Fiber to the Home – Solution Path to Gigabit-Symmetric Transmission Dissertation

Introduction

FTTH, the acronym for Fiber to the Home, concerns fiber-optic wires that reinstate the currently existent copper cable technology. FTTH has an upper hand over this cooper cable technology due to its capability of carrying high-speed broadband services incorporating audio, video, and data which is connected directly to the junction box of the home or the building. Thus, it is also sometimes referred to as Fiber to the Building, or FTTB. Conventional copper cable technology uses analog signals produced by telephonic instruments like fax machines. Analog technology is less accurate as a signaling tool as compared to digital technology. (Park, 2006)

Although multiplexing has made possible the transmission of digital signals over multiple channels using copper lines, fiber optic cable provides a much better alternative to transmit these signals and provides for quicker transfer rates and practically limitless bandwidth. Thus, this technology has enabled us to take a quantum leap towards faster Internet speed, better video streaming, and provides for other demanding applications like online gaming and Gigabit file transfers. (Afsahi, 2007)

The Internet exploits the framework of fiber optic cables competent enough to deliver implausible bandwidth. This intrinsic ability formulates the Internet as a principal source for progressive network technologies which can be applied to the home or in commercial activities. However, the majority of the subscribers gain access to this network by means of copper cables with constrained capability. This forms a bottleneck for progressive technologies which gradually require superior bandwidths. FTTH technology narrows this gap. Fiber optic cables are built with glass fiber have the competence of carrying data at a rate beyond 2.5 gigabits per second (gbps).

FTTH services normally offer an assortment of plans with various speeds dependent on the costs. At the lower levels, service plans offer transmission rates of 10 megabits per second (mbps), whilst standard DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services operating on existing copper lines are able to offer just 1.5 mbps. A higher-priced FTTH service might offer data transmission rates greater than 100 mbps- approximately 66 times quicker than common DSL services. (Afsahi, 2007)

FTTH uses various architectures. It might use a point-to-point architecture, or even a passive optical network (PON). The former necessitates the provider to maintain an optical receiver for all customers individually on the field. On the other hand PON FTTH relies on a central transceiver and splitter to make room for up to 32 consumers at a time. Optical electric converters, or OEC, are employed to alter the signals to interface with copper cabling where necessary. FTTH differs from Fiber to the Curb (FTTC) in the sense that FTTC is not directly connected to the home or building- it runs only up to the curb with the final leg of cabling to each buildings making use of the existent copper wiring technology. (Park, 2006)

Current State of FFTH Implementation

The interest in implementing fiber to the home (FTTH) technology are growing all around the globe. In US and Japan, implementation of FTTH has generally based on Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. In Europe, point-to-point and ring-based topologies employing Ethernet technology, referred to as Ethernet FTTH, is used for FTTH deployments along with a few cases of PON implementations. (Morelle, 2006)

FTTH- The Answer to Gigabit Symmetric Transmission

Demand for Internet access speeds have experienced a steep climb, both in terms of the speeds requisite for bandwidth-hungry applications and those distributed to the industry by service providers. Bandwidth exhaustive content along with peer-to-peer applications guzzles the greater part of bandwidth in the majority of broadband networks at present. A large number of data applications have soaring bursts oriented traffic patterns and need high bit-rates just for comparatively little time fractions. (Hu, 2008) Thus, they are capable of sharing common frameworks and backbone networks, although this leads to high oversubscriptions.

On the contrary, streaming applications like video broadcast, video on demand, and Voice over IP (VoIP) involve bandwidth engagement for the complete duration of the application execution. An additional and increasingly significant factor to be comprehended is the ever more symmetric character of the traffic patterns. Peer-to-peer file sharing, e-mail, video conferencing, VoIP, and others intrinsically generate symmetric traffic flows contrary to the vastly asymmetric nature of applications based on client-server architecture like streaming applications or Web browsing. FTTH addresses these issues and provides a solution path to Gigabit Symmetric Transmission. (Park, 2006)

Review of Various Approaches

1. The rapid time and low-cost constraints in relation to individual subscribers have to lead to the popularity of FTTH architectures founded on Ethernet switching. Ethernet transmission and switching are established possessions in the enterprise networking arena and provide for cost efficiency, developed product quality, and swift innovation cycles. Switches positioned in the basements of various multi-dwelling units are unified by using Gigabit Ethernet. This has the advantage of exceptional toughness in opposition to fiber cuts and effective cost efficiency. But at the same time, it is disadvantageous in terms of architecture scalability with the challenge presented by the bandwidth sharing concept. (Abd-Elmalak, 2006)
2. Passive Optical Network (PON) architectures for FTTH implementation are exemplified by passive optical splitters which allocate the fiber to each individual client by means of splitting ratios varying from 1:64 to 1:128. The PON FTTH framework characteristically supports the Ethernet protocol. However, it can also use the ATM transmission system for its operations. In various cases, a supplementary downstream wavelength is superimposed so as to dispense conventional analog and digital TV services to specific consumers eliminating the requirement of IP set-top boxes. Advantages of this approach incorporate access fiber saving, port saving, and analog video overlay. However, there are a number of issues concerning this technology like Bandwidth sharing, encryption, and high operational bit rate which need to be addressed during deployment. (Wei, 2008)
3. A gigabit-symmetric Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) PON is arguably more effective than the conventional WDM PON architecture. It offers gigabit symmetry, i.e., a gigabit- or perhaps multi-gigabits-per-second in uplinks as well as downlinks, to satisfy the requirements of the customers for peer-to-peer applications along with HDTV broadcasting. In OCDMA PON technology, diverse optical codes are allocated to the subscribers as the mark of uniqueness and a common transmission medium is used. Both optical encoding as well as decoding is carried out in the optical domain, and therefore OCDMA can employ full asynchronous transmission mode, addressing time related overheads and without making use of any intricate electrical machinery. (Badía, 2007)

Critical Appraisal

Use of fiber to provide connectivity to dwellings is a major investment which anticipates a life time of at least 30 to 40 years. Use of various deployment techniques and architectures has been observed in the field of fiber based networks. Although each deployment method for FTTH offers its advantages, the lingering risk of gaining short-term reserves in the fiber communications from PON FTTH implementation might have major impacts on the upcoming use of the costly fiber transmission without significant follow-on investments is a concerning issue. (Young, 2003)

Conclusion

FTTH may be exorbitant in various cases. Deploying FTTH can be pricey and the monthly rates for broadband services subsequently can also be disconcerting. However, outlays are expected to come down over a period of time with FTTH gaining popularity. Due to difficulties in cost-effectiveness in reinstating prevailing copper cabling in some areas, FTTH is increasingly being deployed in recently built societies as a supplementary selling attribute. FTTH is sure to gain more popularity in the coming times as it surely provides the answer to the ever demanding applications and offers a solution path to Gigabit Symmetric Transmission. (Green, 2005)

References:

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Afsahi, Ahmad & Nikitas J. Dimopoulos; 2007; Efficient communication using message prediction for clusters of multiprocessors; Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience; 14, 10, 859-883; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada K7L 3N6; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Victoria, Canada V8W 3P6.

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