ADSL

Article Table of contents

What does xDSL and ADSL mean?

The term DSL or xDSL means Digital Subscriber Line and covers all technologies
installed for digital transport of information over a single telephone line connection.
xDSL technologies are divided into two main types, those using symmetric transmission
and those using asymmetric transmission. These two types are described further on in this
document.
The term ADSL means Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This system enables the
coexistence of a high speed downstream channel, an average speed upstream channel and
a telephone channel (called POTS in telecommunications, which means: Plain Old
Telephone Service).

The use of xDSL and ADSL technologies

The rapid development of information technologies has led to the appearance of new
services hungry for transmission capacity. High speed Internet access, videoconferencing,
interconnecting networks, teleworking, broadcasting of TV programs, etc. all form part of
the new multimedia services that the user wants at home or in the office.
Until now, existing high speed services (coaxial cable, fibre optic) were not well suited to
real needs (cabling too expensive to replace with fibre optics or unstable connection with
coaxial cable). The idea of using twisted pair cabling seemed the best suited since
throughout the world more than 800 million connections of this type were already in
place and it just needed equipment to be added to the telephone exchange along with a
small installation at the user location to be able to access ADSL.

Characteristics of ADSL technologies

The term DSL or xDSL can be broken down into several groups: HDSL, SDSL, ADSL,
RADSL, VDSL. Each of these groups relates to a use and has particular characteristics.
These technologies are differentiated by:

The speed of transmission

The maximum distance of transmission
The variation in speed between upstream and downstream
The symmetric or asymmetric character of the connection

The point to point connection is conducted via a telephone line between two pieces of
hardware, the NT (Network Termination) installed at the user's location and the LT (Line
Termination) installed in the connection exchange.

Symmetric solutions
The connection is carried out across twisted pairs with an identical upstream and
downstream speed.

HDSL
HDSL (High bit rate DSL) was the first DSL technology and was developed at the
beginning of the 1990s.
This technology consists of dividing the digital core of the network, T1 in America and
E1 in Europe over 2 twisted cables for T1 and 3 twisted cables for E1.
With this technology, it is possible to achieve a speed of 2Mbps in both directions over
three twisted pairs and 1.5 Mbps in both directions over two twisted pairs. It is possible
that the speed, if it is at 2 Mbps may fall to 384 kbps due for example to the line quality
and the distance of the line over the last kilometre (between 3 and 7 km depending on the
wire diameter, between 0.4mm and 0.8mm respectively).
The connection may be permanent but there is no telephone channel available during an
HDSL connection.
The current problem with this technology is that its standardisation is not yet perfect.

SDSL
SDSL (Single pair DSL, or symmetric DSL) is the forerunner to HDSL2 (this technology,
derived from HDSL should offer the same performance but over a single twisted pair).
This technology is designed for a shorter distance than HDSL (see table below). SDSL
technology will certainly disappear in favour of HDSL2.
Downstream: [Kbit/s]Upstream: [Kbit/s]Distance: [km]
128
128
7
256
256
6.5
384
384
4.5
768
768
4
1024
1024
3.5
2048
2048
3
Distances and speeds of an SDSL connection

Asymmetric solutions
By studying different scenarios, it was realised that it was possible to transmit data more
quickly from an exchange to a user but that when the user sent information to the
exchange, it was more sensitive to noise caused by electromagnetic disturbances (the
nearer to the exchange the greater the concentration of cables, generating more crosstalk).
So the idea was to use an asymmetric system, imposing a lower speed from the subscriber
to the exchange.

ADSL
In the same way as HDSL, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) has existed for
around ten years and was firstly developed to receive television via the standard
telephone network. But the development of the Internet found another use for this
technology, that of being able to surf the net quickly without occupying the telephone
line.
ADSL is also currently one of the only technologies available on the market which offers
the transport of TV/video in digital format (MPEG1 or MPEG2) using a telephone
connection.
Notably, ADSL allows the transport of TCP/IP, ATM and X.25 data.
The ADSL standard was finalised in 1995 and provided:

A telephone channel with analogue or ISDN connection

An upstream channel with a maximum capacity of 800 kbit/s
A downstream channel with a maximum speed of 8192 kbit/s

As for all DSL technologies, the loop distance between the exchange and the user must
not exceed certain scales so as to guarantee good data speed (see table).
Downstream: [Kbit/s]Upstream: [Kbit/s]cable diameter: [Mm]Distance: [km]
2048
160
0.4
3.6
2048
160
0.5
4.9
4096
384
0.4
3.3
4096
384
0.5
4.3
6144
640
0.4
3.0
6144
640
0.5
4.0
8192
800
0.4
2.4
8192
800
0.5
3.3
Speeds according to distance and cable diameter
For transmitting data, two modulation techniques have been used by ADSL hardware
manufacturers:

CAP (Carrierless Amplitude and Phase Modulation) which is a variant of the

QAM technology (Quadratic Amplitude Modulation). Widely used at the
beginning of the 1st ADSL, this type of modulation has never correctly been
standardised, and because of this there is no interoperability possible between
hardware from different manufacturers.
DMT (Discrete Multi Tone) is a more recent modulation technique. Its principle
relies on the use of a large number of sub-carriers shared over the frequency band
used by the system (see "ADSL modulation techniques").

This diagram presents the various functional blocks which make up an ADSL connection.

The two service categories are separated on the network and at the client's location by a
splitter (see chapter 4.2).
At the end of 1998 the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) normalised a new
standard: ADSL-Lite which is in fact a lighter version of ADSL. ADSL-Lite has a lower
speed than its senior (around 1.5 Mbit/s) and does not require a splitter.

RADSL
RADSL (Rate Adaptive DSL) technology is based on ADSL. Transmission is fixed
automatically and dynamically by looking for the maximum possible speed on the
connection line and continually readapting it without disconnecting.
RADSL should allow upstream speeds of 128 kbps to 1 Mbps and downstream speeds of
600kbps to 7 Mbps, for a maximum loop of 5.4 km.
RADSL uses DMT modulation (as is mostly the case for ADSL). It is in the process of
being standardised by ANSI.

VDSL
VDSL (Very High Bit Rate DSL) is the fastest of the DSL technologies and is based on
RADSL. It is capable of supporting, over a single twisted pair, speeds of 13 to 55.2 Mbps
downstream and 1.5 to 6 Mbps upstream, or if a symmetric connection is required, a

speed of 34 Mbps in both directions. So VDSL can be used in symmetric or asymmetric

connection.
VDSL was principally developed for the transport of ATM (Asynchronous Transfer
Mode) at high speed over a short distance (up to 1.5 km).
The standard is currently being normalised. QAM, CAP, DMT, DWMT (Discrete Wavelet
MultiTone) and SLC (Simple Line Code) modulations are being considered.
For data transport, VDSL hardware is linked to the connection exchange by fibre optics
forming SDH loops at 155 Mbps, 622 Mbps or 2.5 Gbps. The transport of voice between
VDSL hardware and the exchange can also be provided by copper loops.

How to reconcile an analogue and ADSL network on the

same line
Description of a copper cable
The twisted pair is made up of two copper conductors of a diameter between 0.4mm and
0.8mm inclusive (rarely 1mm). The conductors are isolated and paired in order to reduce
crosstalk. In the majority of cases, twisted pairs are grouped together in fours in a cable
protected by a plastic sheath. The cables used on the telephone network are made up from
2 to 2,400 pairs and are not sheathed.

Traditional telephone services require a band width of 3.1kHz (the bandwidth is between
300 Hz and 3,400 Hz), however the cables connecting the telephone exchanges to users
all have a higher bandwidth in the region of several hundred kHz. It is over this cabled
access network that the xDSL technologies have been developed.
At high frequencies problems related to distance are the most restrictive (fading,
crosstalk, phase distortion). At low frequencies, there are difficulties related to impulse

noise which dominates without too much difficulty up to 1Mhz. Furthermore, their use
becomes tricky and requires very high performance transmission systems.

Limitations of the analogue network

The maximum possible speed over the analogue network is from 33,600 bit/s upstream
and 56,000 (in theory) downstream.
This includes the use of a technology going beyond the bandwidth of 3.1 kHz.
The use of an ISDN connection in fact already calls on xDSL technology because it
covers a frequency spectrum up to 80 kHz.
As explained in chapter 2.3.1, CAP modulation technology has been replaced by DMT
technology which was accepted for the ANSI T1.413-1995 standard.
DMT (Discrete Multi Tone) is a form of multi carrier modulation. For its application to
ADSL, the frequency spectrum made up of between 0 Hz and 1,104 MHz is divided into
256 distinct sub-channels separated by 4,3125 kHz. The lower sub-channels are generally
reserved for POTS, so sub-channels 1 to 6 (up to 25,875 kHz) are in principle unused and
left for analogue telephony.
According to T1.413 only sub-channels 1 to 31 can be used for upstream speed.
The upstream and downstream speeds are separated, either by EC (Echo Cancelling)
which allows the lower sub-channels (from 1 to 31) to be used for the downstream and
upstream, or by FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) which is the most used because
of its simplicity and low cost, which separates the upstream/downstream sub-channels via
a passive filter.
Distribution of DMT channels on POTS with EC
Sub-channels 1 to 6 are used for telephone, sub-channels 7 to 31 for upstream, subchannel 32 is reserved, sub-channels 33 to 256 are used for downstream.
Note that sub-channels 16 and 64 are used to transport a pilot signal and channels 250 to
256 are only useable over low bandwidth connection lines. Above 1 MHz, disturbances
are too great to allow a stable flow.

In this case, DMT uses the echo cancelling technique on these sub-channels which results
in dual flow on sub-channels 7 to 31. If DMT had applied FDM, only the higher subchannels (33 to 256) would be used for the downstream.
Distribution of DMT channels on ISDN with FDM
As we have seen previously, IDSN uses the lower bandwidth up to 80 KHz (for IDSN
with 2B1Q - 2 Binary 1 Quaternary; encoding of 2 binary elements in one moment of
quaternary modulation). To enable simultaneous use of ISDN and ADSL on the same
telephone line, sub-channels 1 to 28 are free.

The lower channels are used for the upstream speed because the user hardware has a
weaker transmission strength than the hardware installed at the exchange so by
transmitting in lower frequencies, the signal will undergo less attenuation.
The higher channels are used for downstream speed because the hardware located at the
exchange are strongly disrupted by transmission devices with higher frequencies so it
appears to be more effective to transmit on higher channels in order to benefit from a
better signal/noise ratio.

ADSL hardware
DSLAM

DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) is a piece of hardware generally

installed in the telephone exchange providing multiplexing for ATM flows to the
transport network.
This element does not only host the ADSL cards but can also host different DSL services
such as SDSL or HDSL by inserting the corresponding multiplexing cards. Each card
supports several ADSL modems.
The elements grouped together in the DSLAM are called ATU-C (ADSL Transceiver
Unit, Central office end).
In fact, all services available on the network (Internet, LAN-MAN-WAN, Teleshopping,
Video MPEG) arrive by broadband to a DSLAM station to then be redistributed to the
users.
Maintenance and configuration of the DSLAM and ADSL hardware is done remotely.

ADSL modems and routers

In the previous chapter we saw how data is sent to the user. But now the user must
decode the data, this is the job of the modem which is called ATU-R (ADSL Transceiver
Unit, Remote terminal end).
To date, there are three types of modem depending on the user's requirements:
With 10/100 baseT interface, for PCs equipped with an Ethernet card
ATMD 25 for PCs equipped with an ATM card or for redistributing ADSL over an ATM
network
With USB interface for PCs equipped with USB interface
If the user wants to redistribute ADSL over his IT network, the user is best to use a router
with ADSL interface.

The splitter and microfilter

The splitter is installed in the telephone exchange, downstream from the DSLAM and
audio switch.
Then, if the user has an ISDN connection, he must install a splitter at home upstream of
his modem and his ISDN NT.

If the user has a traditional analogue connection, he does not need to install a splitter at
home, but a microfilter in front of each telephone.
The splitter's role: The splitter is a switching filter which separates bandwidth reserved
for the telephone service from bandwidth used for ADSL transmissions. It provides
sufficient separation to avoid the signals transmitted on one frequency band disturbing
the operation of the other. Note that the installation of a splitter is compulsory to have
ADSL with an ISDN connection.
The microfilter's role: the microfilter is a low pass filter and is installed on analogue
connections. There is therefore no reason to install a splitter.

The splitter and microfilter

Using standard digital broadcast by the terrestrial hertzian network DVB-T (Digital Video
Broadcasting), it becomes possible to receive digital TV in MPEG format over a decoder
connected to a TV station.

Bibliography and Internet links

ADSL Connaissances de base, published by Swisscom SA Network Training,

written by Marcel Butty, edited in September 2000
Technologies daccs aux rseaux, published by Ecole dingnieurs et
darchitectes de Fribourg, written by Antoine Delley, Marco Francioli and Pascal
Zbinden, Edited in 1999
http://www.dslvalley.com
http://www.alcatel.com
http://www.towercast.fr/
http://surpinsat.com/actualite/nokia9902.htm
http://www-isis.enst.fr/Documents/RapportsGDR/OP62/CR62_JJMM.html
Julien Perriard