Subject : Telecom Network Management

Topic : Broadband Network Management

• As new technologies emerge, service providers offer new services to commercial and residential communities using those technologies. In turn, offering of new services by service providers is propelling information technology to new heights. This is especially true in broadband technology.
  • The broadband network and the narrowband Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) are multimedia networks that provide integrated analog and digital services over the same network. Narrowband ISDN is low bandwidth network that can carry two 56 kilo baud rate channels. The broadband network can transport very high data rate signals. The narrowband ISDN is also known as Basic ISDN.
  • There are three types of information technology services: voice, video, and data. In the traditional terminology, voice and video services are transported over the telecommunication network.
  • One of the chief characteristics of broadband service is the integration of voice, video and data services over the same transportation medium, in other words, it is multimedia transportation networking. Sometimes, the broadband network is confused with high-speed data network, either dedicated or combined with real-time voice or video, especially in the data traffic arena. However we limit our definition of the broadband network to those that can handle multimedia service of voice, video and data. The broadband network is also called the Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN).
  • The broadband network and service have contributed significantly to advances in three network segments of WAN, access network and home/customer premises equipment (CPE) network. In the WAN segment, protocols used in addition to IP are the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).
  • Broadband access technology is implemented using one of five technologies.
• Hybrid fiber coax (HFC) or cable modem technology is a two-way interactive multimedia communication system using fiber and coaxial cable facilities and cable modems.
• The second technology uses a digital subscriber line (DSL). There are several variations of implementing this, generically referred to as xDSL.
• The third and fourth technologies use wireless transmission from the switching office or the head end to the customer premises. Transmission in the two cases is either terrestrial or via a satellite.
• The fifth technology is the mobile wireless technology. Mobile wireless technology is deployed as either access technology using GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or as a home/CPE network using WiFi (IEEE 802.3) protocol.
  • Figure shows a broadband network. The WAN is MPLS/IP/ATM. The WAN is linked to the customer premises using either optical links, OC-n (Optical Carrier-n)/STS (Synchronous Transport Signal), or a broadband link with emerging access technology (HFC, xDSL, wireless). The customer network consists of two classes, residential customers and corporate customers with campus like network. The residential customers are either residential homes or small corporations that use broadband services, but do not require the high-speed access network to WAN. Corporate customers need high-speed access and connect optical or synchronous (E1/T1) links.
  • Radio, video (television), Internet Service Provider (ISP), and other service providers constitute the service providers. Multiple services are multiplexed at the central office or the Multiple Service Operator (MSO) head end and are piped to the customer premises via common facilities. The service providers interface with WAN via gateways.
  • The management of a broadband network is more complex than that of either the conventional computer network, which is mostly based on IP, or the telecommunication network. It is based on MPLS and ATM WAN technology and broadband access technology.