Corning taps mPhase for DSL testing equipment

Corning, through its Cable Systems subsidiary, will use mPhase line of “intelligent” DSL component products to fill customer demands for end-to-end DSL network testing. The agreement with mPhase lets Corning resell mPhase’s Intelligent POTS Splitter (iPOTS) and UniversalBypass, as well as other products still in the development stage, to service providers and OEM customers as part of its line of DSL splitters and related microfilters.

“Our customers have been telling us they need to have a way to test the lines for qualification or deployment,” said Eric Biribuze, Corning Cable Systems’ xDSL Line product director. “The splitter was the problem because it has DC blocking capacitors and a low pass filter, and doesn’t give a good read when you do the testing. The iPOTS will bypass the splitter and allow the test head to test the line automatically.”

Splitters are needed at the central office and customer premise for every DSL line. The iPOTS is an integrated splitter and test access switching cards in a modular design. It’s activated by a 17 KHz tone from the test head.

“When the service provider would like to test the loop, they’ll send a 17 KHz tone from their test OSS to activate the iPOTS device and bypass the splitter and the DC blocking caps, allowing the full spectrum of test signals to go from the DSLAM out onto the loop,” said Stephen Yadre, mPhase’s DSL component line product manager.

This eliminates the need for a technician dispatch and provides operational cost savings.

The UniversalBypass is used with legacy splitters.

Because operators can now test the strength of the DSL loop, they can potentially upsell bandwidth to capable subscribers.

“They can send a signal to the DSL test head, which in turn sends a signal to the iPOTS and opens the line for full spectrum testing and decide whether they can upsell the customer,” said Peter Gasparini, mPhase’s sales and marketing director for DSL Components.

For the future, mPhase is developing iPOTS 3, a computer-controlled device that can troubleshoot in all directions in a DSL network--toward the loop, toward the DSLAM and toward the public network, Yadre said.