as an experimental platform, that can be used for communicating broadband concepts, designing operational processes, developing management solutions and testing advanced applications.The full service access networks (FSAN) initiative is a collaboration involving fourteen of the world's leading telecommunications network operators and major equipment manufacturers. Its vision is to create a shared requirements specification for access systems supporting narrowband and broadband services. This common specification will mean that broadband network components can be developed for world markets, thus raising volumes and driving down unit costs. The common system specification is based around an ATM/SDH (asynchronous transfer mode/synchronous digital hierarchy) core network, with local optical fibre distribution via an ATM PON (passive optical network). DSL (digital subscriber line) systems maximise reuse of existing copper plant. The exact DSL system used depends upon where the optical system is terminated, e.g. in the local exchange, cabinet, kerb or home. Hence this broadband access system can support a range of access architectures — this flexibility is fundamental to the consensus achieved in FSAN. |
