Next-generation access networks: A preview

As we enter 2008, fixed line access networks are in a full state of flux or "transformation," across many dimensions. For example, central office asymmetric digital subscriber line 2 (ADSL2+)-centric copper networks are rapidly evolving to remote node-based very high speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2)-based deployments as well as to direct fiber to the home (FTTH) networks, with an accompanying shift from asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)-based to native Ethernet-based transport. Coupled to these shifts is a manifest evolution in the services being provided, with voice service evolving from circuit-switched plain old telephone service (POTS) to consumer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), data services evolving from highly asymmetric bandwidth services with downstream data rates of a few megabits per second to more symmetric bandwidth with 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps data rates, and a full array of video services supported. Furthermore, there is an increasing expectation on the part of the end user that these services will be easily accessible on any device, on any network, at any time, with a guaranteed quality of experience (QoE). In addition to a further evolution in the network infrastructure, these extended requirements give rise to the need for a next generation of network and service management, with dynamic management of the access network resources, sophisticated service-level diagnostics, as well as management of the network inside the home. This issue of the Bell Labs Technical Journal is dedicated to a discussion of these topics and the requirements they put on the access network in the near and long term.