Panels

Mobile networks and services have gone beyond voice-only communication services and are rapidly evolving towards data-centric services. High end applications that require more bandwidth are emerging everyday and the need for higher bandwidth to end users is desirable. In addition, high mobility of the users is a current trend and it is becoming more and more imperative. In order to assist the high bandwidth requirement of the high mobility wireless networks, optical networks can be exploited. In particular, high bandwidth passive optical network (PON) architectures can deliver the required wireless data to the antenna base stations and closer to the user.

With the advent of broadband wireless systems operating at microwave frequency bands, and with the entailed shrinkage of cell coverage for high capacity wireless access, the simplification of the antenna stations becomes crucial to reduce access infrastructure cost. For this purpose, PON and radio-over-fiber (RoF) architectures for the distribution of the microwave antenna signals are an attractive option for the transparent delivery of wireless data signals from a central office location to the remote antenna station via optical fiber. In this way, the complicated and costly (in particular for high RF frequencies) wireless signal processing can be placed in the central office. Thus, cost effective solutions are provided.

This panel will bring people from both academia and industry to present and offer their views on the important issues related to the convergence of optical and wireless networks. Panelists will cover issues such as development of network devices, elements, systems, and architectures, as well as requirement-performance and protocol convergence, from both worlds, the fiber/optical and wireless. In general, the discussions will concentrate on the implementation of technologies that can support the photonic generation, transmission and delivery of high frequency signals required in wireless links, the interface of optical network architectures with the wireless part, possible other applications in telecom and the techno-economic challenges to operator implementations.

Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) introduces the concept of dynamic or automatic proactive management of DSL access networks to increase the data rates and lengths at which DSL customers can be served. Success in DSM has been increasingly evident in numerous deployments and trials around the world. This panel session will discuss successes from the field as well as project further DSM advances.

Recent DSM standards efforts have resulted in the publication of the North American DSM technical report by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (the official DSL standards group for North America) and the development of the G.vector standard by the International Telecommunications Union. Panelists from several service providers and ASSIA will report on such field results and the consequent gains evident from DSM use. Other panelists will report on derivative successes from the use of DSM including opportunities for more efficient operational procedure in deploying and advancing DSL access networks. Further projected improvements in the higher Levels 2 (spectrum balancing) and 3 (vectoring) of DSM will appear from other panelists. The goal of the panel is to discuss and enlighten the audience about the successes and directions of DSM as it rapidly expands to improve access networks.

More specifically, the panelists selected are worldwide experts in the use of DSM methods to reduce operational costs of DSL deployments and to enlarge the speed/length footprint of DSL systems. In particular, several panelists will address IPTV quality of service and the effect of DSL instability thereupon. Further, some translation of DSL stability into physical-layer management parameters will occur. DSM standards admit 3 levels of increasingly sophisticated management of DSL systems:

Level 1 – line stability improvement (sometimes also called dynamic line management)
Level 2 – crosstalk management and spectrum politeness
Level 3 – crosstalk and noise cancellation through vectored management of DSLs

Each of these levels will be described and related to DSL achievable data rates and line lengths by the panelists using a combination of field results, simulations, and theory.