SCALE: A Low-Complexity Distributed Protocol for Spectrum Balancing in Multiuser DSL Networks

Dynamic spectrum management of digital subscriber lines (DSLs) has the potential to dramatically increase the capacity of the aging last-mile copper access network. This paper takes an important step toward fulfilling this potential through power spectrum balancing. We derive a novel algorithm called SCALE, that provides a significant performance improvement over the existing iterative water-filling (IWF) algorithm in multiuser DSL networks, doing so with comparable low complexity. The algorithm is easily distributed through measurement and limited message passing with the use of a spectrum management center. We outline how overhead can be managed, and show that in the limit of zero message-passing, performance reduces to IWF.