Extending DSL's reach: NEC pushes the technology out to DLCs

NEC America last week proposed a way to extend the reach of digital loop carriers to be able to accommodate digital subscriber line services.

Through DataWave-an asynchronous transfer mode-based system of central office equipment, routers, management systems, gateway servers and fiber optics-the equipment vendor intends to solve what it calls a complex problem: how to deliver high-speed data over networks for DLCs.

"Basically, we want to integrate DSL with DLCs," said Bryan Monaghan, manager of product marketing for NEC. DSL access multiplexers (DSLAMs) come from the datacom world and can't handle the complexities of the local loop, he said. By supplying all the DSL equipment on an end-to-end basis and using a Sonet access multiplexer in the field to route calls back over fiber, access to DLCs can be driven out to longer distances.

The system enables services such as virtual private networks, fast Internet access, fast file transfer and videoconferencing.

The DLCs are connected in the field, where a cabinet houses NEC's Vista Sonet access multiplexer and ISC-303 DLC. They then plug in an ATM access multiplexer unit with line cards and asymmetrical or high bit-rate DSL capability. Calls are transported back to the DLCs' CO over fiber. This is what Monaghan calls "Sonetizing the loop." It means that the remote terminal can be 10 miles from the CO, while customers can be 15,000 feet from the remote terminal.

"We're pushing the CO into the field," Monaghan said.

The purpose of the system is to provide more people with DSL, company officials said. The DataWave system can support up to 2304 subscribers in a three-mile radius of the CO. The DSLAMs will be supplied through an agreement with Diamond Lane. Talks are underway with other equipment suppliers for the CO equipment, an NEC spokeswoman said.

Vendor integration will need to be done, but DataWave should be available for service soon, said Claude Romans, an analyst at Ryan, Hankin and Kent. Although big carriers such as U S West and GTE have selected primary vendors for their DSL rollouts, there can always be secondary vendors, he said. The system is a good way of increasing qualification rates of DSL in the local loop, he said.

"Improvements need to be done, and using DLCs is one way to do it," Romans said. "It's a necessary evolution."

Raymond Keneipp of Current Analysis agreed that DataWave could increase the quality of DSL for more subscribers. The fact that NEC is introducing an end-to-end DSL solution is not surprising, but the capability the company is putting into its Sonet access multiplexers is very significant, he said.

"The problem with DSL has always been that you have to haul the copper back to the CO," Keneipp said. "This eliminates that whole problem and gives DLCs a lot more reach."

* Customer premises equipment

* Asymmetrical DSL router that serves multiple workstations or a network interface card that serves individual PCs

* High-density central office DSLAM composed of a master control shelf and up to 12 line card shelves

* Element management system that manages up to 30 DSLAMs

* Gateway server that manages and grooms user connections to bridge the gap between the fast data access network and ISP POPs or corporate gateways

* Integration and engineering services

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