The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released a variety of global standards, including HSDSL, which allows high-speed data transmission over existing copper; home phone networking standards; and DWDM standards for fibre.
The first step on the path to DWDM standard was taken with the approval in 1999 of the ITU-T Recommendation G.872, addressing the optical network architecture - the first in the series of the Optical Transport Network (OTN) specifications.
The two new standards released on Friday promise to take fibre optic networking beyond the level of point-to-point networking. Dense wave division multiplexing allows transceivers to transmit light waves over several spectrums, allowing greater bandwidth in existing fibre pipes. This is often referred to as fibre mining.
ITU-T Recommendation G.709 specifies the interfaces for interconnection between service providers and network operators, and facilitates mid-span meet between equipment from different vendors. ITU-T Recommendation G.959.1 specifies physical layer interfaces for the OTN.
"The OTN work answers the urgent need of telecommunication providers to manage ultra-high capacity networks and provides the capabilities for evolving to a multi-service transport platform supporting Internet, IP, other packet-based data transport services and legacy traffic," says Peter Wery, chairman of ITU-T Study Group 15.
Optical signals with bit rates of 2.5, 10 and 40Gbps are supported. Initial clients are SDH/SONET and data services including Ethernet, IP, ATM and Fibre channel. Management capabilities for connectivity verification, performance assessment, and fault sectionalisation are defined supporting the roles of users, service providers, network operators and organisations.
Work is underway on other standards for the OTN series, such as automatic switched transport networks and their control mechanisms, to support bandwidth-on demand applications, OTN equipment functionality, optical protection and restoration, and OTN management.
For the corporate user, a new digital subscriber line (DSL) transceiver standard for single pair high bit-rate digital subscriber line (SHDSL) pushes data rates up to between 192kbps to 2312kbps, and can transfer T1, E1, ISDN, ATM and IP signals.
SHDSL enables data, voice and video to be transmitted over distances never before attainable by other flavours of symmetric DSL technology, according to the ITU, and can run over existing copper loops.
"This latest DSL standard complements ITU-T`s series of ADSL [asymmetric DSL] standards in that it provides symmetrical high bit rate network access, and thus is particularly attractive to business customers fulfilling their needs to upload and exchange large amounts of data," says Wery.
A number of enhanced ADSL Recommendations on high-speed network access have also been approved, covering a method for DSL systems to negotiate mutually supported operating modes (G.994.1), a reference architecture for ADSL systems (G.995.1), test methods for ADSL systems (G.996.1), and management of ADSL systems (G.997.1).
Regarding the future evolution of the family of ITU-T DSL recommendations, work is underway on potential enhancements, including topics such as even higher bit rates and support of combined voice and data access, for both symmetrical and asymmetrical operation.
For the home user, the ITU has approved the first of a set of standards for home phone-line networking transceivers - ITU-T Recommendation G.989.1. This will allow home-networking devices (such as computer peripherals) to operate over existing telephone wiring.
Telkom is a member of the ITU.
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