Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes

Introduction to Copper Access Technologies and ADSL Distributed Multimedia Course Notes
Michael Rorke, Computer Science Honours, Rhodes University, 1997

Introduction
With the advent of the Internet, more and more people want to connect their computers up to other computers. Also, the volumes of data that they want to send between these computers are growing, beyond the capabilities of the traditional analogue modem. To address this problem, the major telephone companies have proposed new methods for sending data quickly (and is large volumes) over copper cable. These new methods are loosely titled xDSL, where the x is replaced with a different letter to denote a different version of the product. For example, the first product was called HDSL (High data rate Digital Subscriber Line), followed closely by the main focus of this document, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), and then by an emerging technology VDSL (Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line). The original research into what are now known as xDSL modems actually began long ago and these types of modems have been in use for many years as part of the core switching networks of many of the major world telcos. But, whereas before they were used to carry mainly voice type traffic, they are now being adapted to the needs of data traffic carriers. Table 1 lists the main forms of xDSL and the capabilities of each:
Name V.22, V.32, V. 34 DSL HDSL Meaning Voice band modems Digital Subscriber Line High data rate Digital Subscriber Line Single line Digital Subscriber Line Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Data Rate 1200 BPS to 28,800 BPS 160 KBPS 1.544 MBPS 2.048 MBPS 1.544 MBPS 2.048 MBPS 1.5 9 MBPS 16 640 KBPS Mode Duplex Duplex Duplex Applications Data Communications ISDN, voice and data services T1/E1 service, feeder plant, WAN/LAN access and server access Same as HDSL, plus premises access for symmetric services Internet access, Video On Demand, simplex video, remote LAN access, interactive multimedia Same as ADSL plus HDTV

SDSL ADSL

Duplex Down Up

VDSL

Very high data rate Digital Subscriber line

13 52 MBPS 1.5 2.3 MBPS

Down Up

Table 1 - Generic List of Copper Access Technologies

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes

Introduction to Copper Wire Networks

The reason that xDSL technologies are able to provide a much better service than voice grade analogue modes is due mainly to the layout of the copper cable system. Voice grade modem operate over the normal telephone switching system, with signals travelling from the site of the sending node, into the core network of the telephone company, and from there, out again to the destination node, with the signals treated the same as normal voice signals. This is an advantage in that almost everywhere in the world is linked via the telephone system. However, the core network imposes certain bandwidth limitations on signals coming into it. For instance, there are filters at the edge of the core network that limit the incoming bandwidth to 3.3kHz, and without these filters, copper cables would be able to pass signals in the MHz regions, albeit with substantial attenuation. This attenuation, which increases with line length, is what limits the practical data rates over copper to those shown in table 2:
Access Type DS1 (T1) E1 DS2 E2 STS-1 STS-1 STS-1 Speed /MBPS 1.544 2.048 6.312 8.448 12.960 25.920 51.840 Usable Distance /km 5.5 5 3.5 3 1.3 0.9 0.3

Table 2 - Practical Limits on Data Rate and Line Length The average length of the subscriber loop varies tremendously depending on where in the world you are. In many countries, most (if not all) of the local loops are smaller than 5.5 km. In others, like the USA, 5.5 km only covers 80% of the people, with the other 20% or so having lines, which contain loading coils, making them useless for any form of xDSL technology, unless the loading coils are removed. There are moves underway in many countries to try and lower the length of the subscriber loop with projects such as the USAs fibre to the curb, where the idea is to lay fibre optic lines into a central point in every neighbourhood, from which the individual subscribers can be fed off with copper cable. This trend to shorten the length of the subscriber loop is going a long way to assist the introduction of copper access technologies, which typically only operate (at high data rates) for distances less than 6 km.

The History of the xDSL Modem

DSL or Digital Subscriber Line Before going on, there is an important distinction that needs to be made between the name digital subscriber line, and what we are actually talking about when we say DSL. In general, DSL refers to

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes the hardware on either end of the copper line, and not, as its name would suggest, to the actual line itself, which is plain old Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). The original DSL was the modem used to implement Basic Rate ISDN. A generic DSL transmits data in both directions simultaneously i.e. full duplex, at 160 KBPS over copper lines up to 5.5 km of 24 (0.5-mm) gauge wire. The modems at either end break the bandwidth up into two B channels (64 KBPS each) and a D channel (16 KBPS). The original DSL modems used the bandwidth from 0 to about 80 kHz, and thus were not able to provide the simultaneous plain old telephone service that is a feature of xDSL modems i.e. the ability to use the copper line for both voice and data simultaneously and independently of each other. While the specifications of the DSL modem may seem trivial by todays standards, at the time of their release they were fairly revolutionary and are, in fact, still in use today, mainly in what are termed pair-gain applications. T1 and E1 The engineers at Bell labs created a multiplexing system, which send digitised voice through 24 framed 64 KBPS streams. The resulting frame was 193 bits long and created an equivalent data rate of 1.544 Mbps. This signalling method was named DS1, which was later expanded to T1 and includes different framing methods, etc. This was in wide use in the mid-1970s. In Europe, a modified T1 method was developed using 30 voice channels and giving an equivalent data rate of 2.048 Mbps. T1 and E1 circuits require a repeater 900 m from the node, and further repeaters for every 1800 m thereafter, making them expensive and maintenance intensive. Despite this, they were, and still are, widely implemented, although they are being phased out, and replaced with HDSL links. HDSL (High data rate Digital Subscriber Line) Simply put, HDSL is just a better way of transmitting T1 or E1 over twisted pair copper cables. Developed by Bellcore in the late 1980s, it uses less bandwidth than the traditional methods and operates without the need for costly repeaters. The idea behind HDSL was simply to develop a method of delivering a high-performance, cost-effective, 2 Mbps data stream over copper cables. Initially, HDSL was used by Bellcore to provide T1/E1 links to remote areas, and later, HDSL was used for all new T1/E1 links. Today, HDSL is used mainly to provide advanced digital services to local loop customers and corporate end users. HDSL works by creating a mathematical model of the noise characteristics over the copper wire, allowing the transmitting device to precisely compensate for copper-based distortion. This adjustment occurs dynamically all the time, allowing the equipment to adjust to changes in the copper environment. HDSL operates with a bandwidth of 1.544 Mbps up to 3.6 km on standard 24 gauge copper wire, and with certain enhancements or heavier gauge copper, up to 7 km. This was the first technology to provide fibre optic level network technologies over plain copper wires.

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

An Introduction to ADSL ADSL followed soon after the deployment of HDSL. ADSL is specifically tailored as a last leg link into customer premises. As its name suggests, the link provided by an ADSL modem is asymmetric i.e. it offers a single 6 Mbps link from the network to the subscriber, and a pair of 640 KBPS links, one from the subscriber to the network and the other from the network to the subscriber. The reasoning behind this asymmetric system is that the amount of information coming into the end users node is greater than the amount of information going out of the end users node, to the rest of the network. Studies on end user nodes running TCP/IP networking applications showed that the actual ratio of incoming to outgoing data, was often as high as 10:1! Specifications of ADSL An ADSL circuit is a point to point link connecting two nodes over a single twisted pair copper cable. This cable must be a dedicated line, and a normal telephone cable i.e. going through an exchange, will not suffice. ADSL provides a dedicated line type of connection. The ADSL modem creates three channels, a high speed downstream (from the end user node to the rest of the network) channel, a medium speed duplex channel and an ordinary telephone channel (see figure 1).
Telephone Service Service Provider 1.5-6.1 MBPS End User

POTS Splitter

16-640 KBPS

POTS Splitter

Figure 1 - Simple ADSL Schematic The ordinary telephone channel (or Plain Old Telephone Service, POTS) is split off from the rest of the digital modem channels by means of filters in order to guarantee that, even if the modem should fail, the ordinary telephone service will be able to continue uninterrupted. The actual bandwidth of the high-speed channel can range from 1.5 to 6.1 Mbps, while the duplex channel bandwidth ranges from 16 to 640 KBPS. Each of these channels can be submultiplexed to form several smaller channels if required. The actual downstream data rate depends on a number of factors such as the length of the copper line, its wire gauge, the presence of bridged taps and cross-coupled interference. Ignoring the effects of bridged taps, an ADSL modem will perform as detailed in table 3. ADSL employs forward error correction, which enables the receiving end to not only detect, but to correct errors in the transmitted data, thus dramatically reducing the effects of burst noise. The forward error correction was included to facilitate such real time applications as digital video. Error

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes
Data Rate /MBPS 1.5 or 2 1.5 or 2 6.1 6.1 Wire Gauge /AWG 24 26 24 26 Wire Size /mm 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 Distance /km 5.5 4.6 3.7 2.7

Table 3 - ADSL Performance / Distance Table correction on a symbol by symbol basis also reduces errors caused by continuous noise coupled into the line. How ADSL Works To the user, an ADSL modem looks deceptively simple - a black box giving synchronous data pipes at various data rates, over ordinary telephone type copper lines. The actual inner working of the modem relies on sophisticated digital signal processing and a number of rather creative algorithms! Since copper cable lines tend to attenuate signals at 1 MHz (the outer edge of the ADSL band) by as much as 90dB, the analogue sections of the modem especially, have to work hard to maintain the large dynamic ranges, separate channels, and low noise figures, required to transmit such high bandwidths. To provide the separate channels, the modem divides up the available bandwidth in one of two possible ways: Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM): FDM works by assigning one band of frequency to the upstream data, and another separate band to the downstream data. The downstream path may then further subdivided, using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) into one or more high-speed channels and a corresponding number of low speed channels, giving the illusion of multiple channels over a single connection. Likewise, the upstream path would also multiplexed into corresponding low speed channels. Figure 2 illustrates the FDM bandwidth. Echo Cancellation: Echo cancellation assigns the upstream band to overlap the downstream band, and separates the two using a method known as local echo cancellation, an established technique used in V.32 and V.34 analogue modems. Figure 3 illustrates echo cancellation bandwidth division.

Figure 2 - FDM Bandwidth Division 5

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes

Figure 3 - Echo Cancellation Bandwidth Division Using either technique the overall net effect is N high-speed downstream channels, and N low speed duplex channels, and a further 4 kHz region on the DC end of the band, set aside for the ordinary telephone service. Since ADSL is an asymmetric connection, the modems at each end are of different types. The user end modem is called an ATU-R (ADSL Transceiver Unit), while the service providers end is called an ATU-C. A simple schematic of a generic ATU-C is shown in Figure 4 1

send

Multiplexor & Error Control

Transmitter

receive

Demultiplexor & Error Control

Receiver

D/A & A/D Line Coupler & Channel Separator (FD or echo)

POTS Splitter

Copper line

Figure 4 - ADSL Transceiver Schematic

Phone line

ADSL Line Modulation There are two methods for encoding the data for carrying down the copper cable2. These are DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone) and CAP (Carrierless AM/PM). CAP was the first of the two methods to be implemented, but this was before the technology was standardised. The ANSI standards body 3

For a more detailed schematic of the individual units, consult the article ADSL by Kimmo K. Saarela of Tampere University of Technologys Telecommunications Laboratory Known as modulating the signal ANSI/T1E1.4/94-007, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber line (ADSL) Metallic Interface

2 3

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes decided, rather, to go with the DMT technology, so that it what I will be discussing in this document. Basically, DMT tries to split up the available bandwidth into a set of smaller subchannels. DMT then dynamically allocates data to each subchannel, such that the overall data throughput is constantly maximised. Thus, if some particular subchannel is particularly noisy, it can be allocated less data to carry, and more data pumped into one of the less noisy subchannels. Figure 5 shows a set of diagrams that show how the available bandwidth would be allocated by DMT under particular noise conditions (represented in the second column of Figure 5).

Figure 5 - DMT Example

In order to gauge the conditions on the line, the ATU-C modem initially transmits an equal amount of data per tone (the first column of Figure 5). This signal is then received at the end user by the ATU-R modem, which processes the signal, and works out an optimised distribution (the third column of Figure 5). This optimal distribution is then sent back to the ATU-C using the same phone line, but at a much lower, more secure speed. The current ADSL-DMT standard calls for the downstream channel to be divided up into 256 4 kHz-wide subchannels, and the upstream channels, into 32 subchannels 4 ADSL Data Frames ADSL uses a superframe structure whereby each separate data packet is broken up into 68 ADSL data frames each encoded and modulated into 4 kHz DMT channels, as dictated by the copper line. Eight bits of each superframe is reserved for the CRC check. A further 24 indicator bits are used for other assorted control information. There are also two separate data buffers, the fast data buffer and the interleaved data buffer with each users data stream being assigned to either fast or interleaved buffers during initialisation. ADSL also uses forward error correction to ensure optimal performance, especially for time critical data like real-time video. The ADSL specification demands that this error correction is enforced and the method used is based on Reed-Solomon coding. The actual operation of this error checking algorithm is transparent to the user and fairly complicated, so I will not go into it here 2

For more specifics on the actual frequencies used for the carrier, etc. consult the article by Kimmo K. Saarela.

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes The Future of ADSL Several ADSL trails are currently underway in the USA and Canada where people are being allowed to connect to their local ISPs through ISP supplied ADSL hardware. These trials have thus far produced very favourable results, aside from the fact that the rest of the Internet is not really ready to handle speeds of 6 Mbps to the users desktop. ADSL is fully capable of handling ATM traffic, and there is already a standard, produced by the ADSL forum in association with the ATM forum for doing just this. The document describing the standard can be found at http://www.adsl.com/adsl_atm.html. There are also other interesting developments that have arisen lately in the ADSL field. Dial up ADSL, for instance, solves the problem that many service providers have with requiring a dedicated ATU-C for each customer subscriber, which is a waste of resources since the user will, most probably, not be online all the time. The company NetSpeed has developed what it calls Dial Up ADSL to help with this. Dial up ADSL works in a similar way to normal telephone lines where a modem waits for a dial tone, dials the end modem and waits for the other end to pick up. In this scheme, the ATU-C sends the

Figure 6 - ADSL System Diagram

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes dial tone, which the ATU-R needs to hear in order to connect. In this way, several ATU-Rs can be serviced by a single ATU-C.5 Figure 6 shows view that most of the ADSL vendors have of the future of home networking. Basically, they envision fibre optic lines into central neighbourhood hubs, from which point, they split off into copper line ADSL links to the peoples homes or businesses. With this much bandwidth into the home, it is also feasible to deliver such services as Video On Demand and cable television, all over a single copper line. Some Concrete Data By way of ending off this section, I have included table 4, which lists some download times for certain sized files, over ADSL, as a measure of the actual performance that the end user may expect from such a system:
File Types Digitised Photo CAD/CAM File CT Scan X-Ray Bulk File File Size / Mbits 1 2 5.2 40 500 56 KBPS 17.9 sec 35.7 sec 1.5 min 11.9 min 2.5 hrs 64 KBPS 15.6 sec 31.2 sec 1.4 min 10.4 min 2.2 hrs 384 KBPS 2.6 sec 5.2 sec 13.5 sec 1.7 min 21.7 min 1536 KBPS 0.7 sec 1.3 sec 3.4 sec 26 sec 5.4 min 2048 KBPS 0.5 sec 0.9 sec 2.5 sec 19.5 sec 4 min

Table 4 - File Transfer Times

VDSL (Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line)

The next step in the line of xDSL products is VDSL. The maximum downstream rate for VDSL is between 51 and 55 Mbps, over distances of up to 300m, with the bandwidth dropping to 13 Mbps for distances up to 1500m. The ADSL, the upstream rates will, at least initially anyway, be smaller, in the region of 1.6 to 2.3 Mbps. As with ADSL, the data channels will be separated in frequency from the normal telephone channel, but there will also be provision for a frequency separated ISDN channel, allowing telephone companies to overlay VDSL onto their existing networks, with minimal disruption. The projected capabilities of VDSL are listed in table 5:
Upstream Rates / MBPS 1.6 2.3 19.2 Equal to downstream Downstream Rates / MBPS 12.96 13.8 25.92 27.6 51.84 55.2 Effective Distance / m 1500 1000 300

Table 5 - VDSL Capabilities VDSL is very similar to ADSL in the way it works and will include forward error correction. As far as modulating code schemes go, VDSL has four possible candidates; CAP, DMT, DWMT
5

The specifics of this scheme can be found on the NetSpeed homepage under http://www.netspeed.com/offhook.html

Copper Access Technologies & ADSL Rhodes University Computer Science Honours Distributed Multimedia Course Notes (Discrete Wavelet Multitone) and SLC (Simple Line Code). For more specifics on the operation of VDSL, the ADSL forum offers a VDSL tutorial at http://www.adsl.com/vdsl_tutorial.html. The VDSL standard is currently under discussion by five of the major standards bodies, namely the U.S. ANSI Standards Group (T1E1.4), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the Digital Audio-Visual Council (DAVIC), the ATM Forum and the ADSL Forum. As such, none of these bodies has produced a concrete set of specifications, but there are already companies working on producing VDSL products.

Conclusion
xDSL is by no means the one and only product in the market for copper access technologies. Cable modems, which operate over fibre optic lines installed for private television stations, and also well represented, especially in the United States, where, it is estimated, 1 in every 3 houses are already connected to the cable system. There are many problems with cable modems though, and even in the U.S. it is thought that ADSL will dominate. ADSL is certainly the cheapest option for connecting high-speed data links into individual houses. While it is by no means the most desirable option, fibre optic cables to every household and building are still a long way off, and in the mean time, we require the connectivity offered by such systems NOW! Certainly, in an African perspective, the prospect of linking all buildings with copper wire is certainly a more appealing prospect! ADSL offers high-speed connectivity, for a reasonable price, over existing cables. For the moment, at least, that is exactly what the world requires.

References
ADSL Forum: ADSL Tutorial (Twisted Pair Access to the Information Highway), http://www.adsl.com/adsl_tutorial.html ADSL Forum: ADSL Forum TR-002 (ATM over ADSL Recommendation), http://www.adsl.com/adsl_atm.html ADSL Forum: General Introduction to Copper Access Technologies, http://www.adsl.com/general_tutorial.html ADSL Forum: VDSL Tutorial (Fibre Copper Access to the Information Highway), http://www.adsl.com/vdsl_tutorial.html Westell: ADSL System Diagram, http://www.westell.com/adslDiag.html Kimmo K. Saarela, Tampere University of Technology (Telecommunications Laboratory), ADSL. Imagen Communications: Large File Transfer Times, http://www.imagen.net/adsl/transfers.html NetSpeed: Dial Up ADSL, http://www.netspeed.com/offhook.html PairGain: CopperOptics (Enhancing the Performance of Copper Cable with HDSL), http://www.pairgain.com/copperop.html

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