Hello Matt,
I'd like to address this point you've raised about the multiplexer to be used in the FTTH model. The multiplexer that you have referenced several times, now, will either be the STB itself outfitted with an optical interface, or it could be the thing already sitting on your desk, your PC or other appliance, itself, using an Ethernet NIC Card. That's the beauty behind Ethernet, it's a standard that anything can plug into and work. And it supports IP atop of it, which will support voice at some point. I'm in no rush for that (voip), but resigned to the fact that it will take place when it's soup.
Or, the mux could be a fan-out device sitting on the side of the house such as Bell South is already using, but those types are more on the order of emulating what exists on HFC already, thus far.. although these will most likely be first to market where the more conservative carriers are concerned. The fan-out would have a jack for each type of service. Coax for video, and several RJ's for voice and data.
Neither I nor any of my partners in exploration of this topic have fully come to terms yet on what exactly the most popular reference model and ensuing multiplexing genre will be for FTTH, but there will surely be variations on the theme to satisfy different scenarios, no matter what the base model calls for.
Maybe it will be something very uneventful, such as some variant that we've already seen in the way of bundled digital services where everything is the same at the payload level as HFC, except that they are removing the coaxial element and replacing it with fiber, instead.
Or, it could be a variant of Ethernet operating at 10Gb/sec or higher (as suggested by the Canarie Model in Canada) over individual lambdas per residence (which lambda feature would be new, and not covered by Canarie... yet).
Another variant, perhaps, would be an ATM transport over lambda where the ATM layer supports IP, with program video taking the form of streaming IP, or via MPEG over ATM.
Some side channels over a dedicated mini-lambda, or, as a result of lambda 'slicing' techniques, may exist for native GR303/ITU channels for POTS and ISDN (for those telecommuters who need it for uniform application purposes), with the bulk of streaming video and optional voice over IP taking place over the aforementioned ATM or Ethernet on the main lambda.
In any event, the multiplexer combination will be, variously, and depending on what function or service we're talking about, the set top box, or the computer equipped with a GbEthernet Network Interface Card (NIC).
What it will not have, however, is an upstream bandwidth limitation that forces cable modem users who want to work at home to resort to a separate broadband service from another provider to handle the serious stuff, such as commercial grade SDSL and HDSL services, for the time being.
At any rate, we may not see these for some time, simply because HFC has taken most of the dollars by the larger players, already. FTTH, on the other hand, will continue to be a preferred technology for new housing developments, private communities behind gates, and a number of ventures which the utilities have expressed interests in.
The latter, it is my belief, will come to represent the bulk of all FTTH over the next three years in the states, where the utility companies partner with software outfits and ISP-oriented service provider organizations. Just as many ISPs and hybrid ISP/CLECs have taken voice over IP very seriously as an opportunity for a new revenue sources, so, too, they will view multiservice platforms, including video over FTTH. HTH.
FAC |
