BROADBAND_GUIDE

Contents

1 Broadband remote access server 1

1.1 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Digital subscriber line access multiplexer 2

2.1 Path taken by data to DSLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Role of the DSLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3 Bandwidth versus distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 Hardware details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.5 IP-DSLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 Digital subscriber line 5

3.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2.1 Naked DSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 Typical setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3.1 Exchange equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3.2 Customer equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4 Protocols and configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.5 Transmission methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.6 DSL technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Local loop 12
4.1 Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5 Asynchronous Transfer Mode 13

i
ii CONTENTS

5.1 Layer 2 – Datagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.1.1 Cell size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.1.2 The structure of an ATM cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.1.3 Cells in practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.4 Why virtual circuits? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.5 Using cells and virtual circuits for traffic engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1.6 Types of virtual circuits and paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1.7 Virtual circuit routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1.8 Call admission and connection establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1.9 Reference model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.2 Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.3 Wireless ATM or Mobile ATM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6 List of device bit rates 19

6.1 Factors limiting actual performance, criteria for real decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.2 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3 Bandwidths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.1 Time Signal Station to Radio Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.2 Teletypewriter (TTY) or telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.3 Modems (narrowband and broadband) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.4 Mobile telephone interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.5 Wide area networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.6 Local area networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.7 Wireless networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.8 Wireless personal area networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.9 Computer buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3.10 Dynamic random-access memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3.11 Graphics processing units’ RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3.12 Digital audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3.13 Digital video interconnects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

7 ADSL loop extender 24

7.1 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
7.2 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
CONTENTS iii

8 John Cioffi 26
8.1 Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
8.2 Honors and awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
8.3 Selected publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8.5 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

9 Internet access 28
9.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
9.2 Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
9.2.1 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
9.2.2 Network congestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9.2.3 Outages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9.3 Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9.3.1 Hardwired broadband access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9.3.2 Wireless broadband access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
9.4 Pricing and spending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
9.5 Digital divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
9.5.1 Growth in number of users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
9.5.2 Bandwidth divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9.5.3 In the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9.5.4 Rural access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9.5.5 Access as a civil or human right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9.5.6 Network neutrality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
9.6 Natural disasters and access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
9.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

10 DSL filter 45
10.1 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.3 Modulation techniques and specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
10.4 Maintenance and failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
10.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
10.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
10.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

11 Broadband filter 47
11.1 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
11.2 Distinguish from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
11.3 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
iv CONTENTS

11.3.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
11.3.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
11.3.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 1

Broadband remote access server

Subscriber Subscriber line

(xDSL)
Transport Network
(ATM or Ethernet)
ISP Network
(IP)
Internet connected over Ethernet-based remote access devices are
premises
usually identified by VLAN IDs or MPLS tags. By acting
as the network termination point, the BRAS is responsi-
ble for assigning network parameters such as IP addresses
to the clients. The BRAS is also the first IP hop from the
xDSL DSLAM BRAS Internet Router
client to the Internet.
router
The BRAS is also the interface to authentication, autho-
xDSL Connectivity diagram rization and accounting systems (see RADIUS).

A broadband remote access server (BRAS, B-RAS or

BBRAS) routes traffic to and from broadband remote ac- 1.1 See also
cess devices such as digital subscriber line access multi-
plexers (DSLAM) on an Internet service provider's (ISP) • Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP)
network. BRAS can also be referred to as a Broadband
Network Gateway (BNG). • Multi-service access node (MSAN)
The BRAS sits at the edge of an ISP’s core network, and
aggregates user sessions from the access network. It is at
the BRAS that an ISP can inject policy management and
IP Quality of Service (QoS).
The specific tasks include:

• Aggregates the circuits from one or more link access

devices such as DSLAMs
• Provides layer 2 connectivity through either trans-
parent bridging or PPP sessions over Ethernet or
ATM sessions
• Enforces quality of service (QoS) policies
• Provides layer 3 connectivity and routes IP traffic
through an Internet service provider’s backbone net-
work to the Internet

A DSLAM collects data traffic from multiple subscribers

into a centralized point so that it can be transported to a
switch or router over a Frame Relay, ATM, or Ethernet
connection.
The router provides the logical network termination.
Common link access methods include PPP over Ether-
net (PPPoE), PPP over ATM (PPPoA) encapsulated ses-
sions, bridged Ethernet over ATM or Frame Relay (RFC
1483/RFC 1490), or just plain Ethernet. In the case
of ATM or Frame Relay based access, individual sub-
scribers are identified by Virtual Circuit IDs. Subscribers

1
Chapter 2

Digital subscriber line access multiplexer

• xDSL filters: DSL filters are used in the tele-

phone exchange to split voice from data sig-
nals. The voice signal can be routed to a plain
old telephone service (POTS) provider or left
unused whilst the data signal is routed to the
ISP DSLAM via the HDF (see next entry).
• Handover distribution frame (HDF): a dis-
tribution frame that connects the last mile
provider with the service provider’s DSLAM
• DSLAM: a device for DSL service. The
DSLAM port where the subscriber local loop
is connected converts analog electrical signals
to data traffic (upstream traffic for data up-
Siemens DSLAM SURPASS hiX 5625 load) and data traffic to analog electrical sig-
nals (downstream for data download).
A digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM,
often pronounced dee-slam) is a network device, often lo-
cated in telephone exchanges, that connects multiple cus-
tomer digital subscriber line (DSL) interfaces to a high-
2.2 Role of the DSLAM
speed digital communications channel using multiplexing
techniques.[1]
Subscriber Subscriber line Transport Network ISP Network Internet
premises (xDSL) (ATM or Ethernet) (IP)

2.1 Path taken by data to DSLAM

1. Customer premises: DSL modem terminating the xDSL

router
DSLAM BRAS Internet Router

ADSL, SHDSL or VDSL circuit and providing a

LAN interface to a single computer or LAN seg- xDSL Connectivity diagram
ment.
The DSLAM equipment collects the data from its many
2. Local loop: the telephone company wires from a
modem ports and aggregates their voice and data traf-
customer to the telephone exchange or to a serving
fic into one complex composite “signal” via multiplexing.
area interface, often called the "last mile" (LM).
Depending on its device architecture and setup, a
DSLAM aggregates the DSL lines over its Asynchronous
3. Telephone exchange:
Transfer Mode (ATM), frame relay, and/or Internet
• Main distribution frame (MDF): a wiring rack Protocol network (i.e., an IP-DSLAM using PTM-TC
that connects outside subscriber lines with in- [Packet Transfer Mode - Transmission Convergence])
ternal lines. It is used to connect public or pri- protocol(s) stack.
vate lines coming into the building to internal The aggregated traffic is then directed to a telco’s
networks. At the telco, the MDF is generally backbone switch, via an access network (AN), also called
in proximity to the cable vault and not far from a Network Service Provider (NSP), at up to 10 Gbit/s data
the telephone switch. rates.

2
2.4. HARDWARE DETAILS 3

The DSLAM acts like a network switch since its func- 0.40 mm copper and ADSL2+ technology) and maxi-
tionality is at Layer 2 of the OSI model. Therefore, mum data rate. Local conditions may vary, especially be-
it cannot re-route traffic between multiple IP networks, yond 2 km, often necessitating a closer DSLAM to bring
only between ISP devices and end-user connection points. acceptable bandwidths:
The DSLAM traffic is switched to a Broadband Re-
mote Access Server where the end-user traffic is then • 25 Mbit/s at 1,000 feet (~300 m)
routed across the ISP network to the Internet. Customer-
premises equipment that interfaces well with the DSLAM • 24 Mbit/s at 2,000 feet (~600 m)
to which it is connected may take advantage of enhanced
telephone voice and data line signaling features and the • 23 Mbit/s at 3,000 feet (~900 m)
bandwidth monitoring and compensation capabilities it • 22 Mbit/s at 4,000 feet (~1.2 km)
supports.
• 21 Mbit/s at 5,000 feet (~1.5 km)
A DSLAM may or may not be located in the tele-
phone exchange, and may also serve multiple data and • 19 Mbit/s at 6,000 feet (~1.8 km)
voice customers within a neighborhood serving area in-
terface, sometimes in conjunction with a digital loop car- • 16 Mbit/s at 7,000 feet (~2.1 km)
rier. DSLAMs are also used by hotels, lodges, residential
• 8 Mbit/s at 10,000 feet (~3 km)
neighborhoods, and other businesses operating their own
private telephone exchange. • 3 Mbit/s at 15,000 feet (4.5 km)
In addition to being a data switch and multiplexer, a
• 1.5 Mbit/s at 17,000 feet (~5.2 km)
DSLAM is also a large collection of modems. Each mo-
dem on the aggregation card communicates with a sin-
gle subscriber’s DSL modem. This modem functional-
ity is integrated into the DSLAM itself instead of being 2.4 Hardware details
done via an external device like a 20th-century voiceband
modem. Customers connect to the DSLAM through ADSL
modems or DSL routers, which are connected to the
Like traditional voice-band modems, a DSLAM’s inte-
PSTN network via typical unshielded twisted pair tele-
grated DSL modems are usually able to probe the line and
phone lines. Each DSLAM has multiple aggregation
to adjust themselves to electronically or digitally compen-
cards, and each such card can have multiple ports to
sate for forward echoes and other bandwidth-limiting fac-
which the customers’ lines are connected. Typically a
tors in order to move data at the maximum possible con-
single DSLAM aggregation card has 24 ports, but this
nection rate.
number can vary with each manufacturer.
This compensation capability also takes advantage of the
The most common DSLAMs are housed in a telco-grade
better performance of "balanced line" DSL connections,
chassis, which are supplied with (nominal) 48 volts DC.
providing capabilities for LAN segments longer than
Hence a typical DSLAM setup may contain power con-
physically similar unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Ethernet
verters, DSLAM chassis, aggregation cards, cabling, and
connections, since the balanced line type is generally re-
upstream links.
quired for its hardware to function correctly. This is due
to the nominal line impedance (measured in Ohms but On the upstream trunk (ISP) side many early DSLAMs
comprising both resistance and inductance) of balanced used ATM—and this approach was standardized by the
lines being somewhat lower than that of UTP, thus sup- DSL Forum—with Gigabit Ethernet support appearing
porting 'weaker' signals (however the solid-state electron- sometime later.[2] Today, the most common upstream
ics required to construct such digital interfaces are more links in these DSLAMs use Gigabit Ethernet or multi-
costly). gigabit fiber optic links.

2.3 Bandwidth versus distance 2.5 IP-DSLAM

Balanced pair cable has higher attenuation at higher
frequencies. Therefore, the longer the wire between
DSLAM and subscriber, the slower the maximum pos-
sible data rate due to the lower frequencies being used
to limit the total attenuation (or due to the higher num-
ber of errors at higher frequencies, effectively lowering
the overall frequency/data rate). The following is a rough
guide to the relation between wire distance (based on
IP-DSLAM stands for Internet Protocol Digital Subscriber
Line Access Multiplexer. User traffic is mostly IP based.
Traditional 20th century DSLAMs used Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) technology to connect to upstream
ATM routers/switches. These devices then extract the IP
traffic and pass it on to an IP router in an IP network.
This division of work was thought to be sensible because
DSL itself is based on ATM, and could theoretically carry
4 CHAPTER 2. DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE ACCESS MULTIPLEXER

data other than IP in that ATM stream. In contrast, an

IP-DSLAM extracts the IP traffic in the DSLAM itself
and passes it on to an IP router. The advantages of IP-
DSLAM over a traditional ATM DSLAM are that the
merged equipment is less expensive to make and operate
and can offer a richer set of features.

2.6 See also

• Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)
• Broadband Internet access

• Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS)

• Cable modem termination system analogous device
for CATV
• ISDN digital subscriber line (IDSL)

• Multi-service access node (MSAN)

• Symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL)

• Symmetric high-speed digital subscriber line

(SHDSL)

• Triple play (telecommunications)

• Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL)

• Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2)

2.7 References
[1] “Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM)".
iec.org. Archived from the original on 2008-01-24. Re-
trieved 2008-02-16.

[2] Chris Hellberg; Truman Boyes; Dylan Greene (2007).

Broadband Network Architectures: Designing and Deploy-
ing Triple-Play Services. Pearson Education. p. 12. ISBN
978-0-13-270451-9.

2.8 External links

• What Is DSLAM? Complete guide to understanding
DSLAM

• Technical whitepaper on merging fiber with

DSLAM

• Cisco PPPoA Baseline Architecture (with dia-

grams)
Chapter 3
Digital subscriber line
“DSL” redirects here. For other uses, see DSL (disam- some ten miles (16 km) between the BBC studios in
biguation).
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital sub- feed but not one suitable for transmission. However, these
scriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to
transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommu- preventing such rates from becoming practical in the field.
nications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood
to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the
most commonly installed DSL technology, for Internet
access. DSL service can be delivered simultaneously with
wired telephone service on the same telephone line. This
is possible because DSL uses higher frequency bands for
data. On the customer premises, a DSL filter on each
non-DSL outlet blocks any high-frequency interference to
enable simultaneous use of the voice and DSL services.
The bit rate of consumer DSL services typically ranges
from 256 kbit/s to over 100 Mbit/s in the direction to
the customer (downstream), depending on DSL technol-
ogy, line conditions, and service-level implementation.
Bit rates of 1 Gbit/s have been reached in trials,[1] but
most homes are likely to be limited to 500-800 Mbit/s.
In ADSL, the data throughput in the upstream direction
(the direction to the service provider) is lower, hence the
designation of asymmetric service. In symmetric digital
subscriber line (SDSL) services, the downstream and up-
stream data rates are equal. Researchers at Bell Labs have
reached speeds of 10 Gbit/s, while delivering 1 Gbit/s
symmetrical broadband access services using traditional
copper telephone lines. These higher speeds are lab re-
sults, however.[2][3][4] A 2012 survey found that “DSL
continues to be the dominant technology for broadband
access” with 364.1 million subscribers worldwide.[5]
3.1 History
For a long time it was thought that it was not possi-
ble to operate a conventional phone-line beyond low-
speed limits (typically under 9600 bit/s). In the 1950s,
ordinary twisted-pair telephone-cable often carried four
megahertz (MHz) television signals between studios, sug-
gesting that such lines would allow transmitting many
megabits per second. One such circuit in the UK ran
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Pontop Pike transmitting
station. It was able to give the studios a low quality cue
cables had other impairments besides Gaussian noise,
The 1980s saw the development of techniques for
broadband communications that allowed the limit to be
greatly extended. A patent was filed in 1979 for the use
of existing telephone wires for both telephones and data
terminals that were connected to a remote computer via
a digital data carrier system.[6] The motivation for digi-
tal subscriber line technology was the Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) specification proposed in 1984
by the CCITT (now ITU-T) as part of Recommenda-
tion I.120, later reused as ISDN Digital Subscriber Line
(IDSL). Employees at Bellcore (now Telcordia Tech-
nologies) developed Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
(ADSL) by placing wide-band digital signals above the
existing baseband analog voice signal carried between
telephone company telephone exchanges and customers
on conventional twisted pair cabling facilities,[7] and filed
a patent in 1988.[8]
Joseph W. Lechleider's contribution to DSL was his in-
sight that an asymmetric arrangement offered more than
double the bandwidth capacity of symmetric DSL.[9] This
allowed Internet service providers to offer efficient ser-
vice to consumers, who benefited greatly from the ability
to download large amounts of data but rarely needed to
upload comparable amounts. ADSL supports two modes
of transport—fast channel and interleaved channel. Fast
channel is preferred for streaming multimedia, where an
occasional dropped bit is acceptable, but lags are less so.
Interleaved channel works better for file transfers, where
the delivered data must be error-free but latency (time
delay) incurred by the retransmission of error-containing
packets is acceptable.
Consumer-oriented ADSL was designed to operate on ex-
isting lines already conditioned for Basic Rate Interface
ISDN services, which itself is a digital circuit switching
service (non-IP), though most incumbent local exchange
carriers (ILECs) provision Rate-Adaptive Digital Sub-
scriber Line (RADSL) to work on virtually any avail-
able copper pair facility, whether conditioned for BRI
5
6 CHAPTER 3. DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE

or not. Engineers developed high speed DSL facilities access. Telephone companies were pressured into mov-
such as High bit rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) and ing to ADSL largely due to competition from cable com-
Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) to provision panies, which use DOCSIS cable modem technology to
traditional Digital Signal 1 (DS1) services over standard achieve similar speeds. Demand for high bandwidth ap-
copper pair facilities. plications, such as video and file sharing, also contributed
Older ADSL standards delivered 8 Mbit/s to the cus- to popularize ADSL technology.
tomer over about 2 km (1.2 mi) of unshielded twisted- Early DSL service required a dedicated dry loop, but
pair copper wire. Newer variants improved these rates. when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
Distances greater than 2 km (1.2 mi) significantly reduce (FCC) required ILECs to lease their lines to competing
the bandwidth usable on the wires, thus reducing the data DSL service providers, shared-line DSL became avail-
rate. But ADSL loop extenders increase these distances able. Also known as DSL over Unbundled Network El-
by repeating the signal, allowing the LEC to deliver DSL ement, this unbundling of services allows a single sub-
speeds to any distance.[10] scriber to receive two separate services from two separate
providers on one cable pair. The DSL service provider’s
equipment is co-located in the same central office (tele-
phone exchange) as that of the ILEC supplying the cus-
tomer’s pre-existing voice service. The subscriber’s cir-
cuit is rewired to interface with hardware supplied by the
ILEC which combines a DSL frequency and POTS sig-
nals on a single copper pair facility.
By 2012 some carriers in the United States reported that
DSL remote terminals with fiber backhaul are replacing
older ADSL systems.[11]

3.2 Operation

Telephones are connected to the telephone exchange via

DSL SoC
Until the late 1990s, the cost of digital signal processors
for DSL was prohibitive. All types of DSL employ highly
complex digital signal processing algorithms to overcome
the inherent limitations of the existing twisted pair wires.
Due to the advancements of very-large-scale integration
(VLSI) technology, the cost of the equipment associated
with a DSL deployment lowered significantly. The two
main pieces of equipment are a digital subscriber line ac-
cess multiplexer (DSLAM) at one end and a DSL modem
at the other end.
A DSL connection can be deployed over existing cable.
Such deployment, even including equipment, is much
cheaper than installing a new, high-bandwidth fiber-optic
cable over the same route and distance. This is true both
for ADSL and SDSL variations. The commercial suc-
cess of DSL and similar technologies largely reflects the
advances made in electronics over the decades that have
increased performance and reduced costs even while dig-
ging trenches in the ground for new cables (copper or fiber
optic) remains expensive.
In the case of ADSL, competition in Internet access
caused subscription fees to drop significantly over the
years, thus making ADSL more economical than dial up
a local loop, which is a physical pair of wires. The lo-
cal loop was originally intended mostly for the transmis-
sion of speech, encompassing an audio frequency range
of 300 to 3400 hertz (voiceband or commercial band-
width). However, as long-distance trunks were gradually
converted from analog to digital operation, the idea of be-
ing able to pass data through the local loop (by utilizing
frequencies above the voiceband) took hold, ultimately
leading to DSL.
The local loop connecting the telephone exchange to most
subscribers has the capability of carrying frequencies well
beyond the 3.4 kHz upper limit of POTS. Depending on
the length and quality of the loop, the upper limit can be
tens of megahertz. DSL takes advantage of this unused
bandwidth of the local loop by creating 4312.5 Hz wide
channels starting between 10 and 100 kHz, depending on
how the system is configured. Allocation of channels con-
tinues at higher and higher frequencies (up to 1.1 MHz for
ADSL) until new channels are deemed unusable. Each
channel is evaluated for usability in much the same way
an analog modem would on a POTS connection. More us-
able channels equates to more available bandwidth, which
is why distance and line quality are a factor (the higher
frequencies used by DSL travel only short distances). The
pool of usable channels is then split into two different fre-
quency bands for upstream and downstream traffic, based
on a preconfigured ratio. This segregation reduces inter-
ference. Once the channel groups have been established,
3.2. OPERATION
the individual channels are bonded into a pair of virtual
circuits, one in each direction. Like analog modems, DSL
transceivers constantly monitor the quality of each chan-
nel and will add or remove them from service depending
on whether they are usable. Once upstream and down-
stream circuits are established, a subscriber can connect
to a service such as an Internet service provider or other
network services, like a corporate MPLS network.
The underlying technology of transport across DSL facil-
ities uses high-frequency sinusoidal carrier wave modula-
tion, which is an analog signal transmission. A DSL cir-
cuit terminates at each end in a modem which modulates
patterns of bits into certain high-frequency impulses for
transmission to the opposing modem. Signals received
from the far-end modem are demodulated to yield a cor-
responding bit pattern that the modem retransmits, in dig-
ital form, to its interfaced equipment, such as a computer,
router, switch, etc.
Unlike traditional dial-up modems, which modulate bits
into signals in the 300–3400 Hz baseband (voice service),
DSL modems modulate frequencies from 4000 Hz to as
high as 4 MHz. This frequency band separation enables
DSL service and plain old telephone service (POTS) to
coexist on the same copper pair facility. On the sub-
scriber’s end of the circuit, inline low-pass DSL filters
(splitters) are installed on each telephone to filter the high-
frequency signals that would otherwise be heard as hiss,
but pass voice frequencies. Conversely, high-pass filters
already incorporated in the circuitry of DSL modems fil-
ter out voice frequencies. Although ADSL and RADSL
modulations do not use the voice-frequency band, nonlin-
ear elements in the phone could otherwise generate audi-
ble intermodulation and may impair the operation of the
data modem in the absence of high-pass filters.
A DSL modem
Because DSL operates above the 3.4 kHz voice limit, it the regulatory bodies,[16][17] however companies can in-
cannot pass through a load coil, which is an inductive coil cur additional fees under various label, such as circuit
that is designed to counteract loss caused by shunt capac- preparation service (devre hazırlama ücreti) or an addi-
7
itance (capacitance between the two wires of the twisted
pair). Load coils are commonly set at regular intervals
in lines placed only for POTS. A DSL signal cannot pass
through a properly installed and working load coil, while
voice service cannot be maintained past a certain distance
without such coils. Therefore, some areas that are within
range for DSL service are disqualified from eligibility be-
cause of load coil placement. Because of this, phone
companies endeavor to remove load coils on copper loops
that can operate without them, and by conditioning other
lines to avoid them through the use of fiber to the neigh-
borhood or node (FTTN).
Most residential and small-office DSL implementations
reserve low frequencies for POTS, so that (with suitable
filters and/or splitters) the existing voice service continues
to operate independent of the DSL service. Thus POTS-
based communications, including fax machines and ana-
log modems, can share the wires with DSL. Only one
DSL modem can use the subscriber line at a time. The
standard way to let multiple computers share a DSL con-
nection uses a router that establishes a connection be-
tween the DSL modem and a local Ethernet, Powerline,
or Wi-Fi network on the customer’s premises.
The theoretical foundations of DSL, like much of
communication technology, can be traced back to Claude
Shannon's seminal 1948 paper: A Mathematical Theory
of Communication. Generally, higher bit rate transmis-
sions require a wider frequency band, though the ratio of
bit rate to symbol rate and thus to bandwidth are not linear
due to significant innovations in digital signal processing
and digital modulation methods.
3.2.1 Naked DSL
A naked DSL (also known as standalone or dry loop
DSL) is a way of providing DSL services without a PSTN
(analogue telephony) service. It is useful when the cus-
tomer does not need the traditional telephony voice ser-
vice because voice service is received either on top of the
DSL services (usually VoIP) or through another network
(mobile telephony).
It is also commonly called a “UNE” (for Unbundled Net-
work Element) in the United States; in Australia it is
known as a “ULL” (Unconditioned Local Loop);[12] in
Belgium it is known as “Raw Copper” and in Turkey it’s
known as “Yalın Internet”.[13] It started making a come-
back in the United States in 2004 when Qwest started of-
fering it, closely followed by Speakeasy. As a result of
AT&T's merger with SBC,[14] and Verizon's merger with
MCI,[15] those telephone companies have an obligation to
offer naked DSL to consumers.
In Turkey, since 2011, telephone companies are obliged
to offer naked DSL as a result of consumer pressure to
8 CHAPTER 3. DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE

tional naked DSL fee (yalın adsl ücreti). Although circuit

preparation service fee is one-time, the latter is recur-
ring and can constitute as much as 20% of the monthly
bill.[18][19][20]
Even without the regulatory mandate, however, many
ILECs offered naked DSL to consumers. The number
of telephone landlines in the United States dropped from
188 million in 2000 to 115 million in 2010, while the
number of cellular subscribers has grown to 277 million
(as of 2010).[21] This lack of demand for landline voice
services has resulted in the expansion of naked DSL avail-
ability.
Naked DSL products are also marketed in some other
countries e.g., Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and Example of a DSLAM from 2006
Canada.

3.3.1 Exchange equipment

At the exchange, a digital subscriber line access multi-
3.3 Typical setup plexer (DSLAM) terminates the DSL circuits and aggre-
gates them, where they are handed off to other network-
ing transports. In the case of ADSL, the voice component
On the customer side, the DSL Transceiver, or ATU-R, is also separated at this step, either by a filter integrated
or more commonly known as a DSL modem, is hooked in the DSLAM or by a specialized filtering equipment in-
up to a phone line. The telephone company connects the stalled before it. The DSLAM terminates all connections
other end of the line to a DSLAM, which concentrates a and recovers the original digital information.
large number of individual DSL connections into a single
box. The location of the DSLAM depends on the telco,
but it cannot be located too far from the user because of 3.3.2 Customer equipment
attenuation between the DSLAM and the user’s DSL mo-
dem. It is common for a few residential blocks to be con- The customer end of the connection consists of a terminal
nected to one DSLAM. adaptor or "DSL modem". This converts data between
the digital signals used by computers and the voltage sig-
The accompanying figure is a schematic of a simple DSL nal of a suitable frequency range which is then applied to
connection (in blue). The right side shows a DSLAM re- the phone line.
siding in the telephone company’s central office. The left
side shows the customer premises equipment with an op-
tional router. This router manages a local area network Digital signal Voltage signal
(LAN) off of which are connected some number of PCs. (serial interface) (Phone line)

With many service providers, the customer may opt for

a modem which contains a wireless router. This option Computer DSL Modem Outlet
(within the dashed bubble) often simplifies the connec- or Router

tion.

DSL Modem schematic

Phone
Laptop Router MODEM DSLAM
Line

LAN
Filter In some DSL variations (for example, HDSL), the ter-
Telco Central Office
minal adapter connects directly to the computer via a se-
PC PC
rial interface, using protocols such as ethernet or V.35.
In other cases (particularly ADSL), it is common for
Customer Premises the customer equipment to be integrated with higher
level functionality, such as routing, firewalling, or other
application-specific hardware and software. In this case,
the equipment is referred to as a “gateway”.
DSL Connection schematic
Most DSL technologies require installation of appropri-
ate filters to separate, or “split”, the DSL signal from the
3.5. TRANSMISSION METHODS 9

low-frequency voice signal. The separation can take place earliest implementations used DHCP to provide network
either at the demarcation point, or with filters installed at
details such as the IP address to the subscriber equipment,
the telephone outlets inside the customer premises. Each with authentication via MAC address or an assigned host
way has its practical and economic limitations. name. Later implementations often use Point-to-Point
When the DSL modem powers up it goes through a se- Protocol (PPP) to authenticate with a user ID and pass-
ries of steps to establish connections. The actual process word, and to provide network details (Point-to-Point Pro-
varies from modem to modem but generally involves the tocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) or Point-to-Point Protocol
following steps: over ATM (PPPoA)).

1. The DSL transceiver performs a self-test.

2. The DSL transceiver then attempts to synchronize
with the DSLAM. Data can only come into the com- Transmission methods vary by market, region, carrier,
puter when the DSLAM and the modem are syn- and equipment.
chronized. The synchronization process is relatively
quick (in the range of seconds) but is very complex,
involving extensive tests that allow both sides of the
connection to optimize the performance according
to the characteristics of the line in use. External, or
standalone modem units have an indicator labeled
“CD”, “DSL”, or “LINK”, which can be used to tell
if the modem is synchronized. During synchroniza-
tion the light flashes; when synchronized, the light
stays lit, usually with a green color.
3. The DSL transceiver checks the connection between
the DSL transceiver and the computer. For residen-
tial variations of DSL, this is usually the Ethernet
(RJ-45) port or a USB port; in rare models, a
FireWire port is used. Older DSL modems sported
a native ATM interface (usually, a 25 Mbit/s serial 3.6 DSL technologies
interface). Also, some variations of DSL (such as
SDSL) use synchronous serial connections.
Modern DSL gateways have more functionality and usu-
ally go through an initialization procedure very similar
to a PC boot up. The system image is loaded from
the flash memory; the system boots, synchronizes the
DSL connection and establishes the IP connection be-
tween the local network and the service provider, us-
ing protocols such as DHCP or PPPoE. (According to a
2007 book, the PPPoE method far outweighed DHCP in
terms of deployment on DSL lines, and PAP was the pre-
dominant form of subscriber authentication used in such
circumstances.)[22] The system image can usually be up-
dated to correct bugs, or to add new functionality.
3.4 Protocols and configurations
Many DSL technologies implement an Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) layer over the low-level bitstream
layer to enable the adaptation of a number of different
technologies over the same link.
DSL implementations may create bridged or routed net-
works. In a bridged configuration, the group of subscriber
computers effectively connect into a single subnet. The
3.5 Transmission methods
• 2B1Q: Two-binary, one-quaternary, used for IDSL
and HDSL
• CAP: Carrierless Amplitude Phase Modulation -
deprecated in 1996 for ADSL, used for HDSL
• TC-PAM: Trellis Coded Pulse Amplitude Modula-
tion, used for HDSL2 and SHDSL
• DMT: Discrete multitone modulation, the most
common kind, also known as OFDM (Orthogonal
frequency-division multiplexing)
DSL technologies (sometimes summarized as xDSL) in-
clude:
• Symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL), umbrella
term for xDSL where the bitrate is equal in both di-
rections.
• ISDN digital subscriber line (IDSL), ISDN
based technology that provides a bitrate equiv-
alent to two ISDN bearer and one data channel,
144 kbit/s symmetric over one pair
• High bit rate digital subscriber line (HDSL),
ITU-T G.991.1, the first DSL technology that
used a higher frequency spectrum than ISDN,
1,544 kbit/s and 2,048 kbit/s symmetric ser-
vices, either on 2 or 3 pairs at 784 kbit/s each,
2 pairs at 1,168 kbit/s each, or one pair at
2,320 kbit/s
• High bit rate digital subscriber line 2/4
(HDSL2, HDSL4), ANSI, 1,544 kbit/s sym-
metric over one pair (HDSL2) or two pairs
(HDSL4)
• Symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL),
specific proprietary technology, up to 1,544
kbit/s symmetric over one pair
10
• Single-pair high-speed digital subscriber line
(G.SHDSL), ITU-T G.991.2, standardized
successor of HDSL and proprietary SDSL, up
to 5,696 kbit/s per pair, up to four pairs
• Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), um-
brella term for xDSL where the bitrate is greater in
one direction than the other.
• ANSI T1.413 Issue 2, up to 8 Mbit/s and 1 fiber to the curb network architectures).
Mbit/s
• G.dmt, ITU-T G.992.1, up to 10 Mbit/s and 1
Mbit/s
• G.lite, ITU-T G.992.2, more noise and atten-
uation resistant than G.dmt, up to 1,536 kbit/s
and 512 kbit/s
• Asymmetric digital subscriber line 2
(ADSL2), ITU-T G.992.3, up to 12 Mbit/s
and 3.5 Mbit/s
• Asymmetric digital subscriber line 2 plus
(ADSL2+), ITU-T G.992.5, up to 24 Mbit/s
and 3.5 Mbit/s
• Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line
(VDSL), ITU-T G.993.1, up to 52 Mbit/s and
16 Mbit/s
• Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line 2
(VDSL2), ITU-T G.993.2, an improved ver-
sion of VDSL, compatible with ADSL2+, sum
of both directions up to 200 Mbit/s. G.vector
crosstalk cancelling feature (ITU-T G.993.5)
can be used to increase range at a given bitrate,
e.g. 100 Mbit/s at up to 500 meters.[23]
• G.fast, ITU-T G.9700 and G.9701,[24] up to
approximately 1 Gbit/s aggregate uplink and
downlink at 100m.[25] Approved in December
2014, deployments planned for 2016.[26][27]
• Bonded DSL Rings (DSL Rings), a shared ring
topology at 400 Mbit/s
• Etherloop Ethernet local loop
• High Speed Voice and Data Link
• Internet Protocol subscriber line (IPSL), developed
by Rim Semiconductor in 2007, allowed for 40
Mbit/s using 26 AWG copper telephone wire at a
5,500 ft (1,700 m) radius, 26 Mbit/s at a 6,000
ft (1,800 m) radius. The company operated until
2008.[28][29]
• Rate-adaptive digital subscriber line (RADSL), de-
signed to increase range and noise tolerance by sac-
rificing up stream speed
• Uni-DSL (Uni digital subscriber line or UDSL),
technology developed by Texas Instruments, back-
wards compatible with all DMT standards
CHAPTER 3. DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE
• Frequency Division Vectoring, copper networks
working with fiber[30]
The line-length limitations from telephone exchange to
subscriber impose severe limits on data transmission
rates. Technologies such as VDSL provide very high-
speed but short-range links. VDSL is used as a method of
delivering "triple play" services (typically implemented in
3.7 See also
• John Cioffi - Known as “the father of DSL”[31]
• Broadband Internet access
• List of countries by number of Internet subscriptions
• Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM)
• Electronic filter
• List of device bandwidths
• ADSL Loop Extender
3.8 References
[1] The Next Generation of DSL Can Pump 1Gbps Through
Copper Phone Lines, Gizmodo, 18 December 2013, An-
drew Tarantola
[2] Alcatel-Lucent sets broadband speed record using copper,
Phys.org, 10 July 2014, Nancy Owano
[3] Researchers get record broadband speeds out of old-
school copper wire, Engadget, 10 July 2014, Matt Brian
[4] “BT G.fast”. Gfastnews.com. 2014-06-21. Retrieved
2014-11-21.
[5] http://point-topic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/
Sample-Report-Global-Broadband-Statistics-Q2-2012.
pdf
[6] John E. Trombly; John D. Foulkes; David K. Worthington
(May 18, 1982). “Audio and full duplex digital data car-
rier system”. US Patent 4,330,687 (published March 14,
1979).
[7] Ronald Shamus. “EE535 Homework 3”. Worcester Poly-
technic Institute. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
[8] Richard D. Gitlin; Sailesh K. Rao; Jean-Jacques Werner;
Nicholas Zervos (May 8, 1990). “Method and appara-
tus for wideband transmission of digital signals between,
for example, a telephone central office and customer
premises”. US Patent 4,924,492.
[9] Joseph W. Lechleider (August 1991). “High Bit Rate Dig-
ital Subscriber Lines: A Review of HDSL Progress” (fee
required). IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communica-
tions. 9 (6): 769–784. doi:10.1109/49.93088.
3.9. FURTHER READING 11

[10] Infinite Reach ADSL [30] Adtran lays groundwork for superfast broadband over cop-
per, PC World
[11] DSL Death March Continues by Om Malik, Apr 24, 2012,
Gigaom.com [31] Matsumoto, Craig (2005-09-13). “Valley Wonk: DSL
Man”. Light Reading. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
[12] ULL (Unconditioned Local Loop). Whirlpool.net.au.
Retrieved on 2013-09-18.

[13] http://www.ttnet.com.tr http://www.ttnet.com.tr/bireysel/ 3.9 Further reading

internet/sss/Sayfalar/Yalin-Internet.aspx. Retrieved 15
February 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help); External
• Dave Burstein (2002). DSL. John Wiley and Sons.
link in |website= (help)
ISBN 0-471-08390-9. pp 53–86
[14] SBC ATT Merger
• Digital Subscriber Line. International Engineering
[15] Verizon MCI merger Archived copy at WebCite (July 14, Consortium. 2001. ISBN 978-0-933217-95-9.
2007).
• “G.Sup50 - Overview of digital subscriber line Rec-
[16] ARU, ÇAĞDAŞ. “BTK Yalın ADSL Konusunda ommendations”. ITU-T. September 2011. Re-
Düzeltme Yayınladı, Rekabet Kurumu Dünkü Açıkla- trieved 2013-12-26.
ması Nedeniyle Özür Diledi”. Retrieved 15 February
2015.

[17] "İnternet kullanımının yaygınlaşması için tek çözüm 3.10 External links
“Yalın ADSL"". Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[18] “YALIN ADSL VERGİSİZ 8,13 TL OLDU AMA
KİMSE BTK KARARINDAN MEMNUN DEĞİL”.
Telkoder. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
[19] “Yalın ADSL Fiyatları El Yakıyor”. On5yirmi5. Re-
trieved 15 February 2015.
• ADSL Theory—Information about the background
& workings of ADSL, and the factors involved in
achieving a good sync between your modem and the
DSLAM.

[20] “TELKODER'den Yalın ADSL açıklaması". Hürriyet.

A.A. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

[21] AT&T is re-starting its engine of innovation to compete

with Apple and Google - The Green Frog from Silicon
Valley

[22] Philip Golden; Hervé Dedieu; Krista S. Jacobsen (2007).

Implementation and Applications of DSL Technology.
Taylor & Francis. p. 479. ISBN 978-1-4200-1307-8.

[23] http://www.ericsson.com/res/thecompany/docs/journal_
conference_papers/broadband_and_transport/itu-ts_
new_g_vector_standard_proliferates_100mbs_dsl.pdf

[24] “New ITU broadband standard fast-tracks route to 1

Gbit/s”. ITU-T. 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2014-02-13.

[25] Spruyt, Paul; Vanhastel, Stefaan (2013-07-04). “The

Numbers are in: Vectoring 2.0 Makes G.fast Faster”.
TechZine. Alcatel Lucent. Retrieved 2014-02-13.

[26] “G.fast broadband standard approved and on the market”.

ITU-T. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-12-07.

[27] Hardy, Stephen (2014-10-22). “G.fast ONT avail-

able early next year says Alcatel-Lucent”. lightwaveon-
line.com. Retrieved 2014-10-23.

[28] “IPSL Special Interest Group”. consortium web site.

2007. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008.
Retrieved September 15, 2011.

[29] “Rim Semiconductor Company”. official web site.

Archived from the original on August 24, 2008. Retrieved
September 15, 2011.
Chapter 4

Local loop

In telephony, the local loop (also referred to as a lo- mile" connection to the customer, regardless of technol-
cal tail, subscriber line, or in the aggregate as the last ogy or intended purpose. Local loop interrelations in this
mile) is the physical link or circuit that connects from sense include:
the demarcation point of the customer premises to the
edge of the common carrier or telecommunications ser- • Electric power lines.
vice provider's network.
• Cable connections used with television, internet and
At the edge of the carrier access network in a traditional
telephone.
public telephone network, the local loop terminates in a
circuit switch housed in an incumbent local exchange car- • Wireless signals or local loop (WLL): LMDS,
rier or telephone exchange. WiMAX, GPRS, HSDPA, DECT
• Satellite connections for beamed signal.
4.1 Infrastructure • Optical or fiber optics services such as FiOS.

Traditionally, the local loop was an electrical circuit in

the form of a single pair of conductors from the tele- 4.2 See also
phone on the customer’s premises to the local telephone
exchange. Single-wire earth return lines had been used in
• Access network
some countries until the introduction of electric tramways
from the 1900s made them unusable. • Metallic path facilities
Historically the first section was often an aerial open-wire • Outside plant (as an instance of a local loop)
line, with several conductors attached to porcelain insu-
lators on cross-arms on “telegraph” poles. Hence party • Serving area interface
line service was often given to residential customers to
minimise the number of local loops required. Usually • Telephone line
all these circuits went into aerial or buried cables with a • Integrated Services Digital Network
twisted pair for each local loop nearer the exchange, see
outside plant. • Local-loop unbundling
Modern implementations may include a digital loop car-
rier system segment or fiber optic transmission system.
The local loop may terminate at a circuit switch owned 4.3 References
by a competitive local exchange carrier and housed in a
point of presence (POP), which typically is an incumbent
local exchange carrier telephone exchange. A local loop
supports voice and/or data communications applications
in the following ways:

• analog voice and signaling used in traditional POTS

• Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
• variants of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).

The term “local loop” is sometimes used for any "last

12
Chapter 5

Asynchronous Transfer Mode

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is, according to

the ATM Forum, “a telecommunications concept defined
by ANSI and ITU (formerly CCITT) standards for car-
riage of a complete range of user traffic, including voice,
data, and video signals”.[1] ATM was developed to meet
the needs of the Broadband Integrated Services Digital
Network, as defined in the late 1980s,[2] and designed to
unify telecommunication and computer networks. It was
designed for a network that must handle both traditional
high-throughput data traffic (e.g., file transfers), and real-
time, low-latency content such as voice and video. The
reference model for ATM approximately maps to the IBM Turboways ATM 155 PCI network interface card
three lowest layers of the ISO-OSI reference model:
network layer, data link layer, and physical layer.[3] ATM
is a core protocol used over the SONET/SDH backbone
of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), but its use
is declining in favour of all IP.
ATM provides functionality that is similar to both circuit
switching and packet switching networks: ATM uses
asynchronous time-division multiplexing,[4][5] and en-
codes data into small, fixed-sized packets (ISO-OSI
frames) called cells. This differs from approaches such as
the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that use variable sized
packets and frames. ATM uses a connection-oriented
model in which a virtual circuit must be established be-
Marconi ForeRunnerLE 25 ATM PCI network interface card
tween two endpoints before the actual data exchange
begins.[5] These virtual circuits may be “permanent”, i.e.
dedicated connections that are usually preconfigured by 5.1.1 Cell size
the service provider, or “switched”, i.e. set up on a per-
call basis using signalling and disconnected when the call
If a speech signal is reduced to packets, and it is forced to
is terminated.
share a link with bursty data traffic (traffic with some large
ATM eventually became dominated by Internet Protocol data packets) then no matter how small the speech packets
(IP) only technology (and Wireless or Mobile ATM never could be made, they would always encounter full-size data
got any foothold). packets. Under normal queuing conditions the cells might
experience maximum queuing delays. To avoid this issue,
all ATM packets, or “cells,” are the same small size. In
addition, the fixed cell structure means that ATM can be
5.1 Layer 2 – Datagrams readily switched by hardware without the inherent delays
introduced by software switched and routed frames.
In the ISO-OSI reference model data link layer (layer Thus, the designers of ATM utilized small data cells to re-
2), the basic transfer units are generically called frames. duce jitter (delay variance, in this case) in the multiplex-
In ATM these frames are of a fixed (53 octets or bytes) ing of data streams. Reduction of jitter (and also end-
length and specifically called “cells”. to-end round-trip delays) is particularly important when

13
14 CHAPTER 5. ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE

carrying voice traffic, because the conversion of digitized
voice into an analogue audio signal is an inherently real-
time process, and to do a good job, the decoder (codec)
that does this needs an evenly spaced (in time) stream of
data items. If the next data item is not available when it
is needed, the codec has no choice but to produce silence
or guess — and if the data is late, it is useless, because
the time period when it should have been converted to a
signal has already passed.
At the time of the design of ATM, 155 Mbit/s
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) with 135 Mbit/s
payload was considered a fast optical network link, and
many plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH) links in the
digital network were considerably slower, ranging from
1.544 to 45 Mbit/s in the USA, and 2 to 34 Mbit/s in
Europe.
payloads because the small size (and therefore short trans-
mission times) simplify voice applications with respect to
echo cancellation. Most of the European parties eventu-
ally came around to the arguments made by the Ameri-
cans, but France and a few others held out for a shorter
cell length. With 32 bytes, France would have been able
to implement an ATM-based voice network with calls
from one end of France to the other requiring no echo
cancellation. 48 bytes (plus 5 header bytes = 53) was
chosen as a compromise between the two sides. 5-byte
headers were chosen because it was thought that 10% of
the payload was the maximum price to pay for routing
information.[2] ATM multiplexed these 53-byte cells in-
stead of packets which reduced worst-case cell contention
jitter by a factor of almost 30, reducing the need for echo
cancellers.

At this rate, a typical full-length 1500 byte (12000-bit)

data packet would take 77.42 µs to transmit. In a lower- 5.1.2 The structure of an ATM cell
speed link, such as a 1.544 Mbit/s T1 line, a 1500 byte
packet would take up to 7.8 milliseconds. An ATM cell consists of a 5-byte header and a 48-byte
A queuing delay induced by several such data packets payload. The payload size of 48 bytes was chosen as de-
might exceed the figure of 7.8 ms several times over, scribed above.
in addition to any packet generation delay in the shorter ATM defines two different cell formats: UNI (User-
speech packet. This was clearly unacceptable for speech Network Interface) and NNI (Network-Network Inter-
traffic, which needs to have low jitter in the data stream face). Most ATM links use UNI cell format.
being fed into the codec if it is to produce good-quality
sound. A packet voice system can produce this low jitter
GFC = Generic Flow Control (4 bits) (default:
in a number of ways:
4-zero bits)
VPI = Virtual Path Identifier (8 bits UNI, or 12
• Have a playback buffer between the network and the
bits NNI)
codec, one large enough to tide the codec over al-
most all the jitter in the data. This allows smoothing VCI = Virtual Channel identifier (16 bits)
out the jitter, but the delay introduced by passage PT = Payload Type (3 bits)
through the buffer would require echo cancellers
even in local networks; this was considered too ex- PT bit 3 (msbit): Network manage-
pensive at the time. Also, it would have increased ment cell. If 0, user data cell and
the delay across the channel, and conversation is dif- the following apply:
ficult over high-delay channels. PT bit 2: Explicit forward conges-
tion indication (EFCI); 1 = network
• Build a system that can inherently provide low jitter
congestion experienced
(and minimal overall delay) to traffic that needs it.
PT bit 1 (lsbit): ATM user-to-user
• Operate on a 1:1 user basis (i.e., a dedicated pipe). (AAU) bit. Used by AAL5 to indi-
cate packet boundaries.
The design of ATM aimed for a low-jitter network inter- CLP = Cell Loss Priority (1-bit)
face. However, “cells” were introduced into the design to
provide short queuing delays while continuing to support HEC = Header Error Control (8-bit CRC,
datagram traffic. ATM broke up all packets, data, and polynomial = X8 + X2 + X + 1)
voice streams into 48-byte chunks, adding a 5-byte rout-
ing header to each one so that they could be reassembled ATM uses the PT field to designate various special kinds
later. The choice of 48 bytes was political rather than of cells for operations, administration and management
technical.[6] When the CCITT (now ITU-T) was stan- (OAM) purposes, and to delineate packet boundaries in
dardizing ATM, parties from the United States wanted some ATM adaptation layers (AAL). If the most signifi-
a 64-byte payload because this was felt to be a good com- cant bit of the PT field is 0, this is a user data cell, and the
promise in larger payloads optimized for data transmis- other two bits are used to indicate network congestion and
sion and shorter payloads optimized for real-time appli- as a general purpose header bit available for ATM adap-
cations like voice; parties from Europe wanted 32-byte tation layers.
5.1. LAYER 2 – DATAGRAMS 15

If the msbit of the PT bit is 1, this is a management cell,least 576 bytes. SAR performance limits mean that the
and the other two bits indicate the type. (Network man- fastest IP router ATM interfaces are STM16 - STM64
agement segment, network management end-to-end, re- which actually compares, while as of 2004 POS can op-
source management, and reserved for future use.) erate at OC-192 (STM64) with higher speeds expected
Several ATM link protocols use the HEC field to drive in the future.
a CRC-based framing algorithm, which allows locating On slower or congested links (622 Mbit/s and be-
the ATM cells with no overhead beyond what is other- low), ATM does make sense, and for this reason most
wise needed for header protection. The 8-bit CRC is asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) systems use
used to correct single-bit header errors and detect multi- ATM as an intermediate layer between the physical link
bit header errors. When multi-bit header errors are de- layer and a Layer 2 protocol like PPP or Ethernet.
tected, the current and subsequent cells are dropped until At these lower speeds, ATM provides a useful ability to
a cell with no header errors is found. carry multiple logical circuits on a single physical or vir-
A UNI cell reserves the GFC field for a local flow con- tual medium, although other techniques exist, such as
trol/submultiplexing system between users. This was in- Multi-link PPP and Ethernet VLANs, which are optional
tended to allow several terminals to share a single network in VDSL implementations. DSL can be used as an ac-
connection, in the same way that two Integrated Services cess method for an ATM network, allowing a DSL ter-
Digital Network (ISDN) phones can share a single basic mination point in a telephone central office to connect to
rate ISDN connection. All four GFC bits must be zero many internet service providers across a wide-area ATM
by default. network. In the United States, at least, this has allowed
The NNI cell format replicates the UNI format almost DSL providers to provide DSL access to the customers
exactly, except that the 4-bit GFC field is re-allocated to of many internet service providers. Since one DSL ter-
mination point can support multiple ISPs, the economic
the VPI field, extending the VPI to 12 bits. Thus, a sin-
gle NNI ATM interconnection is capable of addressing feasibility of DSL is substantially improved.
almost 212 VPs of up to almost 216 VCs each (in practice
some of the VP and VC numbers are reserved).
5.1.4 Why virtual circuits?
ATM operates as a channel-based transport layer, using
5.1.3 Cells in practice
virtual circuits (VCs). This is encompassed in the con-
ATM supports different types of services via AALs. cept of the Virtual Paths (VP) and Virtual Channels. Ev-
Standardized AALs include AAL1, AAL2, and AAL5, ery ATM cell has an 8- or 12-bit Virtual Path Identifier
and the rarely used AAL3 and AAL4. AAL1 is used for (VPI) and 16-bit Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) pair
constant bit rate (CBR) services and circuit emulation. defined in its header.[7] The VCI, together with the VPI,
Synchronization is also maintained at AAL1. AAL2 is used to identify the next destination of a cell as it passes
through AAL4 are used for variable bitrate (VBR) ser- through a series of ATM switches on its way to its desti-
vices, and AAL5 for data. Which AAL is in use for a nation. The length of the VPI varies according to whether
the cell is sent on the user-network interface (on the edge
given cell is not encoded in the cell. Instead, it is nego-
tiated by or configured at the endpoints on a per-virtual- of the network), or if it is sent on the network-network
interface (inside the network).
connection basis.
Following the initial design of ATM, networks have be- As these cells traverse an ATM network, switching takes
come much faster. A 1500 byte (12000-bit) full-size place by changing the VPI/VCI values (label swapping).
Ethernet frame takes only 1.2 µs to transmit on a 10 Although the VPI/VCI values are not necessarily consis-
Gbit/s network, reducing the need for small cells to re- tent from one end of the connection to the other, the con-
duce jitter due to contention. Some consider that this cept of a circuit is consistent (unlike IP, where any given
makes a case for replacing ATM with Ethernet in the packet could get to its destination by a different route than
network backbone. However, it should be noted that the the others).[8] ATM switches use the VPI/VCI fields to
increased link speeds by themselves do not alleviate jit- identify the Virtual Channel Link (VCL) of the next net-
ter due to queuing. Additionally, the hardware for im- work that a cell needs to transit on its way to its final des-
plementing the service adaptation for IP packets is ex- tination. The function of the VCI is similar to that of the
pensive at very high speeds. Specifically, at speeds of data link connection identifier (DLCI) in frame relay and
OC-3 and above, the cost of segmentation and reassem- the Logical Channel Number & Logical Channel Group
bly (SAR) hardware makes ATM less competitive for IP Number in X.25.
than Packet Over SONET (POS); because of its fixed 48- Another advantage of the use of virtual circuits comes
byte cell payload, ATM is not suitable as a data link layer with the ability to use them as a multiplexing layer, al-
directly underlying IP (without the need for SAR at the lowing different services (such as voice, Frame Relay,
data link level) since the OSI layer on which IP operates n* 64 channels, IP). The VPI is useful for reducing the
must provide a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of at switching table of some virtual circuits which have com-
16 CHAPTER 5. ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE

mon paths. single cell will invalidate the whole packet). As a result,
schemes such as Partial Packet Discard (PPD) and Early
Packet Discard (EPD) have been created that will discard
5.1.5 Using cells and virtual circuits for a whole series of cells until the next packet starts. This
traffic engineering reduces the number of useless cells in the network, sav-
ing bandwidth for full packets. EPD and PPD work with
Another key ATM concept involves the traffic contract. AAL5 connections as they use the end of packet marker:
When an ATM circuit is set up each switch on the circuit the ATM User-to-ATM User (AUU) Indication bit in the
is informed of the traffic class of the connection. Payload Type field of the header, which is set in the last
ATM traffic contracts form part of the mechanism by cell of a SAR-SDU.
which "quality of service" (QoS) is ensured. There are
four basic types (and several variants) which each have a Traffic shaping
set of parameters describing the connection.
Traffic shaping usually takes place in the network inter-
1. CBR - Constant bit rate: a Peak Cell Rate (PCR) is face card (NIC) in user equipment, and attempts to ensure
specified, which is constant. that the cell flow on a VC will meet its traffic contract,
i.e. cells will not be dropped or reduced in priority at the
2. VBR - Variable bit rate: an average or Sustainable UNI. Since the reference model given for traffic policing
Cell Rate (SCR) is specified, which can peak at a in the network is the GCRA, this algorithm is normally
certain level, a PCR, for a maximum interval before used for shaping as well, and single and dual leaky bucket
being problematic. implementations may be used as appropriate.
3. ABR - Available bit rate: a minimum guaranteed
rate is specified.
5.1.6 Types of virtual circuits and paths
4. UBR - Unspecified bit rate: traffic is allocated to all
remaining transmission capacity. ATM can build virtual circuits and virtual paths either
statically or dynamically. Static circuits (permanent vir-
VBR has real-time and non-real-time variants, and serves tual circuits or PVCs) or paths (permanent virtual paths or
for “bursty” traffic. Non-real-time is sometimes abbrevi- PVPs) require that the circuit is composed of a series of
ated to vbr-nrt. segments, one for each pair of interfaces through which
it passes.
Most traffic classes also introduce the concept of Cell
Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVT), which defines the PVPs and PVCs, though conceptually simple, require sig-
“clumping” of cells in time. nificant effort in large networks. They also do not support
the re-routing of service in the event of a failure. Dynam-
ically built PVPs (soft PVPs or SPVPs) and PVCs (soft
Traffic policing PVCs or SPVCs), in contrast, are built by specifying the
characteristics of the circuit (the service “contract”) and
To maintain network performance, networks may apply the two end points.
traffic policing to virtual circuits to limit them to their
Finally, ATM networks create and remove switched vir-
traffic contracts at the entry points to the network, i.e. the
tual circuits (SVCs) on demand when requested by an
user–network interfaces (UNIs) and network-to-network
end piece of equipment. One application for SVCs is to
interfaces (NNIs): Usage/Network Parameter Control
carry individual telephone calls when a network of tele-
(UPC and NPC).[9] The reference model given by the
phone switches are inter-connected using ATM. SVCs
ITU-T and ATM Forum for UPC and NPC is the generic
were also used in attempts to replace local area networks
cell rate algorithm (GCRA),[10][11] which is a version of
with ATM.
the leaky bucket algorithm. CBR traffic will normally be
policed to a PCR and CDVt alone, whereas VBR traffic
will normally be policed using a dual leaky bucket con- 5.1.7 Virtual circuit routing
troller to a PCR and CDVt and an SCR and Maximum
Burst Size (MBS). The MBS will normally be the packet Most ATM networks supporting SPVPs, SPVCs, and
(SAR-SDU) size for the VBR VC in cells. SVCs use the Private Network Node Interface or the
If the traffic on a virtual circuit is exceeding its traffic Private Network-to-Network Interface (PNNI) protocol.
contract, as determined by the GCRA, the network can PNNI uses the same shortest-path-first algorithm used by
either drop the cells or mark the Cell Loss Priority (CLP) OSPF and IS-IS to route IP packets to share topology in-
bit (to identify a cell as potentially redundant). Basic formation between switches and select a route through a
policing works on a cell by cell basis, but this is sub- network. PNNI also includes a very powerful summa-
optimal for encapsulated packet traffic (as discarding a rization mechanism to allow construction of very large
5.4. SEE ALSO
networks, as well as a call admission control (CAC) al-
gorithm which determines the availability of sufficient
bandwidth on a proposed route through a network in or-
der to satisfy the service requirements of a VC or VP.
5.1.8 Call admission and connection estab-
lishment
A network must establish a connection before two par-
ties can send cells to each other. In ATM this is called
a virtual circuit (VC). It can be a permanent virtual cir-
cuit (PVC), which is created administratively on the end
points, or a switched virtual circuit (SVC), which is cre-
ated as needed by the communicating parties. SVC cre-
ation is managed by signaling, in which the requesting
party indicates the address of the receiving party, the type
of service requested, and whatever traffic parameters may
be applicable to the selected service. “Call admission” is
then performed by the network to confirm that the re-
quested resources are available and that a route exists for
the connection.
5.1.9 Reference model
ATM defines three layers:[12]
1. ATM adaptation layer (AAL)
2. ATM layer, roughly corresponding to the OSI data
link layer
3. physical layer, equivalent to the OSI physical layer
5.2 Deployment
ATM became popular with telephone companies and
many computer makers in the 1990s. However, even
by the end of the decade, the better price/performance
of Internet Protocol-based products was competing with
ATM technology for integrating real-time and bursty net-
work traffic.[13] Companies such as FORE Systems fo-
cused on ATM products, while other large vendors such
as Cisco Systems provided ATM as an option.[14] After
the burst of the dot-com bubble, some still predicted that
“ATM is going to dominate”.[15] However, in 2005 the
ATM Forum, which had been the trade organization pro-
moting the technology, merged with groups promoting
other technologies, and eventually became the Broadband
Forum.[16]
5.3 Wireless ATM or Mobile ATM
Wireless ATM,[17] or Mobile ATM, consists of an ATM [11] ATM Forum, The User Network Interface (UNI), v. 3.1,
core network with a wireless access network. ATM ISBN 0-13-393828-X, Prentice Hall PTR, 1995.
17
cells are transmitted from base stations to mobile termi-
nals. Mobility functions are performed at an ATM switch
in the core network, known as “crossover switch”,[18]
which is similar to the MSC (mobile switching center) of
GSM Networks. The advantage of Wireless ATM is its
high bandwidth and high speed handoffs done at Layer
2. In the early 1990s, Bell Labs and NEC[19] Research
Labs worked actively in this field. Andy Hopper from
Cambridge University Computer Laboratory also worked
in this area.[20] There was a Wireless ATM Forum formed
to standardize the technology behind Wireless ATM Net-
works. The forum was supported by several telecom-
munication companies, including NEC, Fujitsu, AT&T,
etc. Mobile ATM aimed to provide high speed multi-
media communications technology, capable of delivering
broadband mobile communications beyond that of GSM
and WLANs.
5.4 See also
• VoATM
5.5 Notes
[1] ATM Forum, The User Network Interface (UNI), v. 3.1,
ISBN 0-13-393828-X, Prentice Hall PTR, 1995, page 2.
[2] Ayanoglu, Ender; Akar, Nail. “B-ISDN (Broadband Inte-
grated Services Digital Network)". Center for Pervasive
Communications and Computing, UC Irvine. Retrieved 3
June 2011.
[3] McDysan, David E. and Spohn, Darrel L., ATM : Theory
and Application, ISBN 0-07-060362-6, McGraw-Hill se-
ries on computer communications, 1995, page 563.
[4] “Recommendation I.150, B-ISDN asynchronous transfer
mode functional characteristics”. ITU.
[5] McDysan (1999), p. 287.
[6] D. Stevenson, “Electropolitical Correctness and High-
Speed Networking, or, Why ATM is like a Nose”,
Proceedings of TriCom '93, April 1993.
[7] Cisco Systems Guide to ATM Technology (2000). Section
“Operation of an ATM Switch”. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
[8] Cisco Systems Guide to ATM Technology (2000). Section
“ATM Cell Header Formats”. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
[9] ITU-T, Traffic control and congestion control in B ISDN,
Recommendation I.371, International Telecommunica-
tion Union, 2004, page 17
[10] ITU-T, Traffic control and congestion control in B ISDN,
Recommendation I.371, International Telecommunica-
tion Union, 2004, Annex A, page 87.
18 CHAPTER 5. ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE

[12] “Guide to ATM Technology for the Catalyst 8540 MSR,
Catalyst 8510 MSR, and LightStream 1010 ATM Switch
Routers” (PDF). Customer Order Number: DOC-786275.
Cisco Systems. 2000. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
[13] Steve Steinberg (October 1996). “Netheads vs Bellheads”.
Wired. 4 (10). Retrieved 24 September 2011.
[14] “What’s in store for FORE?". Network World. 16
September 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
[15] “Optical Ethernet firms brave stormy industry seas”. Net-
work World. 7 May 2001. p. 14. Retrieved 24 September
2011.
5.7 External links
• “ATM forum”. Archived from the original on 1 July
2005.
• ATM Info and resources
• ATM ChipWeb - Chip and NIC database
• A tutorial from Juniper web site
• ATM Tutorial
• Vuskovic Marko, Broadband Communication Net-
works Lectures, San Diego State University.

[16] “About the Broadband Forum: Forum History”. Re- • ATM at Cisco DocWiki
trieved 24 September 2011.

[17] Wireless ATM

[18] Book on Wireless ATM Networks - Chai Keong Toh,

Kluwer Academic Press 1997

[19] WATMnet: a prototype wireless ATM system for multi-

media personal communication, D. Raychaudhuri,at.al

[20] Cambridge Mobile ATM work

5.6 References

• Black, Uyless D. (1998). ATM—Volume III: Inter-

networking with ATM. Toronto: Prentice Hall. ISBN
0-13-784182-5.

• De Prycker, Martin (1993). Asynchronous Transfer

Mode. Solutions for Broadband ISDN. Prentice Hall.

• Joel, Amos E., Jr. (1993). Asynchronous Transfer

Mode. IEEE Press.

• Golway, Tom (1997). Planning and Managing ATM

Network. New York: Manning. ISBN 978-0-13-
262189-2.

• McDysan, David E.; Darren L. Spohn (1999). ATM

Theory and Applications. Montreal: McGraw-Hill.
ISBN 0-07-045346-2.

• Neelakanta, P. S. (2000). A Textbook on ATM

Telecommunications, Principles and implementation.
CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-1805-X.

• ATM Cell formats- Cisco Systems

• Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) - Cisco Sys-

tems
Chapter 6

List of device bit rates

This is a list of device bit rates, is a measure of one spinning drive will result in no increase in realized
information transfer rates, or digital bandwidth capacity, transfer rate.
at which digital interfaces in a computer or network can
Contention in a wireless or noisy spectrum, where the
communicate over various kinds of buses and channels. physical medium is entirely out of the control of those
The distinction can be arbitrary between a computer bus, who specify the protocol, requires measures that also use
often closer in space, and larger telecommunications net- up throughput. Wireless devices, BPL, and modems may
works. Many device interfaces or protocols (e.g., SATA, produce a higher line rate or gross bit rate, due to error-
USB, SAS, PCIe) are used both inside many-device correcting codes and other physical layer overhead. It
boxes, such as a PC, and one-device-boxes, such as a is extremely common for throughput to be far less than
hard drive enclosure. Accordingly, this page lists both the half of theoretical maximum, though the more recent
internal ribbon and external communications cable stan- technologies (notably BPL) employ preemptive spectrum
dards together in one sortable table. analysis to avoid this and so have much more potential to
reach actual gigabit rates in practice than prior modems.
Another factor reducing throughput is deliberate pol-
6.1 Factors limiting actual perfor- icy decisions made by Internet service providers that are
made for contractual, risk management, aggregation satu-
mance, criteria for real deci- ration, or marketing reasons. Examples are rate limiting,
sions bandwidth throttling, and the assignment of IP addresses
to groups. These practices tend to minimize the through-
Most of the listed rates are theoretical maximum through- put available to every user, but maximize the number of
put measures; in practice, the actual effective throughput users that can be supported on one backbone.
is almost inevitably lower in proportion to the load from Furthermore, chips are often not available in order to
other devices (network/bus contention), physical or tem- implement the fastest rates. AMD, for instance, does
poral distances, and other overhead in data link layer pro- not support the 32-bit HyperTransport interface on any
tocols etc. The maximum goodput (for example, the file CPU it has shipped as of the end of 2009. Additionally,
transfer rate) may be even lower due to higher layer pro- WiMax service providers in the US typically support only
tocol overhead and data packet retransmissions caused by up to 4 Mbit/s as of the end of 2009.
line noise or interference such as crosstalk, or lost pack-
Choosing service providers or interfaces based on the-
ets in congested intermediate network nodes. All proto-
oretical maxima is unwise, especially for commercial
cols lose something, and the more robust ones that deal
needs. A good example is large scale data centers, which
resiliently with very many failure situations tend to lose
should be more concerned with price per port to sup-
more maximum throughput to get higher total long term
port the interface, wattage and heat considerations, and
rates.
total cost of the solution. Because some protocols such
Device interfaces where one bus transfers data via another as SCSI and Ethernet now operate many orders of mag-
will be limited to the throughput of the slowest interface, nitude faster than when originally deployed, scalability
at best. For instance, SATA 6G controllers on one PCIe of the interface is one major factor, as it prevents costly
5G channel will be limited to the 5G rate and have to shifts to technologies that are not backward compatible.
employ more channels to get around this problem. Early Underscoring this is the fact that these shifts often hap-
implementations of new protocols very often have this pen involuntarily or by surprise, especially when a vendor
kind of problem. The physical phenomena on which the abandons support for a proprietary system.
device relies (such as spinning platters in a hard drive)
will also impose limits; for instance, no spinning platter
shipping in 2009 saturates SATA II (3 Gbit/s), so mov-
ing from this 3 Gbit/s interface to USB3 at 4.8 Gbit/s for

19
20 CHAPTER 6. LIST OF DEVICE BIT RATES

6.2 Conventions Narrowband (POTS: 3.1 kHz channel)

Broadband (hundreds of kHz wide)

By convention, bus and network data rates are denoted
either in bits per second (bit/s) or bytes per second (B/s).
In general, parallel interfaces are quoted in B/s and serial 6.3.4 Mobile telephone interfaces
in bit/s. The more commonly used is shown below in bold
type.
6.3.5 Wide area networks
On devices like modems, bytes may be more than 8 bits
long because they may be individually padded out with
additional start and stop bits; the figures below will reflect
6.3.6 Local area networks
this. Where channels use line codes (such as Ethernet,
Serial ATA and PCI Express), quoted rates are for the 6.3.7 Wireless networks
decoded signal.
The figures below are simplex data rates, which may con- 802.11 networks in infrastructure mode are half-duplex;
flict with the duplex rates vendors sometimes use in pro- all stations share the medium. In infrastructure or access
motional materials. Where two values are listed, the first point mode, all traffic has to pass through an Access Point
value is the downstream rate and the second value is the (AP). Thus, two stations on the same access point that are
upstream rate. communicating with each other must have each and every
All quoted figures are in metric decimal units. Note that frame transmitted twice: from the sender to the access
these aren't the traditional binary prefixes for memory point, then from the access point to the receiver. This
size. These decimal prefixes have long been established in approximately halves the effective bandwidth.
data communications. This occurred before 1998 when 802.11 networks in ad hoc mode are still half-duplex, but
IEC and other organizations introduced new binary pre- devices communicate directly rather than through an ac-
fixes and attempted to standardize their use across all cess point. In this mode all devices must be able to “see”
computing applications. each other, instead of only having to be able to “see” the
access point.

6.3.8 Wireless personal area networks

6.3 Bandwidths
6.3.9 Computer buses
The figures below are grouped by network or bus type,
then sorted within each group from lowest to highest Main buses
bandwidth; gray shading indicates a lack of known im-
x
plementations. LPC protocol includes high overhead. While the gross
data rate equals 33.3 million 4-bit-transfers per second
(or 16.67 MB/s), the fastest transfer, firmware read, re-
sults in 15.63 MB/s. The next fastest bus cycle, 32-bit
ISA-style DMA write, yields only 6.67 MB/s. Other
transfers may be as low as 2 MB/s.[44]
y
Uses 128b/130b encoding, meaning that about 1.54%
6.3.1 Time Signal Station to Radio Clock
of each transfer is used by the interface instead of carry-
ing data between the hardware components at each end of
6.3.2 Teletypewriter (TTY) or the interface. For example, a single link PCIe 3.0 inter-
face has an 8 Gbit/s transfer rate, yet its usable bandwidth
telecommunications device for the is only about 7.88 Gbit/s.
deaf (TDD) z
Uses 8b/10b encoding, meaning that 20% of each trans-
fer is used by the interface instead of carrying data from
6.3.3 Modems (narrowband and broad- between the hardware components at each end of the in-
terface. For example, a single link PCIe 1.0 has a 2.5
band)
Gbit/s transfer rate, yet its usable bandwidth is only 2
Gbit/s (250 MB/s).
6.4. SEE ALSO
Portable
Storage
a
Uses 8b/10b encoding b Uses 64b/66b encoding
Peripheral
MAC to PHY
PHY to XPDR
6.3.10 Dynamic random-access memory
The table below shows values for PC memory module
types. These modules usually combine multiple chips on
one circuit board. SIMM modules connect to the com-
puter via an 8 bit or 32 bit wide interface. DIMM mod-
ules connect to the computer via a 64 bit wide interface.
Some other computer architectures use different modules
with a different bus width.
In a single-channel configuration, only one module at
a time can transfer information to the CPU. In multi-
channel configurations, multiple modules can transfer in-
formation to the CPU at the same time, in parallel. FPM,
EDO, SDR, and RDRAM memories were not com-
monly installed in a dual-channel configuration. DDR
and DDR2 memory are usually installed in single or dual-
channel configuration. DDR3 memory are installed in
single, dual, tri, and quad-channel configurations. Bit
rates of multi-channel configurations are the product of
the module bit-rate (given below) and the number of
channels.
6.3.11 Graphics processing units’ RAM
RAM memory modules are also utilised by graphics pro-
cessing units; however, memory modules for those differs
somewhat, particularly with lower power requirements,
and is specialised to serve GPUs: for example, the in-
troduction of GDDR3, which was fundamentally based
on DDR2. Every graphics memory chip is directly con-
nected to the GPU (point-to-point). The total GPU mem-
ory bus width varies with the number of memory chips
and the number of lanes per chip. For example, GDDR5
specifies either 16 or 32 lanes per “device” (chip), while
GDDR5X specifies 64 lanes per chip. Over the years,
bus widths rose from 64-bit to 512-bit and beyond - e.g.
HBM is 1024 bits wide.[58] Because of this variability,
graphics memory speeds are sometimes compared per
pin. For direct comparison to the values for 64-bit mod-
ules shown above, video RAM is compared here in 64-
lane lots, corresponding to two chips for those devices
with 32-bit widths. In 2012, high-end GPUs use 8 or
even 12 chips with 32 lanes each, for a total memory bus
width of 256 or 384 bits. Combined with a transfer rate
21
per pin of 5 GT/s or more, such cards can reach 240 GB/s
or more.
RAM frequencies used for a given chip technology vary
greatly. Where single values are given below, they are
examples from high-end cards.[59] Since many cards have
more than one pair of chips, the total bandwidth is cor-
respondingly higher. For example, high-end cards often
have eight chips each 32-bits wide, so the total bandwidth
for such cards is four times the value given below.
6.3.12 Digital audio
6.3.13 Digital video interconnects
Data rates given are from the video source (e.g., video
card) to receiving device (e.g., monitor) only. Out of
band and reverse signaling channels are not included.
a
Uses 8b/10b encoding for video data—effective data
rate is 80% of the symbol rate
6.4 See also
• Bitrate (including Bitrates in multimedia)
• Comparison of mobile phone standards
• Comparison of wireless data standards
• List of Internet access technology bit rates in the
Digital bandwidth article
• OFDM system comparison table
• Sneakernet
• Spectral efficiency comparison table
• Orders of magnitude (bit rate)
6.5 Notes
[1] http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/upload/
NIST-Enhanced-WWVB-Broadcast-Format-sept-2012-Radio-Station-staff.
pdf
[2] http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/2422.pdf
[3] TTY uses a Baudot code, not ASCII. This uses 5 bits per
character instead of 8, plus one start and approx. 1.5 stop
bits (7.5 total bits per character sent).
[4] Morse can transport 26 alphabetic, 10 numeric and one
interword gap plaintext symbols. Transmitting 37 differ-
ent symbols requires 5.21 bits of information (25.21 =37).
A skilled operator encoding the benchmark “PARIS” plus
an interword gap (equal to 31.26 bits) at 40 wpm is oper-
ating at an equivalence of 20.84 bit/s.
22
[5] WPM, or Words Per Minute, is the number of times the
word “PARIS” is transferred per minute. Strictly speak-
ing the code is quinary, accounting inter-element, inter-
letter, and inter-word gaps, yielding 50 binary elements
(bits) per one word. Counting characters, including inter-
word gaps, gives six characters per word or 240 characters
per minute, and finally four characters per second.
[6] All modems are wrongly assumed to be in serial operation
with 1 start bit, 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit (2 stop
bits for 110-baud modems). Therefore, currently modems
are wrongly calculated with transmission of 10 bits per 8-
bit byte (11 bits for 110-baud modems). Although the
serial port is nearly always used to connect a modem and
has equivalent data rates, the protocols, modulations and
error correction differ completely.
[7] Modem Types and Timeline, Daxal Communications,
2003-12-16, retrieved 2009-04-16
[8] |title="ITU.int”ITU.int
[9] 56K modems: V.90 and V.92 have just 5% overhead for
the protocol signalling. The maximum capacity can only
be achieved when the upstream (service provider) end of
the connection is digital, i.e. a DS0 channel.
[10] Note that effective aggregate bandwidth for an ISDN in-
stallation is typically higher than the rates shown for a sin-
gle channel due to the use of multiple channels. A basic
rate interface (BRI) provides two “B” channels and one
“D” channel. Each B channel provides 64 kBit/s band-
width and the “D” channel carries signaling (call setup)
information. B channels can be bonded to provide a 128
kbit/s data rate. Primary rate interfaces (PRI) vary de-
pending on whether the region uses E1 (Europe, world)
or T1 (North America) bearers. In E1 regions, the PRI
carries 30 B-channels and one D-channel; in T1 regions
the PRI carries 23 B-channels and one D-channel. The
D-channel has different bandwidth on the two interfaces.
[11] Massey, David (2006-07-04), “Timeline of Telecommu-
nications”, Telephone Tribute, retrieved 2009-04-16
[12] Adam.com.au
[13] Itu.int
[14] DOCSIS 1.0 includes technology which first became
available around 1995–1996, and has since become very
widely deployed. DOCSIS 1.1 introduces some security
improvements and Quality of Service (QoS).
[15] DOCSIS 2.0 specifications provide increased upstream
throughput for symmetric services.
[16] DOCSIS 3.0 includes support for channel bonding and
IPv6.
[17] ITU.int
[18] DOCSIS 3.1 is currently in development by the Cablelabs
Consortium
[19] ITU.int
[20]
CHAPTER 6. LIST OF DEVICE BIT RATES
[21] Most operators only support up to 9600bit/s
[22] SDSL is available in various speeds.
[23] ADSL connections will vary in throughput from 64 kbit/s
to several Mbit/s depending on configuration. Most are
commonly below 2 Mbit/s. Some ADSL and SDSL con-
nections have a higher digital bandwidth than T1 but their
rate is not guaranteed, and will drop when the system gets
overloaded, whereas the T1 type connections are usually
guaranteed and have no contention ratios.
[24] Satellite internet may have a high bandwidth but also has a
high latency due to the distance between the modem, satel-
lite and hub. One-way satellite connections exist where
all the downstream traffic is handled by satellite and the
upstream traffic by land-based connections such as 56K
modems and ISDN.
[25] “MoCA 1.1 improves throughput” over coaxial cable to
175 Mbits/s versus the 100 Mbits/s provided by the
MoCA 1.0 specification.
[26] FireWire natively supports TCP/IP, and is often used
at an alternative to Ethernet when connecting 2 nodes.
Tweaktown.com
[27] Data rate comparison between FW and Giganet shows that
FW’s lower overhead has nearly the same throughput as
Giganet. Unibrain.com
[28] InfiniBand SDR, DDR and QDR use an 8b/10b encoding
scheme.
[29] InfiniBand FDR-10, FDR and EDR use a 64b/66b encod-
ing scheme.
[30] Mac History
[31] VAW: Apple IIgs Specs
[32] The Zorro II bus use 4 clocks per 16-Bit of data trans-
ferred. See the Zorro III technical specification for more
information.
[33] Japan wikipedia article, Bus used in early NEC PC-9800
series and compatible systems
[34] STD 32 Bus Specification and Designer’s Guide
[35] Japan wikipedia article, Bus used in later NEC PC-9800
series and compatible systems
[36] Local Area Networks Newsletter by Paul Polishuk,
September 1992, Page 7 (APbus used in Sony NeWS and
NEC UP4800 workstations and NEC EWS4800 servers
after VMEbus and before switch to PCI)
[37] Japan wikipedia article, Bus used in NEC PC-9821 series
[38] Dave Haynie, designer of the Zorro III bus, claims in this
posting that the theoretical max of the Zorro III bus can
be derived by the timing information given in ‘’chapter 5’’
of the Zorro III technical specification.
6.6. EXTERNAL LINKS 23

[39] Dave Haynie, designer of the Zorro III bus, states in this
posting that Zorro III is an asynchronous bus and there-
fore does not have a classical MHz rating. A maximum
theoretical MHz value may be derived by examining tim-
ing constraints detailed in the Zorro III technical specifi-
cation, which should yield about 37.5 MHz. No existing
implementation performs to this level.
[60] “GRAPHICS DOUBLE DATA RATE (GDDR5)
SGRAM STANDARD JESD212C”. JEDEC. 2016-02-
01. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
[61] “GRAPHICS DOUBLE DATA RATE (GDDR5X)
SGRAM STANDARD JESD232”. JEDEC. 2015-11-01.
Retrieved 2016-08-10.

[40] Dave Haynie, designer of the Zorro III bus, claims in this
posting that Zorro III has a max burst rate of 150 MB/s.
[41] Note that PCI Express 1.0/2.0 lanes use an 8b/10b encod-
ing scheme.
[42] PCIe 2.0 effectively doubles the bus standard’s bandwidth
from 2.5 GT/s to 5 GT/s
[43] PCIe 3.0 increases the bandwidth from 5 GT/s to 8 GT/s
and switches to 128b-130b encoding
[62] High Definition Audio Specification, Revision 1.0a, 2010
[63] Videsignline.com, Panel display interfaces and bandwidth:
From TTL, LVDS, TDMS to DisplayPort
[64] Octavainc.com
[65] Displayport Technical Overview, May 2010
[66] HDMI.org
[67] HDMI.org

[44] Intel LPC Interface Specification 1.1

[45] SCSI-1, SCSI-2 and SCSI-3 are signaling protocols and do

6.6 External links
not explicitly refer to a specific rate. Narrow SCSI exists
using SCSI-1 and SCSI-2. Higher rates use SCSI-2 or • Interconnection Speeds Compared
later.
• Need for Speed: Theoretical Bandwidth Compari-
[46] minimum overhead is 38 byte L1/L2, 14 byte AoE per son—Contains a graph (from 2004) illustrating dig-
1024 byte user data ital bandwidths
[47] minimum overhead is 38 byte L1/L2, 20 byte IP, 20 byte
TCP per 1460 byte user data

[48] Fibre Channel 1GFC, 2GFC, 4GFC use an 8b/10b en-

coding scheme. Fibre Channel 10GFC, which uses
a 64B/66B encoding scheme, is not compatible with
1GFC, 2GFC and 4GFC, and is used only to interconnect
switches.

[49] minimum overhead is 38 byte L1/L2, 14 byte AoE per

8192 byte user data

[50] minimum overhead is 38 byte L1/L2, 20 byte IP, 20 byte

TCP per 8960 byte user data

[51] SATA and SAS use an 8b/10b encoding scheme.

[52] minimum overhead is 38 byte L1/L2, 36 byte FC per 2048

byte user data

[53] Uses 128b/150b encoding

[54] proprietary serial version of IEEE-488 by Commodore In-

ternational

[55] http://cbmmuseum.kuto.de/floppy.html

[56] FireWire (IEEE 1394b) uses an 8b/10b encoding scheme.

[57] Scott Mueller. Upgrading and Repairing PCs. Que Pub-

lishing. Mar 7, 2013. Table 6.11: JEDEC Standard
DDR4 Module (284-PIN DIMM) Speeds and Transfer
Rate

[58] Comparison of AMD graphics processing units

[59] Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units

Chapter 7

ADSL loop extender

A DSL loop extender or DSL repeater is a device In 2006, US telco promoted Fiber to the Home. This was
that a telephone company can place between subscriber driven by a rapidly growing housing sector that was cre-
premises equipment and central office interfaces to ex- ating the “greenfield” customers that are needed to make
tend the distance and increase the channel capacity of fiber to the home profitable. Later, with the housing sec-
digital subscriber line (DSL) connections. ADSL re- tor in a serious recession, that “greenfield” seems to be
peaters are deployed by rural telephone companies trying drying up fast.[2] With most of the “brownfield” market
to provide rural Internet service to farms and small towns already tapped for ADSL,[3] Telcos finally are interested
where it is impractical to place the DSLAM closer to the in extending ADSL to those semi-rural areas that have
subscriber. Typical distance improvements with a loop never been important before.[4]
extender are shown in the diagram below, with rate in In 2010, the US Federal Government updated the sub-
megabits per second and distance in thousands of feet.[1] sidies paid to rural telephone companies so that broad-
band is subsidized rather than phone service in a pro-
gram called Connect America Fund.[5] In order to qualify
for subsidy, the telephone company must provide 4 mbits
downstream and 1 mbit upstream. This has increased the
demand for ADSL loop extenders because loop extenders
will allow the telephone companies to reach the most dis-
tant subscribers in a way that is more cost effective than
deploying remote DSLAMs.
Some ADSL loop extenders aren't repeaters, but instead
convert to a different signal (like G.shdsl) that fares better
over extreme distances. This is because G.shdsl can use
the lower frequencies that ADSL reserved for voice use.
Multiple loop extenders can be placed on a line, effec-
tively making the reach of the ADSL signal infinite. That Crosstalk has been analyzed using T1.417 Method B and
is, it is possible to reach any subscriber with any ADSL found to be compliant. Since the objective is to provide
speed if one uses multiple loop extenders. DSL to locations where no other data service can reach,
or is needed (e.g. onto a farm), and ordinary telephone
A repeater can either be an amplifier or a re-generator. service is very immune to cross talk from ADSL due to
Amplifiers increase the signal level of the analog trans- ADSL not using voice frequency range, the cross talk is-
mission signal; re-generators demodulate the signal to bi- sue is further reduced .[6] Converting to G.shdsl or other
nary, then re-modulate it into the original transmission technologies has problems too. These technologies have
frequency. Because regeneration restores the signal to bi- limited downstream speed, thus are less useful except
nary, an indefinite number of re-generators can be placed to extend services to the most distant customers. Their
on a line and is the preferred choice for services like T1 many components (special C.O., re-generators, CPE)
(Digital Signal 1) that have no distance limits. Because make them more expensive than ADSL amplifiers.
of the simplicity of the amplifier circuits, amplifiers are
of lower cost than re-generators.
Before the development of ADSL loop extenders and re-
mote DSLAMs, ADSL was limited to 3–6 miles (5–10 7.1 References
km) from the Central Office depending on the wire gauge
used. An ADSL Loop Extender works as an amplifier, [1] Strowger :: Infinite Reach ADSL
boosting the signal level so it can travel longer distances.
In some cases, service can now be established as far as 10 [2] Light Reading - Broadband - Carrier Scorecard: Eco-
miles from the Central Office. nomic Uncertainty - Telecom News Analysis

24
7.2. EXTERNAL LINKS 25

[3] Light Reading - Broadband - US Broadband Growth

Slows - Telecom News Analysis

[4] NewPA.com : Press Releases Archived September 27,

2007, at the Wayback Machine.‹The template Wayback
is being considered for merging.›

[5] Connect America Fund

[6] Broadband last mile: access technologies for multimedia

communications By Nikil Jayant p339, Google Books

7.2 External links

• List of public service commissions
Chapter 8

John Cioffi

John Cioffi (born November 7, 1956) is an American Bellcore.[3] Hundreds of millions of people now use DSL
electrical engineer, educator and prolific inventor who based on Amati’s innovations.
has made contributions in telecommunication system the- In 1993, Cioffi returned to Stanford, although he re-
ory, specifically in coding theory and information theory. mained involved with Amati as an officer and director
Best known as “the father of DSL,”[1] Cioffi’s pioneering until its 1998 acquisition by Texas Instruments.[4] Cioffi’s
research was instrumental in making digital subscriber research interests then turned to dynamic spectrum man-
line (DSL) technology practical and has led to over 400 agement (DSM), an improvement on DSL that mitigates
publications and more than 100 pending or issued patents, service interruptions and allows DSL lines to run with
many of which are licensed. higher and more reliable data rates.
In 2003, Cioffi founded Adaptive Spectrum and Signal
Alignment, Inc. (ASSIA) to help service providers real-
8.1 Biography ize improvements in the performance and profitability of
their DSL networks. Today ASSIA’s customers collec-
John Cioffi was born and raised in Illinois. He earned a tively provide DSL service to more than 70 million sub-
B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana– scribers worldwide.[5]
Champaign in 1978.
In 2009, Cioffi assumed emeritus status at Stanford, as
From 1978 to 1982, Cioffi worked as a modem designer the Hitachi Professor Emeritus of Engineering.[2] He is
at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. While at Bell Labo- now CEO and Chairman of ASSIA.
ratories, he also attended Stanford University, where he
earned a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1984.
In 1984, Cioffi left Bell Labs to work at IBM as a hard 8.2 Honors and awards
disk drive read channel researcher.
In 1986, Cioffi began his teaching career as an assistant Cioffi has received numerous awards and honors. Among
professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. them are:
Cioffi supervised the Ph.D. programs of more than 70
students over the course of more than two decades.[2] His • IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (2010)
and his students’ research into discrete multitone modula- • Honorary Doctorate, Edinburgh University (2010)
tion (DMT) became widely adopted in digital subscriber
line (DSL) technology, used commonly for Internet ac- • International Fellow Royal Society of Engineering
cess. (UK) (2009)
In 1991, at the age of 35, Cioffi took a leave of absence • Marconi Fellow (2006)
from Stanford to found Amati Communications Corpora-
tion. His vision was to build DSL modems based on his • Member National Academy of Engineering
and his students’ research. Many of Cioffi’s former and (2001)[6]
present students followed him to Amati, where they built • IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communica-
the Prelude modem, a DSL modem that could transmit tions Award (2001)[7]
6+ megabits per second over 9,000 feet of telephone line.
The Prelude modem would go on to win what has become • IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000)
known as the “Bellcore ADSL Olympics” in 1993 by per- • IEEE J. J. Thomson Medal (2000)
forming significantly better than modems using single-
carrier modulation techniques, such as quadrature ampli- • University of Illinois Outstanding Alumni Awards
tude modulation (QAM) and carrierless amplitude phase (Electrical Engineering 1999 and School of Engi-
modulation (CAP), including modems from AT&T and neering 2010)

26
8.5. EXTERNAL LINKS 27

• IEEE Fellow (1996) 8.5 External links

• Outstanding Achievement Award, American Na- • ASSIA, Inc. home page
tional Standards Institute for contributions to ADSL
(1995) • The Economist Innovation Awards Homepage

• The Economist Innovation Award – Computing and

Telecommunications (2010)

8.3 Selected publications

• T. Starr, M. Sorbora, J.M. Cioffi, and P.J. Silver-
man, DSL Advances, Prentice Hall, 2003.

• T. Starr, J.M. Cioffi, and P.J. Silverman, Under-

standing Digital Subscriber Line Technology, Pren-
tice Hall, 1999.

• J.M. Cioffi, Chapter 4, “Generalized Decision-

Feedback Equalization for Packet Transmission
with ISI and Gaussian Noise” of Communications,
Computation, Control and Signal Processing, a
Tribute to Thomas Kailath, editors A. Paulraj, V.
Roychowdhury, and C.D. Schaper, Kluwer Aca-
demic Publishers, 1997.

• J.M. Cioffi, Chapter 34, “Asymmetric Digital Sub-

scriber Lines” of the Communications Handbook,
Editor-in-Chief, J.D. Gibson, CRC Press in coop-
eration with IEEE Press, 1997.

• J.M. Cioffi, Chapter 15, “Adaptive Filtering” of

the Digital Signal Processing Handbook, editors
S.K. Mitra and J.F. Kaiser, Van Nostrand Reinhold,
1988.

8.4 References
[1] Matsumoto, Craig (2005-09-13). “Valley Wonk: DSL
Man”. Light Reading. Retrieved 2014-02-19.

[2] “John M. Cioffi, Hitachi Professor Emeritus of Engineer-

ing”. Faculty group web pages. Department of Electrical
Engineering, Stanford University. Retrieved September
22, 2011.

[3] http://www.eetimes.com/disruption/essays/cioffi.jhtml

[4] “TI to Acquire Amati Communications for $395 Million”.

Texas Instruments. 1997-11-19. Retrieved 2014-02-19.

[5] http://www.assia-inc.com/DSL-solutions/

[6] “NAE Members Directory - Dr. John M. Cioffi”. NAE.

Retrieved February 15, 2011.

[7] “IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications

Award Recipients” (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved February 15,
2011.
Chapter 9

Internet access

This article is about Internet access, including broadband The introduction of network access servers supporting the
Internet access. For telecommunications signalling Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) and later the point-
methods, see Broadband. to-point protocol (PPP) extended the Internet protocols
and made the full range of Internet services available to
Internet access is the process that enables individu- dial-up users; although slower, due to the lower data rates
als and organisations to connect to the Internet using available using dial-up.
computer terminals, computers, mobile devices, some- Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broad-
times via computer networks. Once connected to the In- band, is simply defined as “Internet access that is always
ternet, users can access Internet services, such as email on, and faster than the traditional dial-up access”[6][7]
and the World Wide Web. Internet service providers and so covers a wide range of technologies. Broadband
(ISPs) offer Internet access through various technologies connections are typically made using a computer’s built
that offer a wide range of data signaling rates (speeds). in Ethernet networking capabilities, or by using a NIC
Consumer use of the Internet first became popular expansion card.
through dial-up Internet access in the 1990s. By the first Most broadband services provide a continuous “always
decade of the 21st century, many consumers in developed on” connection; there is no dial-in process required, and it
nations used faster, broadband Internet access technolo- does not interfere with voice use of phone lines.[8] Broad-
gies. By 2014 this was almost ubiquitous worldwide, with band provides improved access to Internet services such
a global average connection speed exceeding 4 Mbit/s.[1] as:

• Faster world wide web browsing

9.1 History • Faster downloading of documents, photographs,
videos, and other large files
Main article: History of the Internet
• Telephony, radio, television, and videoconferencing
The Internet developed from the ARPANET, which was • Virtual private networks and remote system admin-
funded by the US government to support projects within istration
the government and at universities and research labora-
tories in the US – but grew over time to include most • Online gaming, especially massively multiplayer
of the world’s large universities and the research arms of online role-playing games which are interaction-
many technology companies.[2][3][4] Use by a wider audi- intensive
ence only came in 1995 when restrictions on the use of
the Internet to carry commercial traffic were lifted.[5] In the 1990s, the National Information Infrastructure ini-
In the early to mid-1980s, most Internet access was from tiative in the U.S. made broadband Internet access a pub-
personal computers and workstations directly connected lic policy issue.[9] In 2000, most Internet access to homes
to local area networks or from dial-up connections using was provided using dial-up, while many businesses and
modems and analog telephone lines. LANs typically op- schools were using broadband connections. In 2000 there
erated at 10 Mbit/s, while modem data-rates grew from were just under 150 million dial-up subscriptions in the
1200 bit/s in the early 1980s, to 56 kbit/s by the late 34 OECD countries[10] and fewer than 20 million broad-
1990s. Initially, dial-up connections were made from band subscriptions. By 2004, broadband had grown and
terminals or computers running terminal emulation soft- dial-up had declined so that the number of subscriptions
ware to terminal servers on LANs. These dial-up con- were roughly equal at 130 million each. In 2010, in the
nections did not support end-to-end use of the Internet OECD countries, over 90% of the Internet access sub-
protocols and only provided terminal to host connections. scriptions used broadband, broadband had grown to more

28
9.2. AVAILABILITY
than 300 million subscriptions, and dial-up subscriptions 9.2.1
had declined to fewer than 30 million.[11]
The broadband technologies in widest use are ADSL and
cable Internet access. Newer technologies include VDSL
and optical fibre extended closer to the subscriber in both
telephone and cable plants. Fibre-optic communication,
while only recently being used in premises and to the curb
schemes, has played a crucial role in enabling broadband
Internet access by making transmission of information
at very high data rates over longer distances much more
cost-effective than copper wire technology.
In areas not served by ADSL or cable, some community
organizations and local governments are installing Wi-Fi
networks. Wireless and satellite Internet are often used
in rural, undeveloped, or other hard to serve areas where
wired Internet is not readily available.
Newer technologies being deployed for fixed (stationary)
and mobile broadband access include WiMAX, LTE, and
fixed wireless, e.g., Motorola Canopy.
Starting in roughly 2006, mobile broadband access is in-
creasingly available at the consumer level using "3G" and
"4G" technologies such as HSPA, EV-DO, HSPA+, and
LTE.
9.2 Availability
In addition to access from home, school, and the work-
place Internet access may be available from public places
such as libraries and Internet cafes, where computers with
Internet connections are available. Some libraries provide
stations for physically connecting users’ laptops to local
area networks (LANs).
Wireless Internet access points are available in public
places such as airport halls, in some cases just for brief
use while standing. Some access points may also provide
coin-operated computers. Various terms are used, such
as “public Internet kiosk", “public access terminal”, and
“Web payphone". Many hotels also have public terminals,
usually fee based.
Coffee shops, shopping malls, and other venues increas-
ingly offer wireless access to computer networks, referred
to as hotspots, for users who bring their own wireless-
enabled devices such as a laptop or PDA. These services
may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A
Wi-Fi hotspot need not be limited to a confined location
since multiple ones combined can cover a whole campus
or park, or even an entire city can be enabled.
Additionally, Mobile broadband access allows smart
phones and other digital devices to connect to the Internet
from any location from which a mobile phone call can be
made, subject to the capabilities of that mobile network.
29
Speed
Main articles: Data rates, Bit rates, Bandwidth (comput-
ing), and Device data rates
The bit rates for dial-up modems range from as little as
110 bit/s in the late 1950s, to a maximum of from 33 to 64
kbit/s (V.90 and V.92) in the late 1990s. Dial-up connec-
tions generally require the dedicated use of a telephone
line. Data compression can boost the effective bit rate
for a dial-up modem connection to from 220 (V.42bis) to
320 (V.44) kbit/s.[12] However, the effectiveness of data
compression is quite variable, depending on the type of
data being sent, the condition of the telephone line, and a
number of other factors. In reality, the overall data rate
rarely exceeds 150 kbit/s.[13]
Broadband technologies supply considerably higher bit
rates than dial-up, generally without disrupting regular
telephone use. Various minimum data rates and maxi-
mum latencies have been used in definitions of broad-
band, ranging from 64 kbit/s up to 4.0 Mbit/s.[14] In 1988
the CCITT standards body defined “broadband service”
as requiring transmission channels capable of support-
ing bit rates greater than the primary rate which ranged
from about 1.5 to 2 Mbit/s.[15] A 2006 Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) re-
port defined broadband as having download data transfer
rates equal to or faster than 256 kbit/s.[16] And in 2015
the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
defined “Basic Broadband” as data transmission speeds
of at least 25 Mbit/s downstream (from the Internet to
the user’s computer) and 3 Mbit/s upstream (from the
user’s computer to the Internet).[17] The trend is to raise
the threshold of the broadband definition as higher data
rate services become available.[18]
The higher data rate dial-up modems and many
broadband services are “asymmetric”—supporting much
higher data rates for download (toward the user) than for
upload (toward the Internet).
Data rates, including those given in this article, are usually
defined and advertised in terms of the maximum or peak
download rate. In practice, these maximum data rates are
not always reliably available to the customer.[19] Actual
end-to-end data rates can be lower due to a number of
factors.[20] In late June 2016, internet connection speeds
averaged about 6 Mbit/s globally.[21] Physical link quality
can vary with distance and for wireless access with ter-
rain, weather, building construction, antenna placement,
and interference from other radio sources. Network bot-
tlenecks may exist at points anywhere on the path from
the end-user to the remote server or service being used
and not just on the first or last link providing Internet ac-
cess to the end-user.
30 CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS

9.2.2 Network congestion 9.3 Technologies

Users may share access over a common network infras- When the Internet is accessed using a modem, digital
tructure. Since most users do not use their full connection data is converted to analog for transmission over analog
capacity all of the time, this aggregation strategy (known networks such as the telephone and cable networks.[8] A
as contended service) usually works well and users can computer or other device accessing the Internet would ei-
burst to their full data rate at least for brief periods. ther be connected directly to a modem that communicates
However, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and high-quality with an Internet service provider (ISP) or the modem’s In-
streaming video can require high data-rates for extended ternet connection would be shared via a Local Area Net-
periods, which violates these assumptions and can cause work (LAN) which provides access in a limited area such
a service to become oversubscribed, resulting in conges- as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office build-
tion and poor performance. The TCP protocol includes ing.
flow-control mechanisms that automatically throttle back Although a connection to a LAN may provide very high
on the bandwidth being used during periods of network data-rates within the LAN, actual Internet access speed
congestion. This is fair in the sense that all users that ex- is limited by the upstream link to the ISP. LANs may
perience congestion receive less bandwidth, but it can be be wired or wireless. Ethernet over twisted pair cabling
frustrating for customers and a major problem for ISPs. and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies used to
In some cases the amount of bandwidth actually available build LANs today, but ARCNET, Token Ring, Localtalk,
may fall below the threshold required to support a partic- FDDI, and other technologies were used in the past.
ular service such as video conferencing or streaming live
video–effectively making the service unavailable. Ethernet is the name of the IEEE 802.3 standard for phys-
ical LAN communication and Wi-Fi is a trade name for a
When traffic is particularly heavy, an ISP can deliberately wireless local area network (WLAN) that uses one of the
throttle back the bandwidth available to classes of users IEEE 802.11 standards.[26] Ethernet cables are intercon-
or for particular services. This is known as traffic shaping nected via switches & routers. Wi-Fi networks are built
and careful use can ensure a better quality of service for using one or more wireless antenna called access points.
time critical services even on extremely busy networks.
However, overuse can lead to concerns about fairness and Many “modems” provide the additional functionality to
network neutrality or even charges of censorship, when host a LAN so most Internet access today is through a
some types of traffic are severely or completely blocked. LAN, often a very small LAN with just one or two de-
vices attached. And while LANs are an important form
of Internet access, this raises the question of how and at
what data rate the LAN itself is connected to the rest of
the global Internet. The technologies described below are
9.2.3 Outages used to make these connections.

An Internet blackout or outage can be caused by local

signaling interruptions. Disruptions of submarine com- 9.3.1 Hardwired broadband access
munications cables may cause blackouts or slowdowns to
large areas, such as in the 2008 submarine cable disrup- The term broadband includes a broad range of technolo-
tion. Less-developed countries are more vulnerable due gies, all of which provide higher data rate access to the
to a small number of high-capacity links. Land cables Internet. The following technologies use wires or cables
are also vulnerable, as in 2011 when a woman digging in contrast to wireless broadband described later.
for scrap metal severed most connectivity for the nation
of Armenia.[22] Internet blackouts affecting almost entire
Dial-up access
countries can be achieved by governments as a form of
Internet censorship, as in the blockage of the Internet in Dial-up Internet access uses a modem and a phone
Egypt, whereby approximately 93%[23] of networks were call placed over the public switched telephone network
without access in 2011 in an attempt to stop mobilization (PSTN) to connect to a pool of modems operated by an
for anti-government protests.[24] ISP. The modem converts a computer’s digital signal into
On April 25, 1997, due to a combination of human error an analog signal that travels over a phone line’s local loop
and software bug, an incorrect routing table at MAI Net- until it reaches a telephone company’s switching facili-
work Service (a Virginia Internet Service Provider) prop- ties or central office (CO) where it is switched to another
agated across backbone routers and caused major disrup- phone line that connects to another modem at the remote
tion to Internet traffic for a few hours.[25] end of the connection.[27]
See also: AS 7007 incident and List of web host service Operating on a single channel, a dial-up connection mo-
outages nopolizes the phone line and is one of the slowest meth-
ods of accessing the Internet. Dial-up is often the only
9.3. TECHNOLOGIES 31

form of Internet access available in rural areas as it re-24 voice or data channels (24 DS0s), so customers may
quires no new infrastructure beyond the already existing use some channels for data and others for voice traffic
telephone network, to connect to the Internet. Typically, or use all 24 channels for clear channel data. A DS3 (T3)
dial-up connections do not exceed a speed of 56 kbit/s, line carries 28 DS1 (T1) channels. Fractional T1 lines are
as they are primarily made using modems that operate at also available in multiples of a DS0 to provide data rates
a maximum data rate of 56 kbit/s downstream (towards between 56 and 1,500 kbit/s. T-carrier lines require spe-
the end user) and 34 or 48 kbit/s upstream (toward the cial termination equipment that may be separate from or
global Internet).[8] integrated into a router or switch and which may be pur-
chased or leased from an ISP.[32] In Japan the equivalent
standard is J1/J3. In Europe, a slightly different standard,
Multilink dial-up E-carrier, provides 32 user channels (64 kbit/s) on an E1
(2.0 Mbit/s) and 512 user channels or 16 E1s on an E3
Multilink dial-up provides increased bandwidth by
(34.4 Mbit/s).
channel bonding multiple dial-up connections and access-
ing them as a single data channel.[28] It requires two or Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET, in the U.S.
more modems, phone lines, and dial-up accounts, as well and Canada) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH,
as an ISP that supports multilinking – and of course any in the rest of the world) are the standard multiplexing pro-
line and data charges are also doubled. This inverse mul- tocols used to carry high-data-rate digital bit-streams over
tiplexing option was briefly popular with some high-end optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from
users before ISDN, DSL and other technologies became light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At lower transmission rates
available. Diamond and other vendors created special data can also be transferred via an electrical interface.
modems to support multilinking.[29] The basic unit of framing is an OC-3c (optical) or STS-3c
(electrical) which carries 155.520 Mbit/s. Thus an OC-
3c will carry three OC-1 (51.84 Mbit/s) payloads each of
Integrated Services Digital Network which has enough capacity to include a full DS3. Higher
data rates are delivered in OC-3c multiples of four pro-
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a switched viding OC-12c (622.080 Mbit/s), OC-48c (2.488 Gbit/s),
telephone service capable of transporting voice and dig- OC-192c (9.953 Gbit/s), and OC-768c (39.813 Gbit/s).
ital data, is one of the oldest Internet access methods. The “c” at the end of the OC labels stands for “concate-
ISDN has been used for voice, video conferencing, and nated” and indicates a single data stream rather than sev-
broadband data applications. ISDN was very popular eral multiplexed data streams.[31]
in Europe, but less common in North America. Its use
peaked in the late 1990s before the availability of DSL The 1, 10, 40, and 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE, 10 GbE,
and cable modem technologies.[30] 40/100 GbE) IEEE standards (802.3) allow digital data
to be delivered over copper wiring at distances to 100 m
Basic rate ISDN, known as ISDN-BRI, has two 64 kbit/s and over optical fiber at distances to 40 km.[33]
“bearer” or “B” channels. These channels can be used
separately for voice or data calls or bonded together to
provide a 128 kbit/s service. Multiple ISDN-BRI lines Cable Internet access
can be bonded together to provide data rates above 128
kbit/s. Primary rate ISDN, known as ISDN-PRI, has 23 Main article: Cable Internet access
bearer channels (64 kbit/s each) for a combined data rate
of 1.5 Mbit/s (US standard). An ISDN E1 (European
Cable Internet provides access using a cable modem on
standard) line has 30 bearer channels and a combined data
hybrid fiber coaxial wiring originally developed to carry
rate of 1.9 Mbit/s.
television signals. Either fiber-optic or coaxial copper
cable may connect a node to a customer’s location at a
Leased lines connection known as a cable drop. In a cable modem
termination system, all nodes for cable subscribers in a
Leased lines are dedicated lines used primarily by ISPs, neighborhood connect to a cable company’s central of-
business, and other large enterprises to connect LANs fice, known as the “head end.” The cable company then
and campus networks to the Internet using the existing connects to the Internet using a variety of means – usu-
infrastructure of the public telephone network or other ally fiber optic cable or digital satellite and microwave
providers. Delivered using wire, optical fiber, and radio, transmissions.[34] Like DSL, broadband cable provides a
leased lines are used to provide Internet access directly continuous connection with an ISP.
as well as the building blocks from which several other Downstream, the direction toward the user, bit rates can
forms of Internet access are created.[31] be as much as 400 Mbit/s for business connections, and
T-carrier technology dates to 1957 and provides data 250 Mbit/s for residential service in some countries. Up-
rates that range from 56 and 64 kbit/s (DS0) to 1.5 Mbit/s stream traffic, originating at the user, ranges from 384
(DS1 or T1), to 45 Mbit/s (DS3 or T3). A T1 line carries kbit/s to more than 20 Mbit/s. Broadband cable access
32 CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS

tends to service fewer business customers because ex- DSL Rings

isting television cable networks tend to service residen-
tial buildings and commercial buildings do not always in- DSL Rings (DSLR) or Bonded DSL Rings is a ring topol-
clude wiring for coaxial cable networks.[35] In addition, ogy that uses DSL technology over existing copper tele-
because broadband cable subscribers share the same local phone wires to provide data rates of up to 400 Mbit/s.[42]
line, communications may be intercepted by neighboring
subscribers. Cable networks regularly provide encryp-
tion schemes for data traveling to and from customers, Fiber to the home
but these schemes may be thwarted.[34]
Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is one member of the
Fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) family that includes Fiber-to-
the-building or basement (FTTB), Fiber-to-the-premises
(FTTP), Fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD), Fiber-to-the-curb
(FTTC), and Fiber-to-the-node (FTTN).[43] These meth-
Digital subscriber line (DSL, ADSL, SDSL, and ods all bring data closer to the end user on optical fibers.
VDSL) The differences between the methods have mostly to do
with just how close to the end user the delivery on fiber
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service provides a con- comes. All of these delivery methods are similar to
nection to the Internet through the telephone network. hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) systems used to provide cable
Unlike dial-up, DSL can operate using a single phone Internet access.
line without preventing normal use of the telephone line The use of optical fiber offers much higher data rates
for voice phone calls. DSL uses the high frequencies, over relatively longer distances. Most high-capacity Inter-
while the low (audible) frequencies of the line are left free net and cable television backbones already use fiber op-
for regular telephone communication.[8] These frequency tic technology, with data switched to other technologies
bands are subsequently separated by filters installed at the (DSL, cable, POTS) for final delivery to customers.[44]
customer’s premises.
Australia began rolling out its National Broadband Net-
DSL originally stood for “digital subscriber loop”. In work across the country using fiber-optic cables to 93 per-
telecommunications marketing, the term digital sub- cent of Australian homes, schools, and businesses.[45] The
scriber line is widely understood to mean Asymmetric project was abandoned by the subsequent LNP govern-
Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), the most commonly ment, in favour of a hybrid FTTN design, which turned
installed variety of DSL. The data throughput of con- out to be more expensive and introduced delays. Sim-
sumer DSL services typically ranges from 256 kbit/s to 20 ilar efforts are underway in Italy, Canada, India, and
Mbit/s in the direction to the customer (downstream), de- many other countries (see Fiber to the premises by coun-
pending on DSL technology, line conditions, and service- try).[46][47][48][49]
level implementation. In ADSL, the data throughput in
the upstream direction, (i.e. in the direction to the ser-
vice provider) is lower than that in the downstream di- Power-line Internet
rection (i.e. to the customer), hence the designation of
asymmetric.[36] With a symmetric digital subscriber line Power-line Internet, also known as Broadband over power
(SDSL), the downstream and upstream data rates are lines (BPL), carries Internet data on a conductor that is
equal.[37] also used for electric power transmission.[50] Because of
Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL or the extensive power line infrastructure already in place,
this technology can provide people in rural and low popu-
VHDSL, ITU G.993.1)[38] is a digital subscriber line
(DSL) standard approved in 2001 that provides data rates lation areas access to the Internet with little cost in terms
up to 52 Mbit/s downstream and 16 Mbit/s upstream over of new transmission equipment, cables, or wires. Data
copper wires[39] and up to 85 Mbit/s down- and upstream rates are asymmetric and generally range from 256 kbit/s
on coaxial cable.[40] VDSL is capable of supporting appli- to 2.7 Mbit/s.[51]
cations such as high-definition television, as well as tele- Because these systems use parts of the radio spectrum
phone services (voice over IP) and general Internet ac- allocated to other over-the-air communication services,
cess, over a single physical connection. interference between the services is a limiting factor in
VDSL2 (ITU-T G.993.2) is a second-generation version the introduction of power-line Internet systems. The
and an enhancement of VDSL.[41] Approved in February IEEE P1901 standard specifies that all power-line proto-
2006, it is able to provide data rates exceeding 100 Mbit/s cols must detect existing usage and avoid interfering with
[51]
simultaneously in both the upstream and downstream di- it.
rections. However, the maximum data rate is achieved at Power-line Internet has developed faster in Europe than
a range of about 300 meters and performance degrades in the U.S. due to a historical difference in power system
as distance and loop attenuation increases. design philosophies. Data signals cannot pass through the
9.3. TECHNOLOGIES 33

step-down transformers used and so a repeater must be in- be adversely affected by moisture, rain, and snow (known
stalled on each transformer.[51] In the U.S. a transformer as rain fade).[56][57][58] The system requires a carefully
serves a small cluster of from one to a few houses. In aimed directional antenna.[57]
Europe, it is more common for a somewhat larger trans- Satellites in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) operate in
former to service larger clusters of from 10 to 100 houses. a fixed position 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above the
Thus a typical U.S. city requires an order of magnitude Earth’s equator. At the speed of light (about 300,000
more repeaters than in a comparable European city.[52] km/s or 186,000 miles per second), it takes a quarter of
a second for a radio signal to travel from the Earth to the
ATM and Frame Relay satellite and back. When other switching and routing de-
lays are added and the delays are doubled to allow for a
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay full round-trip transmission, the total delay can be 0.75
are wide-area networking standards that can be used to to 1.25 seconds. This latency is large when compared to
provide Internet access directly or as building blocks of other forms of Internet access with typical latencies that
other access technologies. For example, many DSL im- range from 0.015 to 0.2 seconds. Long latencies nega-
plementations use an ATM layer over the low-level bit- tively affect some applications that require real-time re-
stream layer to enable a number of different technologies sponse, particularly online games, voice over IP, and re-
over the same link. Customer LANs are typically con- mote control devices.[59][60] TCP tuning and TCP accel-
nected to an ATM switch or a Frame Relay node using eration techniques can mitigate some of these problems.
leased lines at a wide range of data rates.[53][54] GEO satellites do not cover the Earth’s polar regions.[56]
HughesNet, Exede, AT&T and Dish Network have GEO
While still widely used, with the advent of Ethernet over systems.[61][62][63][64]
optical fiber, MPLS, VPNs and broadband services such
as cable modem and DSL, ATM and Frame Relay no Satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO, below 2000 km or
longer play the prominent role they once did. 1243 miles) and medium Earth orbit (MEO, between
2000 and 35,786 km or 1,243 and 22,236 miles) are less
common, operate at lower altitudes, and are not fixed
9.3.2 Wireless broadband access in their position above the Earth. Lower altitudes al-
low lower latencies and make real-time interactive In-
Wireless broadband is used to provide both fixed and mo- ternet applications more feasible. LEO systems include
bile Internet access with the following technologies. Globalstar and Iridium. The O3b Satellite Constella-
tion is a proposed MEO system with a latency of 125
ms. COMMStellation™ is a LEO system, scheduled for
Satellite broadband launch in 2015, that is expected to have a latency of just
7 ms.

Mobile broadband

Satellite Internet access via VSAT in Ghana

Satellite Internet access provides fixed, portable, and mo-

bile Internet access.[55] Data rates range from 2 kbit/s
to 1 Gbit/s downstream and from 2 kbit/s to 10 Mbit/s
upstream. In the northern hemisphere, satellite antenna Service mark for GSMA
dishes require a clear line of sight to the southern sky,
due to the equatorial position of all geostationary satel- Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless In-
lites. In the southern hemisphere, this situation is re- ternet access delivered through mobile phone towers to
versed, and dishes are pointed north.[56][57] Service can computers, mobile phones (called “cell phones” in North
34
America and South Africa, and “hand phones” in Asia),
and other digital devices using portable modems. Some
mobile services allow more than one device to be con-
nected to the Internet using a single cellular connection
using a process called tethering. The modem may be built
into laptop computers, tablets, mobile phones, and other
devices, added to some devices using PC cards, USB
modems, and USB sticks or dongles, or separate wireless
modems can be used.[65]
New mobile phone technology and infrastructure is in-
troduced periodically and generally involves a change in
the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards-
compatible transmission technology, higher peak data
rates, new frequency bands, wider channel frequency
bandwidth in Hertz becomes available. These transi-
tions are referred to as generations. The first mobile data
services became available during the second generation
(2G).
The download (to the user) and upload (to the Internet)
data rates given above are peak or maximum rates and
end users will typically experience lower data rates.
WiMAX was originally developed to deliver fixed wire-
less service with wireless mobility added in 2005. CDPD,
CDMA2000 EV-DO, and MBWA are no longer being
actively developed.
In 2011, 90% of the world’s population lived in areas with
2G coverage, while 45% lived in areas with 2G and 3G
coverage.[66]
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
(WiMAX ) is a set of interoperable implementations of
the IEEE 802.16 family of wireless-network standards
certified by the WiMAX Forum. WiMAX enables “the
delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an
alternative to cable and DSL”.[67] The original IEEE
802.16 standard, now called “Fixed WiMAX”, was pub-
lished in 2001 and provided 30 to 40 megabit-per-second
data rates.[68] Mobility support was added in 2005. A
2011 update provides data rates up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed
stations. WiMax offers a metropolitan area network with
a signal radius of about 50 km (30 miles), far surpassing
the 30-metre (100-foot) wireless range of a conventional
Wi-Fi local area network (LAN). WiMAX signals also
penetrate building walls much more effectively than
Wi-Fi.
Wireless ISP
Wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) operate in-
dependently of mobile phone operators. WISPs typically
employ low-cost IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi radio systems to
link up remote locations over great distances (Long-range
Wi-Fi), but may use other higher-power radio communi-
CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS
Wi-Fi logo
cations systems as well.
Traditional 802.11b is an unlicensed omnidirectional ser-
vice designed to span between 100 and 150 m (300 to
500 ft). By focusing the radio signal using a directional
antenna 802.11b can operate reliably over a distance of
many km(miles), although the technology’s line-of-sight
requirements hamper connectivity in areas with hilly or
heavily foliated terrain. In addition, compared to hard-
wired connectivity, there are security risks (unless ro-
bust security protocols are enabled); data rates are sig-
nificantly slower (2 to 50 times slower); and the net-
work can be less stable, due to interference from other
wireless devices and networks, weather and line-of-sight
problems.[69]
Deploying multiple adjacent Wi-Fi access points is some-
times used to create city-wide wireless networks.[70]
Some are by commercial WISPs but grassroots efforts
have also led to wireless community networks. Rural
wireless-ISP installations are typically not commercial in
nature and are instead a patchwork of systems built up
by hobbyists mounting antennas on radio masts and tow-
ers, agricultural storage silos, very tall trees, or whatever
other tall objects are available. There are a number of
companies that provide this service.[71]
Proprietary technologies like Motorola Canopy & Expe-
dience can be used by a WISP to offer wireless access to
rural and other markets that are hard to reach using Wi-Fi
or WiMAX.
Local Multipoint Distribution Service
Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) is a
broadband wireless access technology that uses mi-
crowave signals operating between 26 GHz and 29
GHz.[72] Originally designed for digital television trans-
mission (DTV), it is conceived as a fixed wireless, point-
to-multipoint technology for utilization in the last mile.
Data rates range from 64 kbit/s to 155 Mbit/s.[73] Dis-
tance is typically limited to about 1.5 miles (2.4 km), but
links of up to 5 miles (8 km) from the base station are
possible in some circumstances.[74]
9.5. DIGITAL DIVIDE 35

LMDS has been surpassed in both technological and rather than a per minute or traffic based charge. Per
commercial potential by the LTE and WiMAX standards. minute and traffic based charges and traffic caps are com-
mon for mobile broadband Internet access.
Internet services like Facebook, Wikipedia and Google
9.4 Pricing and spending have built special programs to partner with mobile net-
work operators (MNO) to introduce zero-rating the cost
for their data volumes as a means to provide their service
more broadly into developing markets.[77]
With increased consumer demand for streaming content
such as video on demand and peer-to-peer file sharing,
demand for bandwidth has increased rapidly and for some
ISPs the flat rate pricing model may become unsustain-
able. However, with fixed costs estimated to represent
80–90% of the cost of providing broadband service, the
marginal cost to carry additional traffic is low. Most ISPs
do not disclose their costs, but the cost to transmit a giga-
byte of data in 2011 was estimated to be about $0.03.[78]
Some ISPs estimate that a small number of their users
consume a disproportionate portion of the total band-
Broadband affordability in 2011 width. In response some ISPs are considering, are ex-
perimenting with, or have implemented combinations of
This map presents an overview of broadband affordability, traffic based pricing, time of day or “peak” and “off peak”
as the relationship between average yearly income per capita pricing, and bandwidth or traffic caps. Others claim
and the cost of a broadband subscription (data referring to that because the marginal cost of extra bandwidth is very
2011). Source: Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet small with 80 to 90 percent of the costs fixed regardless of
Institute.[75] usage level, that such steps are unnecessary or motivated
by concerns other than the cost of delivering bandwidth
Internet access is limited by the relation between pricing
to the end user.[79][80][81]
and available resources to spend. Regarding the latter, it
is estimated that 40% of the world’s population has less In Canada, Rogers Hi-Speed Internet and Bell Canada
than US$20 per year available to spend on information have imposed bandwidth caps.[79] In 2008 Time Warner
and communications technology (ICT).[76] In Mexico, began experimenting with usage-based pricing in Beau-
the poorest 30% of the society counts with an estimated mont, Texas.[82] In 2009 an effort by Time Warner to
US$35 per year (US$3 per month) and in Brazil, the expand usage-based pricing into the Rochester, New
poorest 22% of the population counts with merely US$9 York area met with public resistance, however, and was
per year to spend on ICT (US$0.75 per month). From abandoned.[83] On August 1, 2012 in Nashville, Ten-
Latin America it is known that the borderline between nessee and on October 1, 2012 in Tucson, Arizona Com-
ICT as a necessity good and ICT as a luxury good is cast began tests that impose data caps on area residents.
roughly around the “magical number” of US$10 per per- In Nashville exceeding the 300 Gbyte cap mandates a
son per month, or US$120 per year.[76] This is the amount temporary purchase of 50 Gbytes of additional data.[84]
of ICT spending people esteem to be a basic necessity.
Current Internet access prices exceed the available re-
sources by large in many countries. 9.5 Digital divide
Dial-up users pay the costs for making local or long dis-
tance phone calls, usually pay a monthly subscription fee,
Despite its tremendous growth, Internet access is not dis-
and may be subject to additional per minute or traf- tributed equally within or between countries.[89][90] The
fic based charges, and connect time limits by their ISP. digital divide refers to “the gap between people with ef-
Though less common today than in the past, some dial-up fective access to information and communications tech-
access is offered for “free” in return for watching bannernology (ICT), and those with very limited or no access”.
ads as part of the dial-up service. NetZero, BlueLight, The gap between people with Internet access and those
Juno, Freenet (NZ), and Free-nets are examples of ser- without is one of many aspects of the digital divide.[91]
vices providing free access. Some Wireless community Whether someone has access to the Internet can depend
networks continue the tradition of providing free Inter- greatly on financial status, geographical location as well as
net access. government policies. “Low-income, rural, and minority
Fixed broadband Internet access is often sold under an populations have received
[92]
special scrutiny as the techno-
“unlimited” or flat rate pricing model, with price deter- logical “have-nots.”
mined by the maximum data rate chosen by the customer, Government policies play a tremendous role in bring-
36 CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
No data

Internet users in 2012 as a percentage of a country’s

population
The digital divide measured in terms of bandwidth is not closing,
Source: International Telecommunications Union.[85]
but fluctuating up and down. Gini coefficients for telecommuni-
cation capacity (in kbit/s) among individuals worldwide[88]

countries, 25% of households had a computer and 20%

100% had Internet access, while in developed countries the fig-
20%
10% ures were 74% of households had a computer and 71%
4%
1%
had Internet access.[66] When buying computers was le-
0% galized in Cuba in 2007, the private ownership of com-
No data
puters soared (there were 630,000 computers available on
the island in 2008, a 23% increase over 2007).[96][97]
Fixed broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012 Internet access has changed the way in which many peo-
as a percentage of a country’s population ple think and has become an integral part of peoples eco-
nomic, political, and social lives. The United Nations has
Source: International Telecommunications Union.[86] recognized that providing Internet access to more people
in the world will allow them to take advantage of the “po-
litical, social, economic, educational, and career oppor-
tunities” available over the Internet.[90] Several of the 67
principles adopted at the World Summit on the Informa-
125% tion Society convened by the United Nations in Geneva in
2003, directly address the digital divide.[98] To promote
60%
40%
20%
economic development and a reduction of the digital di-
4%
0% vide, national broadband plans have been and are being
No data
developed to increase the availability of affordable high-
speed Internet access throughout the world.
Mobile broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012
as a percentage of a country’s population
9.5.1 Growth in number of users
Source: International Telecommunications Union.[87]
Main article: Global Internet usage
ing Internet access to or limiting access for underserved
groups, regions, and countries. For example, in Pakistan, Access to the Internet grew from an estimated 10 million
which is pursuing an aggressive IT policy aimed at boost- people in 1993, to almost 40 million in 1995, to 670 mil-
ing its drive for economic modernization, the number of lion in 2002, and to 2.7 billion in 2013.[101] With market
Internet users grew from 133,900 (0.1% of the popula- saturation, growth in the number of Internet users is slow-
tion) in 2000 to 31 million (17.6% of the population) in ing in industrialized countries, but continues in Asia,[102]
2011.[93] In countries such as North Korea and Cuba there Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle
is relatively little access to the Internet due to the govern- East.
ments’ fear of political instability that might accompanyThere were roughly 0.6 billion fixed broadband sub-
the benefits of access to the global Internet.[94] The U.S.
scribers and almost 1.2 billion mobile broadband sub-
trade embargo is another barrier limiting Internet accessscribers in 2011.[103] In developed countries people fre-
in Cuba.[95] quently use both fixed and mobile broadband networks.
Access to computers is a dominant factor in determin- In developing countries mobile broadband is often the
ing the level of Internet access. In 2011, in developing only access method available.[66]
9.5. DIGITAL DIVIDE 37

9.5.2 Bandwidth divide eral and for broadband access in particular is to provide
service to potential customers in areas of low population
Traditionally the divide has been measured in terms of density, such as to farmers, ranchers, and small towns.
the existing numbers of subscriptions and digital devices In cities where the population density is high, it is eas-
(“have and have-not of subscriptions”). Recent studies ier for a service provider to recover equipment costs,
have measured the digital divide not in terms of techno- but each rural customer may require expensive equip-
logical devices, but in terms of the existing bandwidth per ment to get connected. While 66% of Americans had
individual (in kbit/s per capita).[88][104] As shown in the an Internet connection in 2010, that figure was only
Figure on the side, the digital divide in kbit/s is not mono- 50% in rural areas, according to the Pew Internet &
tonically decreasing, but re-opens up with each new inno- American Life Project.[109] Virgin Media advertised over
vation. For example, “the massive diffusion of narrow- 100 towns across the United Kingdom “from Cwmbran
band Internet and mobile phones during the late 1990s” to Clydebank" that have access to their 100 Mbit/s
increased digital inequality, as well as “the initial intro- service.[19]
duction of broadband DSL and cable modems during
Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISPs) are rapidly
2003–2004 increased levels of inequality”.[104] This is be-
becoming a popular broadband option for rural areas.[110]
cause a new kind of connectivity is never introduced in-
The technology’s line-of-sight requirements may hamper
stantaneously and uniformly to society as a whole at once,
connectivity in some areas with hilly and heavily foliated
but diffuses slowly through social networks. As shown by
terrain. However, the Tegola project, a successful pilot
the Figure, during the mid-2000s, communication capac-
in remote Scotland, demonstrates that wireless can be a
ity was more unequally distributed than during the late
viable option.[111]
1980s, when only fixed-line phones existed. The most re-
cent increase in digital equality stems from the massive The Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative is the first
diffusion of the latest digital innovations (i.e. fixed and program in North America to guarantee access to “100%
mobile broadband infrastructures, e.g. 3G and fiber op- of civic addresses” in a region. It is based on Motorola
tics FTTH).[105] As shown in the Figure, Internet access Canopy technology. As of November 2011, under 1000
in terms of bandwidth is more unequally distributed in households have reported access problems. Deployment
2014 as it was in the mid-1990s. of a new cell network by one Canopy provider (Eastlink)
was expected to provide the alternative of 3G/4G service,
possibly at a special unmetered rate, for areas harder to
9.5.3 In the United States serve by Canopy.[112]
A rural broadband initiative in New Zealand is a joint
Main article: Internet in the United States project between Vodafone[113] and Chorus,[114] with Cho-
rus providing the fibre infrastructure and Vodafone pro-
In the United States, billions of dollars have been invested viding wireless broadband, supported by the fibre back-
in efforts to narrow the digital divide and bring Internet haul.
access to more people in low-income and rural areas of
the United States. Internet availability varies widely state
by state in the U.S. In 2011 for example, 87.1% of all 9.5.5 Access as a civil or human right
New Hampshire residents lived in a household where In-
ternet was available, ranking first in the nation.[106] Mean- Further information: Digital rights and Right to Internet
while, 61.4% of all Mississippi residents lived in a house- access
hold where Internet was available, ranking last in the
nation.[107] The Obama administration has continued this
The actions, statements, opinions, and recommendations
commitment to narrowing the digital divide through the
[92] outlined below have led to the suggestion that Internet ac-
use of stimulus funding. The National Center for Ed-
cess itself is or should become a civil or perhaps a human
ucation Statistics reported that 98% of all U.S. classroom
right.[115][116]
computers had Internet access in 2008 with roughly one
computer with Internet access available for every three Several countries have adopted laws requiring the state to
students. The percentage and ratio of students to comput- work to ensure that Internet access is broadly available
ers was the same for rural schools (98% and 1 computer and/or preventing the state from unreasonably restricting
for every 2.9 students).[108] an individual’s access to information and the Internet:

• Costa Rica: A 30 July 2010 ruling by the Supreme

9.5.4 Rural access Court of Costa Rica stated: “Without fear of equiv-
ocation, it can be said that these technologies [in-
Main article: Broadband universal service formation technology and communication] have im-
pacted the way humans communicate, facilitat-
One of the great challenges for Internet access in gen- ing the connection between people and institutions
38
worldwide and eliminating barriers of space and
time. At this time, access to these technologies
becomes a basic tool to facilitate the exercise of
fundamental rights and democratic participation (e-
democracy) and citizen control, education, freedom
of thought and expression, access to information
and public services online, the right to communi-
cate with government electronically and administra-
tive transparency, among others. This includes the
fundamental right of access to these technologies,
in particular, the right of access to the Internet or
World Wide Web.”[117]
• Estonia: In 2000, the parliament launched a massive
program to expand access to the countryside. The
Internet, the government argues, is essential for life
in the 21st century.[118]
• Finland: By July 2010, every person in Finland
was to have access to a one-megabit per second
broadband connection, according to the Ministry of
Transport and Communications. And by 2015, ac-
cess to a 100 Mbit/s connection.[119]
• France: In June 2009, the Constitutional Council,
France’s highest court, declared access to the Inter- The WSIS Declaration of Principles makes specific ref-
net to be a basic human right in a strongly-worded erence to the importance of the right to freedom of ex-
decision that struck down portions of the HADOPI pression in the "Information Society" in stating:
law, a law that would have tracked abusers and with-
out judicial review automatically cut off network ac-
cess to those who continued to download illicit ma-
terial after two warnings[120]
• Greece: Article 5A of the Constitution of Greece
states that all persons has a right to participate in
the Information Society and that the state has an
obligation to facilitate the production, exchange,
diffusion, and access to electronically transmitted
information. [121]
• Spain: Starting in 2011, Telefónica, the former state
monopoly that holds the country’s "universal ser-
vice" contract, has to guarantee to offer “reason-
ably” priced broadband of at least one megabyte per
second throughout Spain.[122]
In December 2003, the World Summit on the Informa-
tion Society (WSIS) was convened under the auspice of
the United Nations. After lengthy negotiations between
governments, businesses and civil society representatives
the WSIS Declaration of Principles was adopted reaf-
firming the importance of the Information Society to
maintaining and strengthening human rights:[98] [123]
1. We, the representatives of the peoples of the
world, assembled in Geneva from 10–12 De-
cember 2003 for the first phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society, declare
our common desire and commitment to build
CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS
a people-centred, inclusive and development-
oriented Information Society, where every-
one can create, access, utilize and share in-
formation and knowledge, enabling individu-
als, communities and peoples to achieve their
full potential in promoting their sustainable de-
velopment and improving their quality of life,
premised on the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations and respecting
fully and upholding the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
3. We reaffirm the universality, indivisibil-
ity, interdependence and interrelation of all hu-
man rights and fundamental freedoms, includ-
ing the right to development, as enshrined in
the Vienna Declaration. We also reaffirm that
democracy, sustainable development, and re-
spect for human rights and fundamental free-
doms as well as good governance at all levels
are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
We further resolve to strengthen the rule of law
in international as in national affairs.
4. We reaffirm, as an essential foundation of
the Information Society, and as outlined in Ar-
ticle 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom
of opinion and expression; that this right in-
cludes freedom to hold opinions without inter-
ference and to seek, receive and impart infor-
mation and ideas through any media and re-
gardless of frontiers. Communication is a fun-
damental social process, a basic human need
and the foundation of all social organisation. It
is central to the Information Society. Every-
one, everywhere should have the opportunity
to participate and no one should be excluded
from the benefits of the Information Society
offers.”[123]
A poll of 27,973 adults in 26 countries, including 14,306
Internet users,[124] conducted for the BBC World Ser-
vice between 30 November 2009 and 7 February 2010
found that almost four in five Internet users and non-users
around the world felt that access to the Internet was a fun-
damental right.[125] 50% strongly agreed, 29% somewhat
agreed, 9% somewhat disagreed, 6% strongly disagreed,
and 6% gave no opinion.[126]
The 88 recommendations made by the Special Rappor-
teur on the promotion and protection of the right to free-
dom of opinion and expression in a May 2011 report to
the Human Rights Council of the United Nations General
9.6. NATURAL DISASTERS AND ACCESS
Assembly include several that bear on the question of the on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charg-
right to Internet access:[127]
67. Unlike any other medium, the Internet
enables individuals to seek, receive and im-
part information and ideas of all kinds instanta-
neously and inexpensively across national bor-
ders. By vastly expanding the capacity of indi-
viduals to enjoy their right to freedom of opin-
ion and expression, which is an “enabler” of
other human rights, the Internet boosts eco-
nomic, social and political development, and
contributes to the progress of humankind as a
whole. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur
encourages other Special Procedures mandate
holders to engage on the issue of the Internet
with respect to their particular mandates.
78. While blocking and filtering measures deny
users access to specific content on the Internet,
States have also taken measures to cut off ac-
cess to the Internet entirely. The Special Rap-
porteur considers cutting off users from Inter-
net access, regardless of the justification pro-
vided, including on the grounds of violating in-
tellectual property rights law, to be dispropor-
tionate and thus a violation of article 19, para-
graph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
79. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all
States to ensure that Internet access is main-
tained at all times, including during times of
political unrest.
85. Given that the Internet has become an in-
dispensable tool for realizing a range of hu-
man rights, combating inequality, and acceler-
ating development and human progress, ensur-
ing universal access to the Internet should be
a priority for all States. Each State should thus
develop a concrete and effective policy, in con-
sultation with individuals from all sections of
society, including the private sector and rele-
vant Government ministries, to make the Inter-
net widely available, accessible and affordable
to all segments of population.
9.5.6 Network neutrality
Main article: Net neutrality
Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutral- connection for five days within the Asia-Pacific region
ity, or net equality) is the principle that Internet ser- as well as between the region and the United States and
vice providers and governments should treat all data Europe.[141]
39
ing differentially by user, content, site, platform, ap-
plication, type of attached equipment, or mode of
communication.[128][129][130][131] Advocates of net neu-
trality have raised concerns about the ability of broadband
providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block In-
ternet applications and content (e.g. websites, services,
and protocols), and even to block out competitors.[132]
Opponents claim net neutrality regulations would deter
investment into improving broadband infrastructure and
try to fix something that isn't broken.[133][134]
9.6 Natural disasters and access
Natural disasters disrupt internet access in profound
ways. This is important—not only for telecommunica-
tion companies who own the networks and the businesses
who use them, but for emergency crew and displaced citi-
zens as well. The situation is worsened when hospitals or
other buildings necessary to disaster response lose their
connection. Knowledge gained from studying past inter-
net disruptions by natural disasters could be put to use
in planning or recovery. Additionally, because of both
natural and man-made disasters, studies in network re-
siliency are now being conducted to prevent large-scale
outages.[135]
One way natural disasters impact internet connection is
by damaging end sub-networks (subnets), making them
unreachable. A study on local networks after Hurricane
Katrina found that 26% of subnets within the storm cov-
erage were unreachable.[136] At Hurricane Katrina’s peak
intensity, almost 35% of networks in Mississippi were
without power, while around 14% of Louisiana’s net-
works were disrupted.[137] Of those unreachable subnets,
73% were disrupted for four weeks or longer and 57%
were at “network edges where important emergency or-
ganizations such as hospitals and government agencies are
mostly located”.[136] Extensive infrastructure damage and
inaccessible areas were two explanations for the long de-
lay in returning service.[136] The company Cisco has re-
vealed a Network Emergency Response Vehicle (NERV),
a truck that makes portable communications possible for
emergency responders despite traditional networks being
disrupted.[138]
A second way natural disasters destroy internet connec-
tivity is by severing submarine cables—fiber-optic cables
placed on the ocean floor that provide international in-
ternet connection. The 2006 undersea earthquake near
Taiwan (Richter scale 7.2) cut six out of seven inter-
national cables connected to that country and caused
a tsunami that wiped out one of its cable and landing
stations.[139][140] The impact slowed or disabled internet
40
With the rise in popularity of cloud computing, concern
has grown over access to cloud-hosted data in the event
of a natural disaster. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has
been in the news for major network outages in April
2011 and June 2012.[142][143] AWS, like other major
cloud hosting companies, prepares for typical outages and
large-scale natural disasters with backup power as well
as backup data centers in other locations. AWS divides
the globe into five regions and then splits each region
into availability zones. A data center in one availability
zone should be backed up by a data center in a different
availability zone. Theoretically, a natural disaster would
not affect more than one availability zone.[144] This the-
ory plays out as long as human error is not added to the
mix. The June 2012 major storm only disabled the pri-
mary data center, but human error disabled the secondary
and tertiary backups, affecting companies such as Netflix,
Pinterest, Reddit, and Instagram.[145][146]
9.7 See also
• Back-channel, a low bandwidth, or less-than-
optimal, transmission channel in the opposite direc-
tion to the main channel
• Broadband mapping in the United States
• Comparison of wireless data standards
• Connectivity in a social and cultural sense
• Fiber-optic communication
• Free-space optical communication, transmission in
air or a vacuum rather than in fiber optic cable
• History of the Internet
• IP over DVB, Internet access using MPEG data
streams over a digital television network
• List of countries by number of broadband Internet
subscriptions
• National broadband plans from around the world
• Outernet
• Packet radio and the AMateur Packet Radio Net-
work (AMPRNet)
• Project Loon, the Google Balloon Internet, a re- [12] Willdig, Karl; Patrik Chen (August 1994). “What You
search and development project to provide Internet
access to rural and remote areas
• Public switched telephone network (PSTN)
• Residential gateway
• Telecommunications network
• White Spaces Coalition, a group of technology com-
panies working to deliver broadband Internet access
via unused analog television frequencies
CHAPTER 9. INTERNET ACCESS
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Chapter 10

DSL filter

Modern ADSL filter/splitter (left) and filter (right)

A DSL filter or microfilter is an analog low-pass filter in-

stalled between analog devices (such as telephones or ana-
log modems) and a plain old telephone service (POTS)
Circuit of a DSL filter/splitter
line. The DSL filter prevents interference between such
devices and a digital subscriber line (DSL) service con-
nected to the same line. Without DSL filters, signals 10.2 Installation
or echoes from analog devices at the top of their fre-
quency range can reduce performance and create con-
Typical installation for an existing home involves in-
nection problems with DSL service, while those from the
stalling DSL filters on every telephone, fax machine,
DSL service at the bottom of its range can cause line noise
voice band modem, and other voiceband device in the
and other problems for analog devices.
home, leaving the DSL modem as the only unfiltered de-
DSL filters are passive devices, requiring no power source vice. For wall mounted phones, the filter is in the form
to operate. A few high-quality filters may contain active of a plate hung on the standard wall mount, on which the
transistors to refine the signal. phone hangs in turn.
In cases where it is possible to run new cables, it can be
advantageous to split the telephone line after it enters the
10.1 Components home, installing a single DSL filter on one leg and running
it to every jack in the home where an analog device will
The primary distinguishing factor between high-quality be in use, and dedicating the other (unfiltered) leg to the
and low-quality filters is the use of transistors in high- DSL modem. Some devices, such as monitored alarms
quality (and more expensive) active filters, in addition to and Telephone Devices for the Deaf, mainly certain older
the usual components like capacitors, resistors, and ferrite models using an acoustic coupler, may be hardwired and
cores, while the low-quality passive filters lack transistors. may not easily accept a DSL filter. Some of these devices

45
46 CHAPTER 10. DSL FILTER

can be successfully filtered with a DSL filter or splitter, telephone line leaving only the router and checking to see
especially if the hardwired connection is converted into a whether the DSL speed increased.
jacked connection.
If it is not practical to run new cables, it is often still possi-
ble to split the telephone line at the point of entry in some 10.5 See also
cases. If Category 3 cable, Category 4 cable, or Category
5 cable was used to wire the premises and at least one pair • ADSL
of wires in the cable is unused, a “whole house” DSL filter
can be installed at the point of entry, usually a Network • Broadband filter
Interface Device (NID) box. Although an in-line filter
could be used for this purpose, special whole-house fil-
ters are available to make the installation easier. The wire 10.6 References
pair that connects to telephones and fax machines is con-
nected to the telephone company feed through the filter,
while the wire pair that connects to the DSL modem is 10.7 External links
connected directly to the telephone company feed, unfil-
tered. At the wall jack where the DSL modem is installed • Photographs of the internals of ADSL microfilters
a commercial 2-line splitter adapter is used that puts each
line of the cable on its own jack port, connected as Line
1. The telephone, if any, is plugged into the Line 1 jack
and the DSL modem is plugged into the Line 2 jack of the
adapter, but is fed through the Line 1 contacts in that jack
location. Due to the self-shielding nature of twisted wire
pairs, this cable sharing technique works well for Cate-
gory 4 and 5 cables, Since old-style Category 3 cables
contain four parallel strands of wire, there is crosstalk and
ADSL signal degradation between pairs, so cable sharing
should be limited to 20 meters (65 ft), or so. This ap-
proach saves considerable money and labor, as the only
changes to the premise wiring may occur at the NID and
the only additional equipment needed is a 2-line splitter
adapter. If the Line 2 wire pair was originally not con-
nected at the wall jack where the DSL modem is to be
used, it may be necessary to complete this step as well.
Some DSL modems have filtering circuitry built-in, to
which the telephones and fax machines can be connected.

10.3 Modulation techniques and

specifications
• ITU G.992.1 (G.dmt)

• ITU G.992.2 (G.lite)

• ITU G.992.3 (ADSL2)

• ITU G.992.4 (G.lite.bis)

• ITU G.992.5 (ADSL2+)

10.4 Maintenance and failure

The usual symptom of a failed filter is frequent DSL dis-
connects or slow internet speed, and the usual procedure
to test for failed filters is to remove all filters from the
Chapter 11

Broadband filter

• In telephony, where the same telephone connection

is being used to carry telephone conversations and
broadband internet access, a broadband filter is a
device interposed in a joint in a telephone connec-
tion to stop internet traffic signals from reaching the
telephone and thus causing loud interference noises
spoiling the telephone conversation.

11.1 See also

• DSL filter

11.2 Distinguish from

• UV broadband filter, a chemical used to filter
ultraviolet light; see Category:Sunscreening agents

• Broadband Filter Imager (BFI), part of the Hinode

astronomical research satellite

47
48 CHAPTER 11. BROADBAND FILTER

11.3 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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manc19s, Retired username, Bluezy, SmackBot, Oli Filth, Onorem, Ged UK, Hu12, Cydebot, Evilal, Electron9, Raanoo, Hbent, Jjdejong,
Jim.henderson, Bogey97, ClueBot, Excirial, Alexbot, ParisianBlade, UnCatBot, Relly Komaruzaman, Unmeshonline, Addbot, SpBot, Tide
rolls, Mykittenpup, Visiting1, Erik9bot, EffeX2, Recognizance, Valiporch, Ben7015 and Anonymous: 32
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740457771 Contributors: Damian Yerrick, Ahoerstemeier, Haakon, Notheruser, Arthur Frayn, Andres, Echoray, Robbot, Blashyrk, Milk-
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2, Daveburstein, Princess1punk3, AManWithNoPlan, Arpabone, Philafrenzy, ChuispastonBot, ClueBot NG, Fth33, RainmakerUSA, Es-
ebi95, Leblanc01451, Helpful Pixie Bot, Khaled201111, BG19bot, Kendall-K1, Compfreak7, Magazins, Medende, Anbu121, BattyBot,
David.moreno72, Cyberbot II, Electricmuffin11, The Quirky Kitty, SteenthIWbot, Me, Myself, and I are Here, Faizan, Analogtechguru,
Someone not using his real name, Wyn.junior, Melcous, Monkbot, OliverY1992, Vieque, SuperCoolman155, ESPON34, Jimmy7575,
AchmetKKK, GreenC bot, Esearchadvisors, Nananadiem and Anonymous: 494
• Local loop Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_loop?oldid=706960626 Contributors: Damian Yerrick, Edward, Kwertii, Mac,
Radiojon, Furrykef, Nurg, Rookkey, Tagishsimon, Guanabot, Kiand, Gxti, Johnteslade, Ceyockey, Snafflekid, SchuminWeb, Lmatt, Sand-
stein, Petri Krohn, Jeysaba, JonHarder, JanCeuleers, Martync84, Robofish, 16@r, Tenorcnj, Chetvorno, INVERTED, Khatru2, Chai-
tanya.lala, AlephGamma, Gwern, Jim.henderson, Zir, Elektordi, Ontarioboy, Bigdumbdinosaur, Tbone762, Hugo999, Jeff G., Alnok-
taBOT, Spinningspark, Phisches, Mild Bill Hiccup, Addbot, CUSENZA Mario, Numbo3-bot, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Obersachsebot, Grou-
choBot, Omnipaedista, Brandonstelly, Happenstancial, T3chman94, OrbitHawk, WannaBeEditor and Anonymous: 30
11.3. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 49

• Asynchronous Transfer Mode Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asynchronous_Transfer_Mode?oldid=745307938 Contributors:

Tobias Hoevekamp, Derek Ross, Zundark, The Anome, AlexWasFirst, Youssefsan, Aldie, Leandrod, Edward, Michael Hardy, Zani-
mum, Darrell Greenwood, Rl, Edaelon, Harris7, Kdaley, Colin Marquardt, Pedant17, Jnc, Populus, AnonMoos, Robbot, RedWolf, Nurg,
Wikibot, Gwicke~enwiki, Giftlite, Dinomite, Monedula, Everyking, Joconnor, Rookkey, Niteowlneils, Richard cocks, Matt Crypto, Dar-
rien, Bobblewik, Tagishsimon, Onco p53, Quarl, Pembers, Necrothesp, Karl-Henner, Creidieki, Mzabaluev, Adashiel, EagleOne, Jkl,
Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Sladen, Smyth, Xezbeth, Dyl, Project2501a, *drew, Spearhead, Neilrieck, West London Dweller, Bobo192,
MarkWahl, Robotje, Get It, Unquietwiki, Kjkolb, Ivansanchez, Rjamorim, Espoo, Alansohn, Anthony Appleyard, Thebeginning, Snowolf,
Markrod, Cburnett, Hydrowire, Sakus, Lerdsuwa, Brholden, Blaxthos, Kiffahh, Kelly Martin, RHaworth, BernardM, Camw, Ylem, Ilario,
Brentdax, Beej, Bluemoose, M412k, Teemu Leisti, Graham87, BD2412, Chrisc, RxS, Chrischambers, Ryan Norton, Jivecat, Salix alba,
Vegaswikian, Oblivious, ElKevbo, Ttwaring, FlaBot, RexNL, Pengu, Chobot, YurikBot, Tetzcatlipoca, Hyad, Pi Delport, RadioFan, Gaius
Cornelius, Chris Murphy, NickBush24, Daniel Luechtefeld, Ino5hiro, Dr Debug, Zwobot, Gr33ndata, Bobstopper, Janto, Ketil3, Phil
Holmes, Bluezy, SmackBot, Unyoyega, Gilliam, Ohnoitsjamie, Betacommand, Richfife, Skintigh, Oli Filth, Silent SAM, DHN-bot~enwiki,
TripleF, Martensjd, Rrburke, Chrylis, Het, Wizardman, Kukini, Zac67, Kylebrz, Vanished user 9i39j3, Soumyasch, Jec, Dicklyon, To-
tel, Saxbryn, Kvng, Iridescent, Paul Koning, Walton One, Tawkerbot2, CmdrObot, Pleyden, Jesse Viviano, Requestion, Duraivelanc,
Cheesysam, Phatom87, IoannisK, Ashok.Nair, Kozuch, Thijs!bot, TFriesen, Drpixie, Electron9, Gerry Ashton, Nezzadar, Philippe, Amlz,
LachlanA, AntiVandalBot, Davidoff, Edokter, Riffle, Floppytoes, JAnDbot, Chaitanya.lala, Barek, TAnthony, Beaumont, VoABot II,
Mmkh, SandStone, Allstarecho, MartinBot, Dgepstein, Jim.henderson, Naohiro19, Genghiskhanviet, Lilac Soul, J.delanoy, Mange01, Tan-
nerbrockwell, Peter Chastain, Adriao, Javawizard, Public Menace, LordAnubisBOT, Ls6777, Ra6907, Inwind, Emiller213, Funandtrvl,
JohnGrantNineTiles, VolkovBot, CSumit, Atm153, Philip Trueman, Vipinhari, Anonymous Dissident, Melsaran, BotKung, Tomg11030,
Iamzemasterraf, Why Not A Duck, Chenzw, KjellG, Wisamzaqoot, Anuragkothari, Kbrose, Nubiatech, ToePeu.bot, VVVBot, Winterspan,
Keilana, Bentogoa, Flyer22 Reborn, Jojalozzo, Arunachalammanohar, Smfavaro, Martarius, ClueBot, Methossant, Wutsje, Timberframe,
Niceguyedc, Vaibhav.nimbalkar, Yogi raj2, Tanketz, Propeng, Captpossum, Vivio Testarossa, Panda34, Apparition11, Antti29, Stickee,
Mohanchander, Jugandi, Dgtsyb, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Blethering Scot, Graham.Fountain, AndersBot, ChenzwBot, Тиверополник, En-
duser, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Les boys, Backslash Forwardslash, 1exec1, Jim1138, Kevintolly, Materialscientist, E2eamon, Arthur-
Bot, Quebec99, DataWraith, Frankie0607, Cirne100, Visiting1, Lady alys, Ozzie13, Green Cardamom, FrescoBot, Nageh, W Nowicki,
GreenZeb, Orenburg1, Sricciar, Tekdude, Mosfet RJF, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, WildBot, Ericjmonson, EmausBot, Jsung123, Olof nord, Kl-
brain, Tommy2010, ZéroBot, Carbonlethagy, Demonkoryu, MonoAV, Teapeat, ClueBot NG, Lord Chamberlain, the Renowned, Chester
Markel, Rezabot, Helpful Pixie Bot, Sumankane, Azerekh, BG19bot, Abhigyan.gaurav, ChrisGualtieri, Webclient101, UNOwenNYC,
Comp.arch, Semsi Paco Virchow, Narky Blert, Drsunnymount, InternetArchiveBot, GreenC bot, Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 401
• List of device bit rates Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bit_rates?oldid=745759646 Contributors: Wayne Hard-
man, Ghakko, Mjb, Akumiszcza, Edward, Dante Alighieri, Pnm, Dcljr, Foxkid, Delirium, SebastianHelm, Grin, Ghewgill, Feedmece-
real, Dysprosia, Enigmasoldier, Mrand, Grendelkhan, Omegatron, Wernher, Nickshanks, BenRG, Northgrove, Tlogmer, Scott McNay,
SchmuckyTheCat, Spamhog, Xanzzibar, Giftlite, DocWatson42, DavidCary, Jonth, BenFrantzDale, Karn, Kelp, AssetBurned~enwiki,
Ssd, Endlessnameless, RatOmeter, Micru, Ans, Pascal666, Alvestrand, Bobblewik, Tagishsimon, Toytoy, Sfoskett, RainerBlome, Abdull,
Hobart, DmitryKo, Chrisbolt, Il hamster, Zowie, Urvabara, Sladen, Vague Rant, FT2, Bert490, Pmsyyz, ZeroOne, CanisRufus, Sharkford,
Alereon, West London Dweller, Agoode, Myria, Timl, Chbarts, AndrewRH, Jerryseinfeld, Sasquatch, Rjamorim, Towel401, Liberty Miller,
MatthewWilcox, Guy Harris, 119, ViPeR-7, Angelic Wraith, Cgmusselman, Rebroad, Wtshymanski, 2mcm, Marcan, Boscobiscotti, Pop-
pafuze, Jannex, Mindmatrix, Lifung, Reukiodo, GregorB, Sendai2ci, Bilbo1507, Threeme3, Kbdank71, Mendaliv, Casey Abell, Ketiltrout,
Rjwilmsi, Macoukji, SMC, Gudeldar, UriBudnik, Pmc, Ysangkok, Theo Pardilla, Bgwhite, Aluvus, Mortenoesterlundjoergensen, Jimp,
Pip2andahalf, Jengelh, Megapixie, Waffle, Dogcow, Tony1, Chris S, Nailbiter, NorsemanII, Gregzeng, Knotnic, Equack, Moogsi, Phil
Holmes, DoriSmith, Vahid83, Bluezy, KJBracey, Thomas Blomberg, Rwwww, Eatcacti, NetRolller 3D, SmackBot, Capnquackenbush,
Brian Patrie, Reedy, QuantumShadow, Ajsphila, KelleyCook, Boris Barowski, Mauls, Valent, Skintigh, Mjkmail, EncMstr, Nanjoutai,
Bobprime, Metalim, Samrawlins, Frap, Adamantios, Hoof Hearted, MartinRe, Kanji~enwiki, Azhad, A5b, Torst, Zac67, Anss123, An-
drewAllen, Khazar, Jay.slovak, WhartoX, Wislam, Vonvon, Peyre, Kvng, Juhis, MrDolomite, Hetar, Royk, Rconan, VoxLuna, Dycedarg,
Xose.vazquez, Novous, Sahrin, Sentinel23, Lironl, Cydebot, ChristTrekker, UncleBubba, Nick Wilson, ColdShine, Sugree, Thijs!bot,
Wiki fanatic, Electron9, LeetHaxor, NonarKitten, WinBot, Widefox, Altintx, Gundark, CombatWombat42, NapoliRoma, CosineKitty,
Htmlspinnr, Luis wiki, Mark Rizo, PaleAqua, Nhl94, Bellhead, Rockower, Mittosi, Tins128, Retroneo, Evanh, Conquerist, STBot,
Jim.henderson, Jack007, Smashman2004, R'n'B, Nono64, Truerock2, Standmatt, Mange01, Wa3frp, Sigmundpetersen, Cpiral, WikiTorch,
BulletZ, Potatoswatter, Robbat2, Ratfox, Funandtrvl, Joeinwap, VolkovBot, Kaihuang, Rsaxvc, DRAGON Elemental, Smbil58, Arnocs,
SQL, Rvvs89, AlleborgoBot, Thunderbird2, Pwscottiv, Logan, Europamoon, Biggiesized, Winterspan, Raffzahn, Jmoz2989, Theaveng,
Larek, OsamaBinLogin, Marbud, RooZ, Lightmouse, Fratrep, Qxl32, Kalizec, Mojoworker, Anchor Link Bot, Dipa1965, Michael Phed-
dyn, Barkjon, Wkped2007utah, Hroo772, ClueBot, Ferion69, Trojancowboy, Hippo99, Rilak, Aaa3-other, Mild Bill Hiccup, Robert
Borkowski, VgerNeedsTheInfo, Quanstro, Shjacks45, Edknol, Leadbuffalo, BigChilli, Campoftheamericas, Peter Crabtree, Flightsoffancy,
DonWW, CodeCaster, Zootboy, Andrewcrawford, Johnuniq, DumZiBoT, Zerofire0, Subterminal, Phoenix720, Jabberwoch, Albambot,
Addbot, Guoguo12, Elishabet, Luggerhead, Author23, Knightofbaghdad, Twimoki, Skilltim, Eestudent2008, Yobot, Poseidon69, Neck-
ername, Stephen.sweat, DanKidger, AnomieBOT, Rubinbot, Flewis, Daviesow, Facteditor, Loïc Le Gal, SassoBot, Golffies, FrescoBot,
MISTYFAN4EVER8887, Spectatorbot13, LittleWink, Whatever2009, DSTKSC, Afwm1985, Cnwilliams, Txt.file, Lotje, Blound, Dani-
gro456, Sticker1, Pierpao, Xmaillard, Time sheep, John of Reading, Dewritech, GoingBatty, Jasonanaggie, Gibwar, Espinozahg, GianoM,
Phillips.jj, Deylight, Dondervogel 2, EnticingCanine, GenyAncalagon, Tolly4bolly, ProloSozz, Eagleone 123, Cwillis1964, Ruckb, ClueBot
NG, Sam6861, Matthiaspaul, Wbm1058, BG19bot, PhnomPencil, SodaAnt, Hawkwindeb, Vswitchs, Leehall99, Chris9594, Mangezde-
spommes~enwiki, Sspalfilter, SoledadKabocha, Mogism, Comp.arch, Acc12345acc, Mike4054, HowlingAngel, Burakkucat, Gdglass, Mar-
cnadrelm, Brainfrandell, Tsingha02, AZ1199, Vm-iso, Bytesock, Bender the Bot, Krb19 and Anonymous: 551
• ADSL loop extender Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADSL_loop_extender?oldid=746792631 Contributors: Alan Liefting, Bovlb,
Calton, Srleffler, Agamemnon2, Robertvan1, BoKu, Cydebot, Ownlyanangel, Jim.henderson, PrestonH, Jesant13, Stevevogelnu, Kbrose,
Rvannatta, DumZiBoT, Dthomsen8, Yobot, DrilBot, SBaker43, BG19bot, The Quirky Kitty, Altered Walter, Tentinator, Marbaquero,
InternetArchiveBot, Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 11
• John Cioffi Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cioffi?oldid=734350343 Contributors: Klemen Kocjancic, SmackBot, Iridescent,
Cydebot, Magioladitis, Waacstats, David Eppstein, Conquerist, Aboutmovies, W Nowicki, SchreyP, Daveburstein, Krista jacobsen, Pete-
chow88, Notts214, BattyBot, Paloaltonian2000, Churn and change, Jonarnold1985, SoSivr, KasparBot and Anonymous: 3
• Internet access Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_access?oldid=744188880 Contributors: Edward, Jeromewiley, Chris-
martin, Lquilter, Glenn, Joy, Nurg, Alan Liefting, Twburger, Rick Block, Dick Bos, Gracefool, Rchandra, Andycjp, Beland, Kmccoy, Dis-
cospinster, Steenies, Xezbeth, Bender235, Kjoonlee, Smalljim, Sebastian Goll, Zachlipton, Lisae, Wtmitchell, Danhash, Tabletop, Waldir,
50 CHAPTER 11. BROADBAND FILTER

Graham87, BD2412, Drbogdan, DeadlyAssassin, Shiftworker, DirkvdM, Mirror Vax, Ground Zero, Lmatt, Bgwhite, Wjfox2005, Yurik-
Bot, Wavelength, Robertvan1, Voidxor, Bkil, Tony1, Karl Meier, Katpatuka, Itake, Warfreak, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, Th1rt3en,
Xaxafrad, JRey, Nerd 101, Allens, Eptin, Jeff Silvers, Finell, ABehrens, SmackBot, McGeddon, Hu Gadarn, Yamaguchi , Gilliam, Chris
the speller, Snori, A. B., Jnavas, DHeyward, Whpq, Jidanni, KillaKilla, 16@r, A. Parrot, ShakingSpirit, Joseph Solis in Australia, Atreys,
Ewc21, Abeg92, Cricketgirl, Robertsteadman, CieloEstrellado, Thijs!bot, Headbomb, Alphachimpbot, JAnDbot, Harryzilber, MER-C,
SHCarter, SwiftBot, Kgfleischmann, Edward321, Conquerist, MartinBot, Vreemdst, Jim.henderson, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, Jmccor-
mac, PCock, Fakir005, Aaaarg, NerdyNSK, SangeYasha~enwiki, Ahuskay, Bogdan~enwiki, Funandtrvl, Carmitsp, Lights, Undress 006,
TXiKiBoT, Crohnie, Haseo9999, Djmckee1, Logan, Bluebank83, Kbrose, Bolanski, Elangsto, Lightmouse, OKBot, Ratemonth, Imperfect-
lyInformed, Enthusiast01, Ge4ce~enwiki, Drmies, Obelix83, PixelBot, Muhandes, Maine12329, XLinkBot, Nrazaq, Dave1185, Addbot,
Mortense, AkhtaBot, Fluffernutter, MrOllie, Download, Ccacsmss, Tide rolls, Lightbot, Yobot, Ptbotgourou, Fraggle81, AnomieBOT,
Kris klif, Xqbot, JMcNamara229, W Nowicki, Sapiens scriptor, Spectatorbot13, PigFlu Oink, DrilBot, I dream of horses, AHeneen,
Opticalgirl, Dinamik-bot, A p3rson, Nrautava, Mean as custard, RjwilmsiBot, Soggy seaweed, EmausBot, Dewritech, Dcirovic, K6ka,
Rkononenko, JivaGroup, Martyleehi, Wikignome0530, W163, Donner60, SBaker43, Petrb, ClueBot NG, MelbourneStar, Wdchk, Widr,
Souravmohanty2005, Helpful Pixie Bot, TotalFailure, Walrus068, Mattozanne, Barsis, Compfreak7, Benzband, FringeOkapi, Commaygr,
Justonemoreday, Mkm519, Bkimmitt, Globe Trekker, David.moreno72, DigitalDev, FosterHaven, Meiloorun, GojiraIsNotTechDeath,
Theisplisting, Anniex10, Hmainsbot1, Mogism, A11ectis, SFK2, Jemappelleungarcon, Vgeek15, Cmoosbrugger, Lgfcd, Wikiguy303952,
Jarms31, Enkigalzu, Ediesporwadi, Aeroid, Sayoojonline, Rx1618, Wyn.junior, Rabdill, Andrewjohn6985, Monkbot, Stefano.desabbata,
Trackteur, YJAX, Plarry87, Jstevenson32, Tomoster, KayleighwilliamsLS, IdlePlayground, CAPTAIN RAJU, Ychoonge, Hardydolores35,
Lond1984, Mar11, Fuortu, Blockdragon, Lizzius, Bilalshabazz and Anonymous: 221
• DSL filter Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSL_filter?oldid=747138997 Contributors: Reddi, Chealer, Gobeirne, Giftlite, David-
Cary, Khalid hassani, Alereon, Polluks, SpeedyGonsales, Anthony Appleyard, M7, Ron Ritzman, RussBot, Hydrargyrum, Stephenb, Wimt,
Brian Crawford, Codell, Deville, Zzuuzz, Back ache, Armin76~enwiki, Kuddy, SmackBot, Herostratus, Oli Filth, Matthew, Adamantios,
JanCeuleers, Neelix, Cydebot, Timeshift9, Thijs!bot, ManN, Widefox, Spencer, Rossmcm, TimidGuy, Conquerist, Jim.henderson, R'n'B,
Kill billy 0, VolkovBot, Beetea1250, Rei-bot, Haseo9999, Duncan320, Ejay, Addbot, Redheylin, Jmheath1, Luckas-bot, AnomieBOT, Ru-
binbot, JackieBot, Xqbot, Locos epraix, Mnmngb, W Nowicki, FoxBot, Chiranga87, Ra1n, Callumgare, EmausBot, HiW-Bot, ZéroBot,
Cogiati, Wackywace, Grunny, 28bot, RM-WaRRioR, Snotbot, Wbm1058, Danielh32, Rodrigolopes, BattyBot, Mrt3366, YFdyh-bot,
ChamithN, W8ing, W8ing2 and Anonymous: 41
• Broadband filter Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_filter?oldid=738329391 Contributors: Anthony Appleyard and Zack-
mann08

11.3.2 Images
• File:ADSL_Loop_Extender.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/57/ADSL_Loop_Extender.JPG License: PD
Contributors:
Own work
Original artist:
Stevevogelnu (talk) (Uploads)
• File:Ambox_globe_content.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: Own work, using File:Information icon3.svg and File:Earth clip art.svg Original artist: penubag
• File:Ambox_important.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work, based off of Image:Ambox scales.svg Original artist: Dsmurat (talk · contribs)
• File:Americas_(orthographic_projection).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Americas_
%28orthographic_projection%29.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Martin23230
• File:BandwidthInequality1986-2014.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/
BandwidthInequality1986-2014.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Myworkforwiki
• File:Broadband_Affordability.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Broadband_Affordability.png Li-
cense: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Stefano De Sabbata and Mark Graham
• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contribu-
tors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Crystal_Clear_app_browser.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Crystal_Clear_app_browser.png
License: LGPL Contributors: All Crystal icons were posted by the author as LGPL on kde-look Original artist: Everaldo Coelho and
YellowIcon
• File:D-Link_DSL-10MF-NZ_and_DSL-11MF-NZ_20080103.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/
D-Link_DSL-10MF-NZ_and_DSL-11MF-NZ_20080103.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Photo-
graph by Greg O'Beirne
• File:DSL-filter-splitter-circuit-0a.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/DSL-filter-splitter-circuit-0a.
jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Adamantios
• File:Dial_up_modem_noises.ogg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Dial_up_modem_noises.ogg License:
Public domain Contributors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0 Original artist: William Termini
• File:Dsl_modem_schematic.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Dsl_modem_schematic.svg License: CC-BY-
SA-3.0 Contributors:
I (Jhbdel (talk)) created this work entirely by myself. Original artist:
Jhbdel (talk)
• File:Dsl_schematic.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Dsl_schematic.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contribu-
tors:
I (Jhbdel (talk)) created this work entirely by myself. Original artist:
Jhbdel (talk)
11.3. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 51

• File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Origi-

nal artist: ?
• File:FixedBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/
FixedBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work, based on figures from the
Wikipedia:List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions article in the English Wikipedia, which is in turn based on
figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for 2012.
Original artist: Jeff Ogden (W163)

• File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-by-

sa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:ForeRunnerLE_25_ATM_Network_Interface_(1).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/
ForeRunnerLE_25_ATM_Network_Interface_%281%29.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Barcex
• File:Ghana_satellite.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Ghana_satellite.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Con-
tributors: http://www.iicd.org/photos/folder.2006-09-05.8961728566/iicdphoto.2006-11-14.7272282494 Original artist: IICD www.iicd.
org/photos
• File:Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/
Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work. Based on File:Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.
svg, which is public domain. Original artist: User:Eubulides
• File:IBM_Turboways_ATM_155.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/IBM_Turboways_ATM_155.
jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Sreejithk2000 using CommonsHelper. Origi-
nal artist: Rjamorim at English Wikipedia
• File:InternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/
InternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work, based on figures from the Wikipedia:List of
countries by number of Internet users article in the English Wikipedia, which is in turn based on figures from the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) for 2010 (updated to use figures for 2012 on 28 June 2013).
Original artist: Jeff Ogden (W163)

• File:Internet_map_1024_-_transparent,_inverted.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Internet_map_

1024_-_transparent%2C_inverted.png License: CC BY 2.5 Contributors: Originally from the English Wikipedia; description page is/was
here. Original artist: The Opte Project
• File:Lantiq_XWAY_VRX288_V1.1.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Lantiq_XWAY_VRX288_
V1.1.png License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Arpabone
• File:MobileBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/
MobileBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work, based on figures from the
Wikipedia:List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions article in the English Wikipedia, which is in turn based on
figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for 2012.
Original artist: Jeff Ogden (W163)

• File:Mobile_Broadband_service_mark.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Mobile_Broadband_service_

mark.jpg License: Fair use Contributors:
The logo is from the http://www.gsmamobilebroadband.com/ website. http://www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_broadband/service_
mark/index.htm Original artist: ?
• File:Outdoor_DSLAM.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Outdoor_DSLAM.JPG License: CC-BY-
SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Björn Heller
• File:Phone_icon_rotated.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Phone_icon_rotated.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Originally uploaded on en.wikipedia Original artist: Originally uploaded by Beao (Transferred by varnent)
• File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
• File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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52 CHAPTER 11. BROADBAND FILTER

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11.3.3 Content license

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