You Can Never Be Too Thin or Have Enough Bandwidth

BY RICH TEHRANI

You may have heard that we have too much bandwidth in existing networks, but it is not the case. We are far from having too much bandwidth, and in fact, I will go out on a limb and say that you can never have too much. Bandwidth hungry apps seem to materialize faster than new and bigger pipes can be created. In the consumer space, music swapping and now movie swapping are taking up hordes of bits per second while enterprises roll out new applications like video, VoIP and collaboration that are taxing last-mile pipes like never before.

Service providers are always looking for ways to do more with less. One area of extreme savings is using existing resources more effectively. One resource that many service providers have in abundance is copper. In fact, there are about three billion copper lines installed in the world. A company called Actelis Networks (news) has come up with ways to deliver near-fiber speeds over these POTS quality lines. Using their technology, you are able to drastically increase the number of customers served and thus increase revenue density. The company says you can serve almost twice as many customers from the same CO space using their special division multiplexing technology. This performance is achieved while conforming to G.SHDSL.bis physical layer technology as well as emerging standard bonding schemes.

In order to achieve these feats, Actelis has developed technology to reduce cross-talk by focusing on cancellation and management of this dreaded nuisance plaguing high-speed copper communications. When this technology is maxed out you can achieve speeds of 67 Mbps, an astounding speed. It is possible to reach 45 Mbps with ten copper pairs, but obviously line conditions and length are factors that must be considered in such an equation. The company is also working to increase bandwidth levels.

Actelis is working with a number of standards bodies to make sure they conform to the latest standards. Here is a brief overview:

• IEEE: 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM)

• ITU-T: G.bond and G.SHDSL.bis

• ANSI: M²DSL and T1.417

• ETSI: TM6

There are a number of different solutions that Actelis offers depending on your needs, budget and bandwidth requirements. The MetaLIGHT product lines come in three flavors, while there are two devices in the MetaLIGHT Transport line. In an age of increased service provider opportunity where there is still a focus on keeping a lid on costs, increasing copper capacity makes a great deal of sense. You really can�t be too thin or have too much bandwidth. To learn more about one of the ways this can be accomplished (not the thin part) contact Actelis Networks directly.

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Rich Tehrani is TMC's president. He welcomes your comments. Participate in our forums.