Broadband Data Services over Residenial Access Networks

Abstract

ese are truly exciting times for residential and business customers served by local telephone, cable television, and direct satellite providers. Perhaps for the first time, we are witnessing the application of computer networking techniques to telecommunication access network architectures. These local access options include fiber in the loop, fiber to the home, hybrid fibericoax, switched digital video, direct broadcast satellite, wireless microwave/RF links, broadband PCS, and so on. All these state-of-the-art access alternatives are being equipped with an overlaid TCP/IP data services delivery architecture to support high-speed interactive data services to the subscriber’s premises. Transmission rates from a few hundred kilobits per second to tens of megabits per second are envisioned using various digital subscriber line (xDSL over twisted pair) and RF subcarrier multiplexing (cable modems over coax) technologies. The ultimate objective is to equip the end user with high-speed access to the Internet, corporate intranets, and popular on-line services. This is with the grand intention of finally solving the last-mile bandwidth bottleneck and facilitating the deployment of advanced multimedia services such as work at home, distance learning, telemedicine, home shopping, electronic commerce, and high-speed Web access. This special issue is dedicated to provide up-to-date information on research topics, research results, and performance and economic comparisons of various access methods and architectures currently being considered for interactive broadband services (IBS) over residential access networks. The 1996 Telecommunications Deregulation Act allows both local and long-distance telephone service providers and television service providers to offer IBS to the home. Under this intense competition, the winning IBS providers would be those who can either use as much existing infrastructure as possible or cost-effectively and rapidly deploy access, transport, service, and management infrastructures. Research, investigations, standardization efforts, and field trials on all aspects of IBS to the home are progressing at full swing. We received more than 20 articles for publication in this special issue, but could accommodate only seven here. The reviewers selected the ones which fit