Access To Broadband Networks

The access network is expected to be one of the major battlegrounds of telecommunications network operators, since upgrades of the existing narrowband access network will be the critical factor in supplying multimedia broadband services in a competitive market. The future broadband access network architecture needs to be flexible enough to efficiently support the provision of a full set of broadband and narrowband services with a wide range of capacity demands. A wide range of broadband access technologies are available. Furthermore, the key issues in the upgrading of the very cost sensitive access network are financial as well as technological, both for incumbent and new entrant operators. Thus, in order to identify minimum-risk introductory strategies the economic viability of access network broadband upgrades needs to be carefully assessed. However, despite the definite need for techno-economic evaluations, very few books have been published in this field. One of the reasons might be that broadband access network upgrading only very recently gained wide recognition as a key challenge for broadband delivery. Secondly, this kind of strategic work and these studies tend to be considered rather sensitive by operators, and thus both results and methodologies are not usually readily available. Thirdly, the work reported in this book in many respects was a major pioneering effort, which quite ambitiously aimed at modelling the whole life-cycle costs and revenue streams of access network upgrades, as opposed to several other efforts, which often are limited to pure investment cost comparisons.

Considering the key evolutions within the access network technologies as well as the unprecedented levels of bandwidth demands by end users, this book condenses the relentless research, design, and deployment experience of state-of-the-art access networks. Furthermore, it shares the critical steps and details of the developments and deployment of these emergent technologies; which is very crucial particularly as telecommunications vendors and carriers are looking for cost-effective ultra-broadband “last-mile” access solutions to stay competitive in the “post bubble” era. The book is written to provide a comprehensive overview of the major broadband access technologies and deployments involving internationally recognized authors and key players. Due to its scope and depth, the proposed book is able to fill an important gap of today’s available literature.

The internet has become so widespread that such issues as access, regulation and related policies have become major factors in the economy and social fabric of societies in every part of the world. Peoples without running water are demanding access to the internet and those without it are becoming deprived citizens. This new book examines current issues of interest to the blossoming area.

As congressional policymakers continue to debate telecomm. reform, a major point of contention is the question of whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet, to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment, is referred to as ¿net neutrality.¿A major focus in the debate is concern over whether it is necessary for policymakers to take steps to ensure access to the Internet for content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, what these steps should be. Contents of this report: Intro.; FCC Activity; Industry Initiatives; Network Mgmt.; The Policy Debate; Congress. Activity. A print on demand report.

Written by experts in the field, this book provides an overview of all forms of broadband subscriber access networks and technology, including fiber optics, DSL for phone lines, DOCSIS for coax, power line carrier, and wireless. Each technology is described in depth, with a discussion of key concepts, historical development, and industry standards. The book contains comprehensive coverage of all broadband access technologies, with a section each devoted to fiber-based technologies, non-fiber wired technologies, and wireless technologies. The four co-authors’ breadth of knowledge is featured in the chapters comparing the relative strengths, weaknesses, and prognosis for the competing technologies. Key Features: Covers the physical and medium access layers (OSI Layer 1 and 2), with emphasis on access transmission technology Compares and contrasts all recent and emerging wired and wireless standards for broadband access in a single reference Illustrates the technology that is currently being deployed by network providers, and also the technology that has recently been or will soon be standardized for deployment in the coming years, including vectoring, wavelength division multiple access, CDMA, OFDMA, and MIMO Contains detailed discussion on the following standards: 10G-EPON, G-PON, XG-PON, VDSL2, DOCSIS 3.0, DOCSIS Protocol over EPON, power line carrier, IEEE 802.11 WLAN/WiFi, UMTS/HSPA, LTE, and LTE-Advanced

Considering the key evolutions within the access network technologies as well as the unprecedented levels of bandwidth demands by end users, this book condenses the relentless research, design, and deployment experience of state-of-the-art access networks. Furthermore, it shares the critical steps and details of the developments and deployment of these emergent technologies; which is very crucial particularly as telecommunications vendors and carriers are looking for cost-effective ultra-broadband “last-mile” access solutions to stay competitive in the “post bubble” era. The book is written to provide a comprehensive overview of the major broadband access technologies and deployments involving internationally recognized authors and key players. Due to its scope and depth, the proposed book is able to fill an important gap of today’s available literature.

Broadband Cable Access Networks focuses on broadband distribution and systems architecture and concentrates on practical concepts that will allow the reader to do their own design, improvement, and troubleshooting work. The objective is to enhance the skill sets of a large population that designs and builds broadband cable plants, as well as those maintaining and troubleshooting it. A large cross-section of technical personnel who need to learn these skills design, maintain, and service HFC systems from signal creation through transmission to reception and processing at the customer end point. In addition, data/voice and video specialists need to master and reference the basics of HFC design and distribution before contending with the intricacies of their own unique services. This book serves as an essential reference to all cable engineers—those who specifically design and maintain the HFC distribution plant as well as those primarily concerned with data/voice technology as well as video technology. Concentrates on practical concepts that will allow the user to do his own design, improvement, and trouble-shooting work. Prepares cable engineers and technicians to work with assurance as they face the latest developments and future directions. Concise and tightly focused, allowing readers to easily find answers to questions about an idea or concept they are developing in this area.

This volume not only examines traditional questions about broadband, such as availability and access, but also explores and evaluates metrics that are more applicable to the evolving technologies of information access. Importantly, the book provides a well-rounded, international perspective on theoretical approaches to communications policymaking in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Showcasing a diversity of approaches, this collection aims to help meet the myriad challenges involved in improving the development of communications policy around the world.