Author_Institution :
Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA
Abstract :
The arrival of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks has enabled a wide range of new interactive multimedia applications for the residential market. The article presents a vision for supporting universal residential broadband services based on an ATM-to-the-home (ATTH) network architecture. This network architecture applies to the various residential access network (RAN) architectures being deployed today, such as hybrid fiber/coax (HFC), fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), and asymmetric digital subscriber loop (ADSL) technologies. The article addresses today´s residential networks and applications, to understand why a switched broadband residential network is required to support residential broadband services. After exploring residential broadband application requirements, a new class of service is proposed to support a very important class of residential broadband applications that has been not addressed. Then, the technical and strategic motivations for using the ATTH architecture are discussed in detail. A universal model for residential broadband network architecture based on ATTH is described, which is shown to apply to various RAN architectures. Finally, it discusses the signaling requirements of residential broadband services and explain why the ATM multiconnection per-call model is much more efficient than the digital stored media command and control (DSM-CC) session control protocol approach for the ATTH architecture
Keywords :
asynchronous transfer mode; broadband networks; multimedia communication; protocols; subscriber loops; telecommunication control; telecommunication services; telecommunication signalling; ADSL; ATM networks; ATM-to-the-home; ATTH network architecture; FTTC; FTTH; HFC; asymmetric digital subscriber loop; asynchronous transfer mode; digital stored media command and control; fiber-to-the-curb; fiber-to-the-home; hybrid fiber/coax; interactive multimedia applications; residential access network; residential broadband network architecture; residential broadband services; residential market; session control protocol; signaling; switched broadband residential network; Application software; Asynchronous transfer mode; Broadband communication; Cable TV; Communication cables; Hybrid fiber coaxial cables; Optical fiber subscriber loops; Radio access networks; TV broadcasting; Video on demand;
