The Unpredictable Certainty White Papers (1997) / Chapter Skim
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Technology in the Local Network
Technology in the Local Network
Pages 447-461
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From page 447... ...
The local telephone network is evolving rapidly Dom its historical manifestation as a narrowband connection of physical addresses to a more complex network of networks that includes narrowband, broadband, and variable-band transmissions to physical and logical addresses. The added capabilities and increased efficiency of the telecommunications network have allowed the introduction of new data services such as frame relay and switched mult~megabit data service; developed new, intelligent features across a broad spectrum of users; and positioned the network for significant growth in the future.
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From page 448... ...
Transmission Media and Multiplexing Transmission equipment for telephony has evolved from simple open wire carrying a single conversation to optical fibers that can carry many thousands of conversations. Signals from a home or business are carried over a twisted pair of copper wires, called the local loop, to a centrally located local office.
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From page 449... ...
As technology has advanced, it has blurred some of our old categorizations in the local networks. We now have remote units In the feeder network of venous sizes and capabilities that combine the transmission, multiplexing, and switching roles previously accomplished by discrete systems.
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From page 450... ...
Although the initial motivation in the introduction of common channel signaling was an improvement In call set-up, this change has supported the movement of network intelligence out of proprietary switching systems and Into a set of distnbuted processors, databases, and resource platforms connected through well~efined industry standards. Thus, we have seen Me implementation of We intelligent network In which intelligence is added to We network to implement new features and services such as personal number usage, virtual PBXs, voice response
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From page 451... ...
Service Administration Signaling Trans er l ~ Mel I_8 _~= I 1,1~ -- ~t ~ Transmission C K25/TCP-IP ~LO A Service Delivery Infrastructure that Allows the Development and Programming of Services/Features Independent of Switch Manufacturers Service Developers Customer Updates Provisioning/ Billing / Existing Telephone Network \ Se rvi ce he Sw itch In g P oi nt Access ~ ~ ce Switch) · ~: Service Subscribers ~ ~W ~~ | · New ~ Existing;; FIGURE 4 The advanced intelligent network adds significant capability to the network by using intelligence at a seance control point or intelligent peripheral to provide new features and services.
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From page 452... ...
Though we are dealing here explicitly with He local telephone network, the impact of this revolution also affects local networks of all kinds, including telephone networks, CATV networks, private data networks, cellular radio networks, and so on-a profound technological convergence.
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From page 453... ...
There are two main technological thrusts that are enabling the digital video revolution. The first is the ability to compress digital video with high quality to the point where one can deliver video streams in a cost-effective way to individual subscribers (Figure 7)
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From page 454... ...
Bringing fiber to some intermediate point is Me preferred antion The hvbnd fiber coaxial svelter while being implemented initially by CATV operators is clearly rim ran J~ -- ~ -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~-~= ~ = -- -r one such approach. While several local exchange carriers have embarked on network rollout programs with hybrid fiber coaxial technologies for their initial thrust into video distribution, it is clear that there is no straightforward way to integrate ARC with Me existing twisted pair copper loop plant (e.g., power, ringing the telephone, etc.~.
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From page 455... ...
These include various information and transactional services, games, shopping, and, ultimately, video telephony. The subscriber platform is also wormy of note.
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From page 456... ...
CSR Services GTE Main Street Delivers Interactive Information and Transaction Services to the Home: Home Shopping Video Yellow Pages Travel Services Entertainment Services · Financial Services Education Municipal Services Electronic Mail Information Services Classified Ads FIGURE 11 Main Street.
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From page 457... ...
Reducing the cost of digital services such as ISDN and frame relay, and of higher-bandwidth services such as interactive multimedia, Will require intelligent elements In the access networks. Dynamic service provisioning, whereby services are delivered in real time on an as-needed basis, Will similarly rely on intelligent network elements.
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From page 458... ...
. This concept first appeared in the early 1980s, but activity remains primarily In the standards arena, where organizations such as the International Telecommunications Union, the American National Standards Institute's TI, and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute continue to evolve a complex set of TMN standards.
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From page 459... ...
There has been a general social trend toward a more competitive market-driven environment as well as a technical basis supporting deregulation, given that technology was establishing We basis for multiple providers for the same service. This has begun with We Federal Communications Commission's video dial tone rulemaking, which provided the basis for telcos to offer transport services for video within their franchise areas.
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From page 460... ...
Whether or not this proposal is accepted and implemented, it is clear that until the ground rules for local telephone competition are acted upon and settled, the regulatory environment could continue to discourage some competitors Dom rapidly building out or evolving to universal broadband networks In the local loop. The ultimate solution is the establishment of a highly competitive communications environment that would be market~riven to provide the information any customer may want or need, whether it be "just plain old" lifeline telephone service or a broadband, interactive multimedia connection.
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From page 461... ...
461 [4] Generally, we say that there is interoperabili~ between two components X end Y when they can interact based on a (degree of)
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