 | June 1, 2000 |
Concentration
For service providers, it's all about density
To deploy widespread DSL and VoX services, CLECs, ILECs, and ISPs need better, denser platforms from which to deliver broadband services. Announcements at Networld+Interop address the port-density issue both in DSLAMs (digital subscriber line access multiplexers) and voice gateways.
DSLAMs host the DSL ports that connect directly to the copper-pair wires that, in turn, deliver broadband to consumers. Not too long ago, a single DSL port required a dedicated slot in a DSLAM chassis. Texas Instruments' new AC5 chip set stuffs eight ports into a two-chip set, which allows DSLAM vendors to jam 16 ports into a single slot. The chips also sip power. Such breakthroughs mean more and cheaper DSL services.
For VoX service, however, the DSLAM is only half the problem. The DSLAM separates voice packets and routes them to a voice gateway, which connects to the PSTN. The voice gateway faces the same density problem. Mapletree Networks' UniPorte architecture aims to solve it. UniPorte's claim to fame has been support for 24 dial-in ports in a palm-sized module, and now the company has added DSL support to the family. By packing 24 DSPs (digital signal processors) into a module, the design can simultaneously handle voice coding and decoding on each channel. Hopefully, such advances will slash gateway cost and ultimately speed the deployment of VoX services.
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