DSL technology and DSLAM: An overview

Authored by Rajul Srivastava: rajuls2512@gmail.com

In today’s environment when the entire telecommunication world is advancing the technology to
achieve high data rates of 10Gbps, ultralow latency in the order of millisecond, seamless connectivity for
better user experience, the current article is an endeavor to bring to light the initial technology which
provided internet connectivity to the telephone subscribers. Here in,is an attempt to discuss the DSL
technology & DSL network infrastructure which not only provides reliable internet connectivity to DSL
subscribers but also delivers voice, data and video services –or Triple Play over the same DSL connection
.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a broadband access technology that provides high speed data
transmission over the existing copper wire and connects the subscriber to the local central office (CO). In
analog telecommunication systems signals are transferred at 4KHz at 256 Kbps speed, however in DSL
speed of up to 52 Mbps can be achieved by using advanced signal modulation techniques in 25Khz and
1.1Mhz frequency range.

Standardization bodies like ITU-T, ETSI, ATIS, IEEE and DSL forum have pioneered in formulating the xDSL
standards. The xDSL standards are characterized by different upstream and downstream rate ,
maximum wire length, designated customer application. The symmetric DSL has same speed in both
upstream and downstream direction while asymmetric DSL shall have different upstream & down
stream data rates. An overview of the data rates and the achievable distances are being mentioned in
the table below.

DSL Variant Speed upstream/ Down Distance

Stream
HDSL : high data rate DSL 1.5 Mbps/1.5 Mbps 3.7 Km
SDSL : symmetric Digital Subscriber Line 2.3 Mbps / 2.3 Mbps 3 Km
SHDSL : symmetric High bit rate DSL 4.6 Mbps / 4.6 Mbps 5 Km
ADSL Lite : Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Lite 384 Kbps / 1.5 Mbps 5.5 Km
ADSL 2 : Asymmetric DSL 1Mbps / 12 Mbps 5.5 Km
ADSL 2+ : Asymmetric DSL 2+ 1 Mbps / 20 Mbps 5.5 Km
VDSL : very High Data rate DSL 10 Mbps / 10 Mbps .3 Km – 1.3 Km
Symmetric
VDSL 2 –Very high bit rate DSL 100Mbps/ 100 Mbps .5 Km

G.Fast Upto 1Gbps 0.5Km

Evolution of DSLAM : What is DSLAM ? Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer is a network device
that is placed in the central office of the telephone exchange. At the backhaul, it is connected to the ISP/
core network via BRAS. At the other end, DSLAM collects the high speed data coming from the digital

subscriber lines through DSL modems and aggregates them into a single high capacity uplink. This
history of DSLAM sees its evolution from first generation ATM DSLAMs rolled out as early as 1999-2000
to the third generation of IP-DSLAMs .

First generation ATM based DSLAM were designed as Layer -2 multiplexers and provided seamless
integration of the last mile ATM over SDL links into the ATM access network. The network architecture
used Permanent Virtual circuits from the subscriber via DSLAM to B-RAS to route the traffic to the core
network. These we adequate for providing internet services and used single level of Qos over PVC
connection. The expansion of services gave rise to second generation of ATM DSLAM which
incorporated ATM switching fabric and utilized all the inherent ATM capabilities like Class of Service,
traffic shaping, prioritization. Thus services of VoDSL, internet surfing & VPN services could be offered
to home users. Further quest for value added services such as VoIP, VoD , IPTV, HDTV, in addition to high
speed Internet Access (triple play services place the demand for high bandwith , speed , scalability and
Qos. With the development of Ethernet standards , and ethrent in network backbones , ethrenet
providing superior bandwith as compared to ATM , Ethernet being the choice for both transport and
access networks. The third generation of DSLAMs, have Ethernet uplink for DSL traffic aggregation are
known as Ethernet DSLAM or IP DSLAM. Thises still use ATM on local loop as an intermediate layer
between xDSL & Ethernet for compatibility purpose with existing xDSL modems. IPDSLAMs :Native IP
DSLAM ::
DSLAM providing services like triple play support basic muticast with IGMP, IGMP snooping. In some
cases advanced techniques ranging from local PPP, AAA, security, 802.1p , diffserv is being incorporated
into DSLAMs resulting in truly IP enabled IP-DSLAMs.

From the deployment point of view, DSLAMs can be single pizza box units, which can be deployed
outside plant, with small subscriber capacity .These OSP units can be catering to deployments like
university campus, apartments complexes. These units are close to the subscriber’s location and
terminate the local loop for higher transmission rates. Another category of DSLAMs catering upto 1000
subscribers are large shelf based multi cards solutions housed in CO. They fulfill stringent standards
requirements due to the large number of subscribers that they catered and are mostly chassis based
solutions with hot swappable line cards.

48 port IP DSLAM

Exchange DSLAM
There are several other alternative methods of connecting to the internet like coaxial cables, Fiber,
Wireless. Fiber offers high speed transmission of upto 1Gbps and upto longer distances. However,
laying fiber imposes additional investment cost. In newly constructed buildings including twisted pair
copper, it is easier for the ISPs to provide connectivity using DSL. Since the cost of fiber is high, it is
better to use it in areas of high subscriber density. In order to meet the high deployment costs, hybrid
deployments using of fiber and twisted pair copper are used to created FTTC (fiber-to-the-curb )
deployments. Wireless Internet service providers are responsible for providing internet connectivity to
mobile client devices such as cell phones and wireless hotspots. Wireless deployments are less common
and are highly unreliable as the coverage can be spotty. Other physical barriers like building , trees etc
also affect the performance of wireless connection. DSL still offers cheap and reliable resource to offer
services although the copper cable deteriorates with time and poor maintenance. FTTH deployments
which including fiber in the network and copper in the local loop is an effective way of reducing the
deployment cost. Improvements in DSL equipments & DSLAM chipsets are allowing the service providers
to take advantage of the millions of copper telephone lines that have already been deployed. These
improvements shall prolong the lifespan of the copper pairs.

G.Fast, latest standard in DSL technology supports frequency range of 106 MHz and 212 Mhz , claims to
offer high speed in the range of 150Mbps - 1Gbps in local loop of 500 m. Chipsets using G.fast
technology have been developed and deployment tesing is currently being done by British Telecom in
UK. Deployment of G.Fast distributions expect ultrabroadband services to be provided to upto sixteen
subscribers within 250m from each distribution point and upto 300 Mbps of speed initially.