OCSNM1/RMCSM1 Data Communication &

Network Principles, Section A 9

Access to Wide Area Networks using:
xDSL on the PSTN 'local loop'
Cable TV modems

Relevant section to read in text books:

Stallings (7th Ed.), 8.5
Halsall (4th Ed) 2.5.2,

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 1

ADSL
ADSL is Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (or Loop).
About 27 million copper wire pairs in the UK connect
telephony customers to their local telephone exchange.
These existing cables can be used to carry high data rates
due to recent advances in line transmission techniques.
ADSL goes far beyond ISDN data rates, allowing data
rates of 2 - 6 Mbit/sec 'downstream' and 200 - 800 kbit/sec
'upstream' on existing copper telephony pairs (the higher
data rates are only possible on shorter lines).
Maximum range of ADSL is 3.6 to 5.75km, depending on
the cable characteristics. ADSL signals can travel from a
telephone exchange to most customers but not all.
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 2

ADSL versus ISDN

Some ADSL applications

ISDN:
is circuit-switched through the PSTN
uses baseband digital transmission, including the audio
frequency range.
replaces POTS (Plain Old Telephony Service)
ADSL:
is not circuit-switched through the PSTN but takes a
completely different route.
retains the existing analogue POTS service. ADSL can
be used on the same line at the same time as POTS.
uses frequencies from 25 kHz - 1.1 MHz which are
above the highest audible frequency.

Fast Internet access with an 'always connected'

service. Also home shopping, video conferencing,
etc.
'Video on Demand' and subscription TV channels.
Digital transmission of moving TV pictures at
2Mbit/sec with quality comparable to a VHS
video recording using MPEG (Motion Picture
Experts Group) compression (not a great
commercial success so far)

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 3

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 4

Overview of ADSL configuration

Analogue voice to/from
subscriber's line card

Splitter

ADSL/VDSL Customer Premises Equipment

(CPE) (with splitter)

Analogue voice
telephone

Computer,
TV, etc.

Splitter
POTS U/S D/S

Existing copper

Splitter

telephony pair

HPF
New data cable
(analogue)

TV or computer

xDSL
NT

Data to/from Internet

ADSL NT
Local Telephone Exchange

Phone line
carrying POTS
& xDSL

LPF
Existing house
telephone wiring

Customer's Premises

Logically ADSL and the PSTN are completely separate

networks but they share the same physical copper pair
cable.
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 5

ADSL/VDSL Customer Premises Equipment

(CPE)
At the customer's premises, a splitter separates the audio
frequency POTS signals from the higher frequency xDSL
(ADSL or VDSL) signals (splitterless ADSL uses a
separate microfilter splitter at each telephone socket).
Audio frequency signals are fed to existing analogue
telephones via existing house wiring. Higher frequencies
go to an xDSL Network Terminator (NT) via a new cable.
The NT is an ADSL modem. It may be
an external ADSL modem connected to a computer via an Ethernet
or USB link
an internal ADSL modem on a PCI card
built into the TV set-top box for Video on Demand.
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 7

Telephones

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 6

Typical Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)

for 'Splitterless' ADSL
Incoming
telephone line
carrying POTS
& xDSL

New
cable

Computer

DSL modem
LPF
Telephone
ADSL
'Microfilters'
in telephone
sockets
Telephone

Existing
indoor
telephone
wiring
LPF

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 8

Typical ADSL equipment at an ADSL equipped

telephone exchange

The
Backhaul
link

voice

Analogue baseband
voice signals to/from
PSTN

Link to Internet
Service Provider
(ISP), e.g. 2.048
Mbit/s

DSLAM

LPF

Existing 2
wire pair

HPF

to/from
customer

Digital Subscriber Line

Access Multiplexer

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

ADSL

Section A 9, Page 9

ADSL data rates and contention

What grades of ADSL service are available?
_____________________________________
Peak download speed 250k, 500k or 1 Mbit/sec
_____________________________________
depending on grade of service (and cost)
Can all ADSL users use the maximum rate at the
same time? NO.
______________________________________
Multiple users share a 2.048 Mbps backhaul
______________________________________
link to the ISP via an ATM switch with a
______________________________________
contention ratio of 20:1, 50:1 or 90:1
______________________________________
(depending on grade of service).
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 10

Forouzan (3rd Ed.), Figure 9.2 Bandwidth division

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Upstream
Downstream

10

3.4
kHz

25
kHz

145
kHz

1100
kHz
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2004

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 11

800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

20
30
40
Line loss at 300 kHz (dB)

Upstream capacity (kBit/sec)

The effect of line length on ADSL capacity

Downstream capacity (Mbit/sec)

The higher channels can only be

used on shorter lines.

50

Max. capacity depends on line loss which depends on

line length
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 12

VDSL (1)
VDSL is a Very high speed Digital Subscriber
Line.
ADSL is available in the UK and other countries
but VDSL is still under development.
VDSL permits transmission rates of 12 - 26
Mbit/sec 'downstream' (exchange to customer) and
about 2Mbit/sec 'upstream' (customer to
exchange), using existing copper pairs to the
customer but not all the way to the exchange.
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 13

VDSL (2)
ADSL uses frequencies up to about 1.1MHz but
VDSL uses frequencies up to about 10MHz.
VDSL has a maximum range of up to 1 km so it
cannot link the customer to the exchange directly.
VDSL uses new optical fibre links from the
telephone exchange to street cabinets called ONUs
(Optical Network Units). Each ONU would serve
typically 300 customers via existing copper
telephone pairs up to 1km long.
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 15

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 14

New optical VDSL Network Topology

fibres
New
Optical
ONU
Network
ONU
Units
Telephone

Optical

Exchange

fibre link

Subscribers
ONU
Copper
telephony cables

ONU
ONU

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Existing
copper
pairs
Section A 9, Page 16

Wide Area Networks - Cable TV modems

CATV network
architecture

"Head End" equipment

TV

Cable TV or CATV (Communal Antenna TV) systems are

widely used in Europe and the USA.
The primary purpose of a CATV system is to distribute TV
channels together with FM radio broadcasts. CATV
systems can also accommodate high speed data
transmission.
Many CATV companies also offer voice telephony
services but this is normally an 'overlay' service using a
separate pair of wires attached to the coaxial cable. Cable
modems use the coaxial cable, not the telephony pair.
Standard IEEE 802.14 applies to cable modems
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 17

Internet

Optical

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 19

fibres

Coaxial cable
to customer

Band splitter
Bi-directional
amplifier
UTP Ethernet cable

Set-top converter boxes

in customers' houses

Computer
TV

Most UK CATV systems use an HFC or 'Hybrid

Fibre-Coax' architecture as shown above
Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

CATV network architecture

Optical fibres link the cable TV company's 'head end'
equipment to many distribution cabinets in the streets.
Coaxial cables link the distribution cabinet to each house.
The TV channels normally use carrier frequencies up to
750 MHz. A single channel with 8MHz bandwidth can be
used for data transmission instead of TV, with data rates up
to 40 Mbit/sec (shared between multiple users).
The CATV network must have the capability for a reverse
path from the customer to the CATV company.
The customers computer is linked to a CATV set top box
or a stand-alone Cable Modem such as Terayon DOCSIS

Distribution cabinet in street

(one of many)
Underground coaxial cables in street

Section A 9, Page 18

Typical frequency range for CATV

A typical frequency usage for a UK CATV system
with reverse path is shown below
'Upstream' or reverse path
(from customer)

Power
Density

FM band

'Downstream' or forward path (to customer)

Digital

Analogue TV channels

50

88 108 120

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

TV

600

Frequency
750 (MHz)

Section A 9, Page 20

IEEE 802.14 standard for cable modems

IEEE 802.14 specifies 64 or 256 QAM modulation. The
64QAM constellation shown below allows
6 bits/symbol.

Data Comm. & Net. Principles, Ed. 3, D. Lauder

Section A 9, Page 21