Chapter Five

Digital Subscriber Line Technologies

 Types of Broadband Connections
• Broadband includes several high-speed
transmission technologies such as:
– XDigital Subscriber Line (XDSL)
– Cable Modem
– Fiber
– Wireless
– Satellite
– Broadband over Power lines (BPL)

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 XDSL
• DSL is the commonly used acronym for Digital Subscriber Line.
• Most forms of DSL are referred to as xDSL, where the letter x is replaced
by another letter that is an acronym that describes that particular form of
DSL.
• For example:
– ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber lines)
– VDSL (very high speed digital subscriber line)
• Despite the wide discrepancies between the dozen or so basic DSL types
and technologies, the principals behind all DSL systems is fairly similar
• The fact that DSL transmissions can take place over existing infrastructure
helps reduce the overhead of providers in many cases, which in turn makes
DSL services more affordable for consumers.

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 DSL technology provides high-speed, broadband network
connections to homes and small businesses.
 DSL modems comprise the heart of this technology and the
lines themselves are actually just plain telephone lines.
 It's possible for DSL subscribers to share the same line for
their digital and analog traffic  play web + receive a call.

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 Using Existing Local Loops
• One interesting point is that ADSL uses the existing telephone
lines (local loop).
• But how does ADSL reach a data rate that was never achieved
with traditional modems?
• The answer is that the twisted-pair cable used in telephone
lines is actually capable of handling bandwidths up to 1.1
MHz, but the filter installed at the end office of the telephone
company where each local loop terminates limits the
bandwidth to 4 kHz (sufficient for voice communication).
• If the filter is removed, however, the entire 1.1 MHz is
available for data and voice communications.

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Fig. ADSL point-to-point Network

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 Here are some advantages of DSL:
• DSL is a very high-speed connection that uses the same wires
as a regular telephone line.
• You can leave your Internet connection open and still use the
phone line for voice calls.
• The speed is much higher than a regular modem
• DSL doesn't necessarily require new wiring; it can use the
phone line you already have.

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 Disadvantages:
• A DSL connection works better when you are closer to the
provider's central office.
• The farther away you get from the central office, the weaker
the signal becomes.
• The connection is faster for receiving data than it is for
sending data over the Internet.

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Basic Features of DSL

The basic features of the DSL technology include:

i. Speed
 DSL offers more than 100 times the network performance
of a traditional analog modem.
 the precise speed of a connection depends on the variety of
xDSL deployed.
 DSL is a distance-sensitive technology.
 DSL works on the unused (high) frequencies of the
telephone line.
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Cont’d …

 DSL modems contain an internal signal splitter that carries

voice signals on the usual low frequencies (from 0 up to
4kHz) and data signals above that.
 This splitter, consequently, allows simultaneous access to
the line by the telephone and the computer.
ii. Access
 DSL service remains "on" all of the time.
 People should be aware that long-lived connections like
DSL can have security issues  firewall.
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Cont’d …
iii. Availability
 The technology used to implement DSL only works over a
limited physical distance.
 At the maximum, DSL runs about 5.5 kilometers from a
telephone exchange to home or office.

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Introduction to DSL Technology Cont’d…….

iv. Bandwidth
 The actual network bandwidth a customer will receive from
DSL in the home depends on the span of their telephone
wiring.
 The longer the line, the less bandwidth DSL can support.
 Likewise, its thickness (wire gauge) can affect performance.

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Cont’d …

Cable length Bandwidth availability (kbps)

5.5 km 1,544

4.6 km 2,048

3.7 km 6,312

2.7 km 8,448

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Types of DSL (xDSL)
 The different DSL technologies are in short known as xDSL.
 xDSL technologies can be grouped into two broad categories.
i. Symmetric DSL: services provide identical data rates
upstream and downstream.
ii. Asymmetric DSL: provides relatively lower rates
upstream but higher rates downstream.
 The different xDSL technologies include:
 ADSL, G.Lite and RADSL
 HDSL, SDSL, and SHDSL
 VDSL
 IDSL

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Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

 ADSL is a form of DSL, a data communications technology

that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone
lines
 ADSL was designed to provide higher downstream data rates at
the expense of upstream rates.
 ADSL is technically capable of up to 6 Mbps, but the service
customers actually receive generally performs at 2 Mbps or
lower for downloads and 512 Kbps for uploads.

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ADSL Technology Continued ...
 Many typical uses of the Web such as file downloads and
general web browsing requires greater downstream
bandwidth but relatively little in the opposite direction
which makes ADSL more suitable for this case.
 Better connection if closer to the provider’s
 Faster receiving than sending data

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ADSL Technology Continued ...
 ADSL uses unused frequencies on copper telephone lines to
transmit traffic typically at multi-megabit speeds
 ADSL allows voice and high-speed data to be sent
simultaneously over the same line.
 With ADSL service is 'always available'
 With ADSL you are wired for speed.
 Usually provide the modem as part of the installation
Internet
 Doesn’t need new wiring

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 ADSL is high-speed connection
that uses the same wires as a regular
telephone line

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ADSL Speed Comparison
Pure Fiber

Hybrid Fiber/Copper

Enhanced
Copper ADSL2 plus

ADSL

ISDN
Voice band
Modem

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ADSL Range
 In general, the maximum range for DSL without a repeater is 5.5
km.
 For larger distances, you may be able to have DSL if your phone
company has extended the local loop with optical fiber cable.

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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

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 ADSL Network Components

 The ADSL modem at the customer premises

 The modem of the central office
 DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM)
 Broadband Access Server
 Splitter - an electronic low pass filter that separates the
analogue voice or ISDN signal from ADSL data frequencies
DSLAM.

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Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM)
 ADSL service provider has an ADSL Access Multiplexer
(DSLAM) to receive customer connections.
 DSLAM is a multiplexer at a phone company's central
location that links many customer DSL connections to a single
high-speed ATM line.
 xDSL line cards are installed in a DSLAM to terminate
incoming xDSL signals
 The DSLAM then combines multiple xDSL access lines into
one high speed line
 The multiplexed traffic is converted into ATM cells which gets
sent over an ATM backbone.
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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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How ADSL work
 ADSL exploits the unused analogue bandwidth available in the
wires

PSTN Upstream Downstream

4 25 138 1104 KHz

 ADSL works by using a frequency splitter device to split a
traditional voice telephone line into two frequencies
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 Advantages and Disadvantages of ADSL

 Advantages
 Simultaneous Internet and voice/fax capabilities over a single telephone line
 Uninterrupted, high-speed Internet access that's always on-line
 Cost-effective solution for society
 Data security that exceeds other technologies
 Fast download speeds

 Disadvantages:
 Distance-sensitive
 Slower upload speeds
 Phone line required

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Universal ADSL (G.Lite)
 Universal ADSL (also known as G.Lite) is a form of ADSL that
improves on one of the weaknesses of regular ADSL
installation.
 Regular ADSL generally requires a technician visit to the client
site to install the splitter device that divides the frequency
spectrum for voice and data.
 G.Lite does not require that this splitter be installed, but it does
so at the expense of lower data rates.
 G.Lite supports a maximum of 1,544 kbps (384 kbps upstream)
where as regular ("full-rate") ADSL can support more than
8,000 kbps.
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Rate-Adaptive DSL (RADSL)

 RADSL is an implementation of ADSL that automatically

configures the modem at startup to adjust its rate according to
the quality of the phone line.
 Like G.Lite, RADSL supports a much lower maximum date
rate (1,088 kbps) than regular ADSL.

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 High Data Rate DSL (HDSL)

 HDSL offers the same bandwidth both upstream and

downstream.
 HDSL requires two phone lines to deliver the basic data rate
(1,544 kbps),
 It can deliver a maximum rate of 2,048 kbps using three lines.

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Symmetric DSL (SDSL)

 SDSL improves on the older HDSL technology by

implementing the same basic data rate (1,544 Kbps) while
requiring only a single phone line.
 SDSL supports data rates up to 3,088 Kbps.

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Symmetric High Data Rate DSL (SHDSL)

 SHDSL attempts to improve on both HDSL and SDSL by

only requiring a single line and by integrating low-level
services of interest to small businesses.
 SHDSL technology can transport data symmetrically at data
rates from 192 Kbps to 2,320 Kbps.

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Very High Data Rate DSL (VDSL)

 VDSL originally named VADSL ('A' for asymmetric) but

later was extended to support both symmetric and
asymmetric varieties of DSL.
 VDSL relies on fiber optic cabling.
 VDSL needs shorter cable lengths than most other forms of
DSL (maximum 2.7 meter as compared to 5.5 meter for
regular ADSL), but it also achieves the highest data rate
(roughly 51,840 kbps).

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 Very High Data Rate DSL (VDSL) Cont’d…

 The bandwidth levels supported by VDSL are needed to support

certain high-end applications such as High-Definition Television
(HDTV) that requires, for example, up to 20,000 kbps.
 The performance of VDSL depends significantly on the physical
distance traversed by wiring: Shorter distances mean faster
networking.

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ISDN DSL (IDSL)

 ISDN DSL (IDSL) implements a hybrid DSL/ISDN solution.

 IDSL offers only limited data rates (128 kbps, although
multiple circuits may be bonded).

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Thank You!

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