High speed in both directions over POTS
Paradyne's MVL System promises 768 Kbps in both directions, for distances of up to four miles, with up to eight virtual lines, over any unconditioned copper wire.
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This has been talked about on the Aware thread, but I hadn't noticed it here....any comments?
A sneak preview of Paradyne's new technology for the last mile impressed us with its potential for fast access without expensive line conditioning. The two-way 768 Kbps transfer-rate Multiple Virtual Lines (MVL) technology that starts shipping in March will offer data, voice, and video at a reasonable cost for carriers and end users. IT managers whose job is to get network access out to company branches could have an economical new choice.
The technology employs a new Hotwire MVL 4-Port Card and a user's-end modem-like "endpoint box" that has a POTS connector and a 10Base-T interface. The MVL Port Cards are for now added to the Largo, Fla. company's Hotwire 8000 and 8600 Multi-Services DSLAMs (DSL Access Multiplexers) that have been shipping since mid-1997.
The new Hotwire MVLT System provides end users with an aggregate throughput of 768 Kbps. Although most alternative technologies limit high-speed transmissions to downstream, the MVL modems (which are projected to cost about the same as a 56 Kbps modem) can optimize the transmission around active applications and provide full 768 Kbps upstream and downstream.
Although MVL seems similar to DSL, its two-way high-speed transfer rate is achieved because MVL technology uses a time-space-time switching scheme rather than DSL's frequency division multiplexing scheme. The system supports 768 Kbps services over 18,000-foot loops on 24-AWG wire, and can even offer error-free adaptation in Nx64 increments resulting in loop reaches in excess of 246,000 feet.
This system represents a dramaticParadyne expects a dramatic decrease in cost compared to DSL services even though both systemsand operates over the same local access telephone lines that provide baseband POTS. It overlays the high-speed data service co-resident with POTS so that both services can be used concurrently. It will deploy to small businesses, branch offices, homes, and home offices.
Carriers should be happy that the service can be implemented anywhere without the need for service personnel to leave the telecomm or ISP premises. There are no splitters to install. Bridge-taps have no effect and do not need to be removed. There is no need to perform conditioning. There is no need to add new wiring, or to install a passive filter device for lifeline service at the location.
Another bonus is that the technology is implemented using a much lower range of frequencies than xDSL technologies. Being completely within the frequency range of Basic Rate ISDN products, it virtually eliminates any concern of crosstalk, and results in dramatically improved performance compared to xDSL products.
The first-phase DSLAM MVL Port cards will have a power dissipation of less than 1.5 watts per channel compared to ADSL products that are typically 3-6 watts per port. Paradyne says the cards scheduled for release at the end of the year will have a further power reduction which averages approximately 250 milliwatts per port. This low power requirement allows increased port densities and also decreases operating expenses for network service providers.
By the end of the year, end users will be able to have up to eight clients within a single home or small business on the MVL system connected at the same time over a single twisted pair or flat wire. The first systems to go on the market will offer two drops per line.
The client machines displayed at the Largo briefing had internal ISA cards that useding an ISDN driver that allowinged the operating system to view them network as an ISDN TA (terminal adapter). Windows 95's Dial-Up Networking was used to make the connection back to the central office DSLAM with the MVL 4-Port Card installed. (Densities of up to 576 ports per 7' cabinet are available now, with 2,000 port availability in the same size space projected by the end of '98.)
The central office machine also had an Ethernet connection to a hub so that Internet connectivity could be shown, as well as interconnectivity to another network operating on DSL for functional comparison.
The briefing displayed audio/videoconferencing sessions using Microsoft's NetMeeting and streaming audio downloads running on both a 1 Mbps DSL network and on a 768 Kbps MVL network with two PCs in a simulated single home environment.
While both networks displayed approximately the same speed and quality in conferencing, one of the two MVL machines sharing the 768 Kbps line was made to upload an 8 Mb file over an Internet connection. At the same time, the other machine continued its audio/videoconferencing with an Ethernet network environment on the other end to simulate a telecommuting application.
The conferencing showed no degradation while running NetMeeting. The simultaneous upload was fast-8 M in about 4 minutes. The MVL card in the DSLAM automatically divided up the available 768 Kbps and allowed each machine about 300-330 Kbps bandwidth apiece. A module on the client station pops up a window on demand to show what bandwidth is provided at the time. The MVL card will also allow the telcos, CLECs, or ISPs to control (and bill) on an incremental basis for bandwidth up 768 Kbps per line.
Paradyne expects that by the end of 1998 the MVL technology pricing will come down to around $300 per line to the carrier based on large quantity buying. Currently, a single quantity purchase price including the DSLAM, standalone endpoint box and Ethernet interface is projected to be about $1500 per subscriber. What the carrier or ISP will charge the small business end user, the man, woman or child at home, or the corporate telecommuter depends on what those users, as a market force, will support.
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