Jim. A recent press release from NEC
NEC Introduces Total Broadband Access System
Japan (June 17, 1996)
NEC Introduces Total Broadband Access System ~ anticipating the future demands of multimedia delivery service ~ NEC Corporation announced that it has launched its Broadband Access System, the "BAX Series", for the realization of Video-on-Demand (VOD) and other multimedia services for business and residential users of global market. The BAX Series is capable of accommodating broadband and existing narrowband services and offers the overlay type deployment or integration of various networks. The BAX Series includes: o the BAX-300, an Optical Network Unit (ONU) which receives ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) -based signals from ATM switches and sends them to the home, o a BAX-2000 Set Top Box, o and the BAX-100 Broadband Access Management System provides not only for the management of the network equipment and network, but also offers a variety of service management functions. In recent years broadband access systems have been deployed or have experimented with such video delivery services as VOD. Among the various types of broadband access network architecture proposed, FTTC (Fibre-to-the-Curb) and FTTB (Fibre-to-the-Building) are promising ones because they utilize existing metallic pair cables for cost-effective realization. By integrating this BAX Series Broadband Access Systems with ATM switching systems, video servers and MPEG2 real-time encoders and other equipments, VOD and other multimedia services can effectively be offered. NEC has become the total supplier of broadband multimedia service systems with such products as the BAX Series, NEC's family of ATM switch products, MPEG2 real-time encoders and the HYPERMS video server. The major features of the BAX Series are as follow: (1) Large capacity ONU contributes to providing economical solution for interactive multimedia communication. The multimedia information is transmitted to ONU through optical fiber lines. The transmission of multimedia information from ONU to the home can then be transferred over conventional telephone lines which are metallic pair cable. (2) The Broadband Access Management System provides the management of network equipment, network and various services which enhance service quality and just-in-time provisioning. It can also offer a network design tool for the most appropriate network designing. (3) The Set Top Box is capable of displaying MPEG2-based video and other multimedia data on household TV screens. The major features of the each component of BAX Series are as follows; (1) BAX-300 Optical Network Unit It realizes a maximum transmission capacity of 50 Mbps for a maximum 96 subscriber interfaces. By replacing interface cards, it can support not only 2-wire/4-wire telephone lines, but also Plastic Optical Fiber lines and other drop interfaces. (2) BAX-2000 Set Top Box It is capable of displaying MPEG2 based video and other multimedia data on household TV screens. It employs the defacto standard software 'OS-9/DAVID' (Digital Audio/Video Interactive Decoder) platform. (3) BAX-100 Broadband Access System This system provides not only for the management of the network equipment and network, but also various Service management functions which include: the service order receipt, service provisioning, service activation/deactivation and assignment of staff for trouble shooting. It can also offer a network design tool for the most appropriate network arrangement of ONU and the other equipment. A distributed workstation-based system improves reliability and response time of the system. NEC's bifocal GUI (Graphic User Interface) software, named DUALQUEST is employed to facilitate the operation of these workstations. With DUALQUEST, it can realize extremely efficient and easy operation, geographical information down to customer residence shapes can be distinguished in a focused area on the screen in order to find customers and to grasp a total network configuration at a glance.
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I think the press release suggests that NEC has almost everthing except VDSL. Do you think that Japan and other parts of the world where shorter loop length is the norm will implement VDSL instead of ADSL? Would some of telcos wait until they have fibre closer to the users so that they can depoly VDSL as a more permanent solution instead depolying ADSL now and replacing them shortly afterward?
Regards |