Access Network

Intro to Conclusion
5/22/2013 Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited Ali Hasnain

Table of Contents
1. Introduction to telecommunication networks.............................................................................................................. 3 1.0 Prologue: ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Telecommunications network and layered model ................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Network Architectures ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1.3 Digitalization and modernization of networks........................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Service development trends ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Bandwidth requirements ........................................................................................................................................ 6 1.6 Network requirements............................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Structure of the Access Network .................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Important items used in the outside plant ............................................................................................................. 9 2.1.1 Main Distribution Frame (MDF) ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.1 MDF for Fibre Optic Systems ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1.3 Cables ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.1.4 Optical fibre components and test equipment.............................................................................................. 11 2.1.5 Cabinets.......................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.6 Ducts and Jointing Chambers ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.7 Distribution points(DPs) ................................................................................................................................. 12 2.1.8 Joints .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 3. Subscriber Demand and Traffic Forecasting ............................................................................................................... 13 3.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Types of Forecasts ................................................................................................................................................. 14 3.3 Demand Forecast .................................................................................................................................................. 14 3.4 Period of Forecast ................................................................................................................................................. 14 3.5 Method of Forecasting .......................................................................................................................................... 14 3.5.1 Information required for forecasting ............................................................................................................. 14 3.5.2 Zoning of the area .......................................................................................................................................... 14 3.5.3 Classification of sections ................................................................................................................................ 15 3.5.4 Collecting development information ............................................................................................................. 15 3.5.5 Assessing growth of tenancies and penetration factor ................................................................................. 15 3.5.6 Calculating forecast figures ............................................................................................................................ 15 3.6 Reliability of forecast ............................................................................................................................................ 16 3.7 Traffic Forecasting................................................................................................................................................. 16 3.8 Traffic data ............................................................................................................................................................ 16 4. Planning Access Networks .......................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Flexible Networks.................................................................................................................................................. 20 1

4.3 General Steps for outside plant planning ............................................................................................................. 20 4.4 Economic Planning Periods ................................................................................................................................... 21 4.5 Planning Distribution Cable Network.................................................................................................................... 21 4.6 Plant provision policy ............................................................................................................................................ 22 4.7 Planning for new areas ......................................................................................................................................... 22 4.8 Planning relief to existing network ....................................................................................................................... 22 4.9 Planning Main Cable Network .............................................................................................................................. 23 4.10 Duct Space Planning ............................................................................................................................................ 24 4.11 Transmission and Signalling Limits...................................................................................................................... 25 5. Planning New Technologies in the Access Network ................................................................................................... 25 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 5.2 Limitation of the copper network ......................................................................................................................... 26 5.3 New Technologies for enhancements in the copper access networks ................................................................. 27 5.3.1 High data rate digital subscriber line (HDSL) ................................................................................................. 27 5.3.2 Single line digital subscriber line (SDSL) ......................................................................................................... 28 5.3.3 Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) ..................................................................................................... 28 5.3.4 Very high Data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) ........................................................................................ 28 5.4 Fibre based new technologies in the access network .......................................................................................... 29 5.4.1 Objectives of fibre in the loop........................................................................................................................ 29 5.4.2 Fibre in the loop driving forces ...................................................................................................................... 29 5.4.3 Advantages of FITL network ........................................................................................................................... 30 5.4.4 General planning issues ................................................................................................................................. 30 5.4.5 Planning deployment strategies .................................................................................................................... 31 5.4.6 Technological options for planners ................................................................................................................ 33 5.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 41

1. Introduction to telecommunication networks

1.0 Prologue:
The subscriber part of the telecommunications network or the network connecting the subscribers to the central office or the access network that has been traditionally simple twisted copper pair based, point to point, passive network is now becoming increasingly complex. The basic idea of telecommunication is the exchange of information. The information may include voice, text, data, image and video. A telecommunications network is therefore a system which can provide these services to a number of end users. Demand and traffic patterns will change faster in the future than they do today. To cope with this, one important property a network should have is flexibility. Flexibility in simple term implies being able to provide bandwidth on demand. If bandwidth can be provided on demand then the network becomes capable of deploying and supporting a wide variety of services and with greater ease and speed.

1.1 Telecommunications network and layered model

Subscribers of a local area are connected to their respective telephone exchange called localexchange or local switch or terminal exchange. The local area could be a single exchange local area in which case all the subscribers are terminated on the same switch or a multi-exchange area when the number of subscribers is large and one exchange cannot effectively and economically serve the entire subscriber. In the case of multi-exchange area each local exchange has its own area called exchange area and the envelope of all exchange areas would be the local area. Calls among subscriber of the same exchange can be switched through without the need of any other kind of links except the pairs linking subscribers to this exchange.

In a multi-exchange area, however, the subscribers connected to different local exchanges can only communicate if the exchanges themselves are linked. These links between the local exchanges are called junctions. Whereas each subscriber normally has one dedicated pair up to the exchange, the junctions are dimensioned based on the traffic between exchanges and the grade-of-service required. A multi-exchange local area may have another type of exchange called transit or local transit. A transit, unlike a local exchange, does not has subscribers connected to it and therefore does not act as a source or

sink for traffic in the network. It only collects and redirects the traffic among the local exchanges in the local area. An example of such a network is shown below. Below diagram depicts the junction network also shows a new element viz. a local transit exchange (TR). A transit would normally be used in bigger sized network to ease traffic routing and cost-optimizing the junction network. The term local network is used denote the network in a local area: This would therefore refer to the access network, the junction network, the local switches and local transits (tandems), if installed. It may be noted in next diagram that all the interexchange circuits are junctions. The term trunk-junction has been used just to differentiate between the two types of circuits shown. The national switch may be located in the same building as one or more local exchanges but is still not a part of the local network.

What other links would be required if the subscribers of two different local areas need to communicate? As we linked all the local exchanges of one local area to each other, we could also directly link all the local exchanges of one local area to all the exchanges of other local areas in the country. This, though technically feasible, would be economically a disaster. Telecommunications network therefore have another type of exchange called national switch or trunk automatic exchange. All the local exchanges of one local area are connected to at least one such switch. All the national switches of a country are then connected to each other based on the switching plan. A national switch is also a type of transit exchange as it collects and redistributes traffic. All the international calls are routed through international gateways to which the national exchanges would be connected. International gateways of different countries would be linked through terrestrial, submarine or satellite links. The links among national switches, among international switches and between national and international switches are called trunks.

The telecommunications network can be described succinctly by a layered model consisting of the following layers: 1. The Switching and Services layer consists of all the switching nodes, local as well as transit. It also consists of any other equipment and like computers and software used to provide services to the customers. 2. The Transport Layer represents the links among the nodes and provides the medium and systems to carry the information from one node to the other. These are junctions and trunks. Junctions are links between the local switches and local and national switches. Trunks are the links between the national switches, the national and international switches and between the international switches i.e. the long distance network. The long distance or trunk network is composed of multiplexed channels of varying capacity connecting the National Switches and the International Switches. The trend has been to move from point-to-point links using Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) towards advanced networks with built in controllability based on Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) technique. The two most important trends in the long distance networks are digitization and introduction of fibre-optic technologies. These developments have reduced the transmission cost per channel-kilometer and improved the quality. 3. The Access Layer represents the access network that links the customers to the local switch.

1.2 Network Architectures

Three basic patterns of interconnecting switching centres are mesh, star and ring formations. Actual networks are a result of combination of these basic types. A full mesh is one in which each node is connected to all other nodes. How many one way circuits would be required to achieve this? Well, for an n-node network n*(n-1) one way circuit groups are required or half of that if bothway circuits are used. In star configuration all calls between any two switching centres of the same level are routed through a transit exchange at a higher level. Rings connect switches in a closed path. Traffic can be carried both in the clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. Rings offer more reliability as they offer survivability in case of single link failures.

1.3 Digitalization and modernization of networks

Digitalization of a telecommunications network is to introduce digital transmission and switching components in the network. The reasons were initially mainly economic but there are also other reasons, such as improved and extended services to the subscribers, improved transmission quality, improved operation and maintenance facilities etc.

The best economy and performance is achieved if both transmission and switching are digital and integrated (no A/D conversion required). However, since the existing telephone sets are analog and costs of replacing them with digital sets are substantial, the subscriber lines will take longer to get digitalized. When the switches and the links between them are digital we have Integrated Digital Network (IDN), which is the first goal of the digitalization process. With increasing demand of broad-band services the subscriber network will see an increase in the fibre content and digitalization. The final digitalization of the subscriber lines opens up the future possibilities of connecting a wide variety of digital equipment at the subscribers' premises, such as data terminals, telefax, teletex etc.. We then have an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), where telephone services, data services; video services etc. are switched by one integrated telecommunications network.

1.4 Service development trends

The service explosion in recent year has imposed new requirements on the networks. In order to facilitate the planning of a simple, flexible and cost effective network that can offer high quality services, it is important to specify these services as well as possible . It will be necessary to have a much more service centered view of the telecommunications network and planning of the network actually ought to start with a definition of service scenarios. When possible and needed services are determined for the strategic future point of time, the corresponding technical requirements such as use of CCS7, IN, B-ISDN should be defined. Some of the services that are available currently are Call forwarding, Call distribution, Queuing, Call back, Hot line, Free phone, Terminal mobility, Information service, Telefax, Data communication, Videoconferencing. It is important to determine whether the existing infrastructure would be suitable for mobility--terminal and personal, Bandwidth on demand, Multimedia services, distributive services, interactive services etc..

1.5 Bandwidth requirements

Bandwidth emerges as an important requirement. References are made to "Narrowband", "Wideband" and "Broadband". Estimated bandwidth requirements for various services are given belowVoice POTS 64kbps GSM mobile 13kbps Text Telex 50bps Teletex 2.4kbps Electronic mail <64kbps Data Normal 2.4 - 9.6kbps File transfer 64kbps - 8Mbps LAN <=100Mbps Image Facsimile Gr 1-3 2.4kbps Facsimile Gr 4 2.4 - 64kbps CAD/CAM 64KBPS - 34Mbps Image/Video Simple Videophone 64kbps Normal Videophone 2Mbps Videoconference (C) 64kbps - 2 Mbps TV(C) 34Mbps HDTC(C) 140Mbps HDTV >140Mbps Note: (C) Indicates Compressed.

1.6 Network requirements

Availability of maximum possible bandwidth Delay in deployment of the network and provision of services should be minimum delay Quality of transport to match the services Reliability/availability Interface Ease of maintenance, low fault rate Access network connectivity at high data rates
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The trend today is toward increased use of optical fibre communication systems based integrated services digital network. The infrastructure of the access network comprises ducts, cables and associated equipment and represents considerable capital investment for the network operator. Changing this infrastructure requires long term decisions. One solution to avoid development of new, initially costly, infrastructure is to use radio access. However, to serve a more demanding market, cable oriented solutions are required as their long run costs are lower and capacity higher. This means in practice optical fibre solution. By using sophisticated coding techniques, bit rates in access of 2 Mbps can be carried on copper, offering possibility that a number of future services will be delivered over the copper network. In the longer term only the optical fibre and to some extend radio will have the bandwidth capability that can deliver an access network which will meet all future service requirements. Unfortunately the cost of fibre systems is high but Passive Optical Networks (PONs) offer imminent possibility that fibre systems can be deployed economically not only to small and medium businesses but also to residential customers requiring broadband services.

2. Structure of the Access Network

If you are a telecommunications service provider and, having just received your license to provide telephone services in an area, you have set up you first switch. As are a wise person, you would not like to build up a comprehensive access network unless you are sure to the demand. You like to do with the bare minimum till the revenues start flowing in. What is the minimum requirement between the user equipment and your switch? Well you don't need a lot. You just need to link the customer premises equipment(CPE) to you switch with a pair of copper conductors

Fig 1. Simple interconnection of subscribers to exchange Though the above set-up gives a workable solution in practice it would give some problems to you, the service provider. To say some would actually be an understatement. It gives problems in all the areas viz. Planning, Construction and Maintenance! Not to mention the increased cost and time of carrying out the work. The planner of such a network does not have much choice. In fact he does not have much of role in such a network. Since each pair is laid on demand he does not provide for future. There is no flexibility in the network. If another customer next door to the existing customer asks for a connection then another pair has to be laid right from the exchange to the customer. All this leads to repeated infructuous work and increases material and labor cost. If we lay slightly bigger cables, say 10 or 20 pair cables up to the vicinity of a group of tenancies, then any nearby subscriber can be given service much faster by allocating one of the spare pairs. The multi-pair cable is terminated in a box which is called a distribution point(DP) as the pairs are distributed to subscribers from here.

Fig 2. Introducing distribution points This makes life easier but only a little bit. Any of the 20 pairs going to DP1 or 10 pairs going to DP2 can be given to any of the customers the designated areas of these DPs. Laying and managing one 20 or 10 pair cable from the exchange to the DP may be a bit easier than dealing with individual pairs in these sections. This is definitely an improvement over the situation that we had before. However, consider a case where if all the 10 pairs of the cable going to DP2 get exhausted and there are more subscriber in this area while on the other hand the 20 pair cable going to DP1 still has half the pairs unused! This situation is not uncommon where pairs are available but not at the places where they are required. How can we make use of the extra pairs of DP2 area for customers in DP1 area? The way we grouped several subscribers into DPs we could group a number of DPs and serve them with a common cable. We need to set up another point, a cross connection point, up to which we would bring a still larger cable than we brought to the DP and serve a number of DPs from that point. Let's see how it will look.

Now there is one larger cable going to the cross connection point(CCP). This CCP provides the capability of connecting any of the pairs of this cable to any of the DPs, in its area, thus offering great flexibility in pair management For this reason a CCP is also called a flexibility point. Introduction of a CCPcould be called a revolutionary change in the access network. A common name for this cross connection point is cabinet. An urban network would have a number of cabinets each serving a number of DPs. The cabinet area may have hundreds of customers while the DP areas would have tens of customers. On a pessimistic note one could argue that now we have big cables going from the exchange up to the cabinets. We could for example have a 1200 pair cable going to one cabinet and say a 800 pair going to the other. Now if we have exhausted all the pairs of one of them then would it be possible to use pairs from the other for the customers in the exhausted area? Again a case of pairs being available in the network but not at the right place! To make a larger part of the cable common to many more subscribers we could add one more cross connection point. Isnt this going too far? How many cross connection points can we possibly have between the exchange and the DP? Theoretically as many as the designer wants but going by the international norms up to two such cross-connection points are used. If we did this the network would look like this:

The above structure has all the rudiments of the real-life access network. The first CCP from the exchange is called the Primary Cross-connection Point(PCP) or the cabinet and the cable linking the PCP to the

Exchange is known as the Primary cable. The network of all the cabinets and the primary cables is referred to as primary network. The second CCP is known as the Secondary Cross-connection Point(SCP) or the pillar and the cables linking pillars to the cabinet are known as secondary cable. The cables linking DPs to the SCP are known as Distribution cables and together the distribution cables, DPs and other related infrastructure form the distribution network. So what are the advantages of having cabinets (and possibly pillars) in the network instead of having direct pairs from the exchange to the customers? We surely have not incurred the extra cost of installing cabinets and pillars for fun! Let's enumerate some of these.. 1. These flexibility points divide the network between the exchange and the DPs into sections as seen above. This gives the flexibility of planning and constructing different parts of the access network at different times and by different planners. 2. Any pair of the primary cable can be "jumpered" to any pair of any of the distribution cables in the same cabinet thus making a large part of the cable common to a larger number of subscribers. In two CCP networks the same flexibility is available on both the flexibility points 3. Planning of the network now involves providing pairs flexibly for a number of years. Larger cables ensure availability of enough spare pairs during the planning period to provide service on demand. 4. Construction of the plant is eased because we are laying large cables in place of laying one pair at a time. This saves on construction labor cost and time. 5. Maintenance becomes easier as cabinets and pillars provide good test points for testing different parts of the plant. Once the fault has been localized, only the affected part(Primary, secondary or distribution) cable pair can be replaced. 6. Cost of the network is optimized as the pairs are more efficiently utilized. Effort and labor cost for construction and maintenance are reduced. Cable cost comes down as per pair cost in the larger cable is less than cost of single pair cables or cost per pair in small sized cables. 7. Time taken to construct and maintain the flexible network is much less than rigid networks with no flexibility points.

2.1 Important items used in the outside plant

2.1.1 Main Distribution Frame (MDF)

Though located in the exchange building, MDF is as much a part of the external network as it is of internal plant. It is the meeting point of internal and external plant. It provides terminating space for the primary cable and the cables from the exchange line terminating units. MDF provides the flexibility of connecting any of the exchange side circuit to any of the external pairs by jumper wires. The MDF has traditionally consisted of iron framework of verticals and horizontals. The number verticals will depend on the size of the exchange. The verticals are 'numbered' A, B, C...and are also known as bars. There are ten horizontals resulting in ten cross points per vertical. On the line side side where the primary cables are terminated, each cross-point will have a terminating block with a terminating capacity of 100 pairs. The exchange side(or the equipment side) of the MDF is not only reserved for line circuit termination but is also used as a termination point for transmission circuits and other miscellaneous systems. The number these terminations per vertical will vary depending on the type of exchange and the block used. A code like C132 would refer to vertical 3 block number 1 and pair 32. The MDF also gives a convenient place to put devices for overvoltage and overcurrent protection. It also provides an isolation point for testing the line-side and exchange side separately. There many variants to the above basic theme. In one type of MDF manufactured by Krone each vertical has 8 modules of 100 pairs each for the line side and 13 horizontals each with connection unit of 256 pairs(for 6 verticals) for the exchange side.

2.1.1 MDF for Fibre Optic Systems

The main distribution frame for FO systems is also called Optical Distribution Frame(ODF). It is used as the interface between the optical fibre cable system and the transmission equipment. It is where the line technology and the fibre optic transmission technology meet. Splice cassettes can be used to accommodate splice connections; these cassettes are then mounted in cassette housings. An ODF may have a number of distributors. All exchange lines can be terminated on one distributor from where it is jumpered via patch cords to the user side which is connected to other distributors.
2.1.3 Cables

There are broadly two types of cables in the PSTN access network; copper cables having copper conductors for transmission and optical fibre cables having glass fibres for carrying signals. Copper conductor cables As far as the construction and layout is concerned the cables can be PEUT(poly ethylene unit twin) and PET(Poly ethylene twin). Both have polyethylene(PE) sheathing. In the latter the twins(twisted pairs) are put with staggered cross-over points to reduce cross-talk. The PEUT cables are bigger in size so the pairs are bundled into units of 25 or 50 for easy handling and identification. The core is formed of a number of conductors arranged in units of 25 or 50 pairs arranged in layers. Over these is wrapped two coatings of paper, polyethylene coated aluminum and finally the Polyethylene sheath. The cable needs to be filled up with some dielectric to avoid discharge between conductors should high voltage be induced by nearby electric cables or lightning. Commonly used dielectrics are air and jelly. Air filled cables will usually be pressurized to prevent ingress of water and for ease of fault localization. The primary cables are normally air-spaced as they have to be pressurized. The distribution cables are jelly filled. The common conductor diameters are 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.63 mm and 0.9 mm. The commonly used sizes are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600 and 2000 pairs. The cables can also be armored or unarmored depending on whether they are to be buried directly or laid in duct. Optical fibre cable Optical fibre cables normally consist of 4 or more glass fibres each of which is constructed according to one of the following structures: 1. PCOF(primary coated optical fibre) are remarkably strong and stable but will fracture with excessive bending and twisting. It is one of the lowest cost options. 2. SCOF(secondary coated optical fibre) has an additional layer of plastic extruded on top of the PCOF. This is a much more flexible construction but more expensive. 3. SROFC(single ruggedized optical fibre cable) contains the fibre wrapped in a yarn/glass fibre strength material and another coating of plastic based material. This is strong but most expensive.

The above basic fiber constructions would normally be used multiply to form cables. Cables of 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72 fibers have been commonly used. Now cables are available with hundreds of fibres. Cable construction can be loose tube, tight buffer, open channel or ribbon type. In the loose tube cable the fibres are loosely and helically placed in a PVC tube which in turn is encapsulated in aluminum moisture barrier(in all externally laid cables) and outer sheath. In tight buffer construction SCOF fibres are laid in tighter construction with the empty spaces being filled with nylon yarn. In open channel construction fibres are located in grooves formed in the central strength member. Ribbon fibre cable has fibres in ribbonised form in the grooves in the central strength member. Ribbons are flat structures of 4, 6 or 8 fibres.
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The fibre does not have same loss characteristics at all the wavelengths. The loss profile shows low losses around some wavelengths and high to very high losses at others. The three wavelengths around which the losses are low are 850 nm, 1310nm and 1550 nm. Theoretical minimum losses are around 0.15 dB/km at the current state of technology. The main reasons for the losses are:

Absorption loss: This is caused by hydroxyl and other metallic ion impurities. These impurities absorb light and reduce the power of the signal more at some wavelengths and less at the other. It is pronounced around 1400nm. Rayleigh scattering loss: This is caused by the inconsistencies in the structure of the core. Radiation loss: Loss may occur if light escapes through the cladding. This may be due to micro bends which are small variations on the core-cladding interface. These micro bends may be caused during manufacture or installation. Macro bends may also cause radiation losses leading even to a total loss of power if the bending radius goes below the minimum prescribed bending radius.

2.1.4 Optical fibre components and test equipment

1. Light sources: the common operating wavelengths are 850 nm, 1300 nm and 1550 nm. LEDs(light emitting diodes ) and LASERs are used. 2. Optical connectors: The optical connectors provide flexible method of connecting optical fibre to the equipment. There are many types of connectors. For a connection there will be two mating faces with air in between. This will cause attenuation called insertion loss. The insertion loss quoted by the manufacturers is usually for a mated pair of connectors. Some of the common types of connectors are: ST-PC, FC-PC, SC etc. 3. Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR): It is an instrument for evaluating loss characteristics of an optical fibre. It relies on backscattering of light that occurs in the fibre. The light entering the fibre gets attenuated as it propagates due to Rayleigh scattering. Some of the light is reflected back from the far end, from connectors and splices. The received signal is amplified. The OTDR displays time horizontally and power vertically. Location of splices and breaks in the fibre can be calculated fairly accurately. In addition to OTDR simpler methods are available to prove system functioning. A light source can be used to light the fibre and a power meter to measure the power reaching the other end. 4. Patchcord: A cable assembly permanently assembled at both ends with connector components, principally for cross-connection within a patching facility. 5. Pigtail: A short length of optical fibre permanently attached to a connector and intended to facilitate jointing between that connector and another optical fibre or component.
2.1.5 Cabinets

Cabinets provide flexibility points in the network. These are numbered sequentially in an exchange area. We shall see two types of cabinets: conventional copper cable cabinets and OF cabinets Cabinet for copper cable A cabinet has an arrayed arrangement of termination block. Cabinets are available with varying termination capacity. An example could be a cabinet with a total termination capacity of 1600 pairs including 800 for primary cable and 800 for distribution cable. A cabinet is provided in the network to provide flexibility, separate primary side from distribution side, provide test point for maintenance, cross connect primary pairs to distribution pairs.

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Optical Fibre Cabinet This cabinet consists of fibre optic transmission equipment and customer access equipment. It consists of three internal chambers. A power supply and battery chamber that houses upto 2 batteries, an MDF chamber housing MDF, alarms and fibre splice box, an equipment chamber housing transmission and access equipment. The equipment chamber has circuits for optical to electrical conversion and vice versa, multiplexing equipment and line terminating equipment. We will see more about these in another chapter.
2.1.6 Ducts and Jointing Chambers

Ducts are provided to facilitate cabling and provide protection to the cable network. Telecommunication ducts can be of different sizes to suit different purposes. On the routes for laying primary, distribution and junction cable the duct pipe that is usually used has around 100mm internal diameter and is usually 6meters in length. A number of such pipes will be combined to make one "way" from one point to another. These pipes would be laid in rectangular formations i.e. 4X4 for 16 way duct, 2X4 for 8 way duct etc. The ducts can be laid in sand or in concrete. For optical fibre cables smaller ducts are preferred. Jointing Chamber is defined as any underground structure which can be used to make cable joints or placing accessories in a ducted network. The are two types of jointing chambers (a) Joint boxes (b) Manholes Joint boxes are surface opening jointing chambers fitted with a cover or covers the removal of which exposes substantially the whole of the interior. To give an idea of the size, a joint box can have the following dimensions length=1120mm width=635mm depth=920mm Manholes are roofed jointing chambers, usually bigger in dimension as compared to joint boxes. They are always reinforced type. Access can be gained through an opening in the roof. Cable personnel go into the manhole to perform jointing and other operations. An example of the manhole dimensions is given here: length=3950mm width=1600mm depth=2125mm
2.1.7 Distribution points(DPs)

The distribution point provides termination for the D side cable and a place for interconnection of customers' lines from their premises. Commonly used sizes are 10 pairs and 20 pairs. Four(4) types of D.P.s are used in the network 1. Ring: This is a pole mounted, overhead DP and takes its name from the ring provided at the top of the pole for fixing drop wire clamps which in turn hold the drop wire. 2. External: This a DP situated on the wall of a building 3. Internal: This DP is installed inside a building e.g. in the basement of a block of flats or a multistoried building. 4. Underground: This DP is situated in an underground jointing chamber. We use "SOFY-COM" and "KRONE" boxes of capacity 10 pairs, 20 pairs, 50 pairs and 100 pairs(only for internal).
2.1.8 Joints

The following types of sheath closures are standard: In the Distribution Network where pair distribution i.e. breakdown is required then is sleeves can be used. Where "through" (straight) joints are planned, taped sleeve and collars can be effectively utilized. One type of sleeve, Sleeve 31A, consists of a cylindrical base through which the cables enter and a dome shaped cap to close the joint. The two parts are clamped together by hinged collar secured by a hinged bolt

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and thumb nut. The base incorporates an insert with partitions. These partitions divide the base into one large and 5 small compartments. The cables are fitted through holes pierced in the base of the sleeve and the appropriate compartment. Subsequently the compartments used are filled with quick setting resin to provide waterproof seals between the cables and the case. The central larger compartment will accept 2 cables 100/0.63 or 1 cable 100/0.63 and 2 cables 50/0.63 or 1 cable 50/0/63 and several smaller cables. For any other combination that meets the criterion of 3mm space between the cables and the wall of the compartment and cable. In the Primary Network Polyethylene injection molding (PIM) also known as injection welding has been used for the air-spaced cables. Other prevalent types of joints are thermoshrink and mechanical joint closure system. Splicing of fibres: Splicing is a term used for joining of two fibres. Two types of splices are prevalent:

Mechanical splice: Done with the help of a mechanical assembly which keeps the spliced fibres in close proximity. Attenuation figures are around 0.5dB Fusion splice: Fusion splice is a strong permanent joint of fixed loss. Most modern good quality fusion splicers enable the prepared fibres to be adjusted together when viewed through an integral microscope. The loss figures are around 0.05 dB

Loss measurements in fibers is done in decibels or dB. A -3dB loss means the power is reduced by half, a -10 dB loss means power is reduced by 10 times, a -20 dB loss means another 10 times or a total of 100 times, a 30 dB means loss of 1000 times. Typical loss figures are: Connecters 0.5 dB Splices 0.2 dB Multimode fibre -3 dB/km at 850 nm , -1 dB/km at 1300 nm Single Mode fiber -0.4 dB/km at 1300 nm, -0.3 dB/km at 1550 nm

3. Subscriber Demand and Traffic Forecasting

3.0 Introduction
In the development of a telecommunications network the time lag between identification of the need to provide subscribers equipment, lines and exchange plant, and the ability to meet those needs may be quite considerable. This means that to augment the network we must accurately forecast these needs so that plant arrives and is installed before existing capacity is exhausted. In an ideal telecommunications network, with no restrictions, forecasting and planning would ensure that demand for services are accurately foreseen and satisfied as they arise. However, in practice this will not be the case, as planning is often constrained by availability of funds and policies of the administration or government. There are two main requirements for producing accurate forecasts. Firstly, an adequate supply of accurate and relevant data should be available in the form of historical records, supplemented by appropriate more general background information on the various planning constraints. Secondly, a procedure is required for organizing and processing the data efficiently which can be used to produce the forecast. These forecasts should indicate the degree of uncertainty which is inherent in their production, and as far as possible include some indication of its magnitude so that planning and provisioning strategies
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may account of this uncertainty. If we fail to make statement concerning this uncertainty then we are making a prediction.

3.1 Types of Forecasts

1. Demand Forecast To forecast the number of subscribers in a well-defined area. For access network planning this forecast may be done for each section first and then this forecast may be combined to form forecasts for bigger areas like blocks and exchange areas. For the purpose of planning the junction network forecasts of subscribers are required in some of the methods. This forecast could be based on macro techniques discussed later. 3.2 Traffic Forecast For access network planning forecast of total block traffics (originating and terminating) may be required. This would help in deciding the number of subscribers that can be planned per optical terminal when concentration is used. In case of design of ring structures where a number of optical terminals would be put in a ring, inter-block traffic may be of some importance. For junction network planning, total exchange originating and terminating traffics, traffics for different traffic zones and traffic dispersion (traffic interest) between different zones and exchanges will have to be projected.

3.3 Demand Forecast 3.4 Period of Forecast

The demand forecast would usually be made annually in short term, say for 3-5 years and then at an interval of 5 years such that the last forecast is for 20 year period.

3.5 Method of Forecasting

While the forecast made at the head office level follows "Top-Down" methodology using technoeconomic techniques or mathematical models to arrive at a country level forecast which is then appropriated to the regions, exchange areas etc. Forecast at the regional level or exchange area level (or below) will involve surveying and field studies.
3.5.1 Information required for forecasting

1. A city area map showing all the exchange location and physical features 2. Exchange area map showing the exchange boundary, blocks, cabinet locations, cabinet/block boundaries 3. A detailed map of the exchange area showing all the plots/buildings. This is usually in the scale of 1:1000 4. Existing demand for block/cabinet area
3.5.2 Zoning of the area

For ease of survey and correctness of forecasting a new area needs to be subdivided into manageable units. A city would have a number of exchange areas, an exchange area would have a number of blocks or cabinet areas and each block would have a number of sections or DP areas. To zone a new area, the area can be divided into survey units and teams of surveyor could then survey the assigned survey units and record information about the types of tenancies, residential or business that may be existing, under construction or planned. From this information, tenancies/plots are grouped into sections. Sections should be predominantly

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residential or business areas or they could be areas where residential and business tenancies are uniformly mixed. Size of a section in governed by the size of DPs normally used. This could be an area that can be served by a DP of size 10 or 20 pairs. Multistoryed buildings could make separate sections while in a low density area the size of section could be large. The section would then be grouped into Blocks in such a way that it should be possible to serve each block by a cabinet. In theory atleast the cabinet and block areas are synonymous but in practice there may be times when one block has more than one cabinet. Section becomes the smallest unit of area for which the forecast is made. Section forecasts can be combined to make block forecast and the block forecasts are grouped to make exchange forecast.
3.5.3 Classification of sections

Detailed survey would be carried out in each section to identify the types of tenancies. Since all kind of tenancies do not have the same growth potential, the tenancies would need to be classified on some basis. A common method of classification is based on types of tenancies. Broad classification of tenancies used is Residential Business Sub-classification is then done in each of the above categories. R1 could be Detached houses, R2 could be Condominiums or luxury apartments, R3 could be Low cost housing and so on. Similarly for business, B1 could be big office complexes, B2 could be big shopping malls, B3 could be detached shops, B4 could be factories/workshops, B5 could be hospitals, government offices, schools etc., B6 could be restaurant, cinema, petrol station, parks, mosque/church/temple, museums etc.
3.5.4 Collecting development information

The forecasting personnel must obtain information about the developments that are likely to take place in future. This information would help in calculating growth in various types of tenancies and also the penetration factor. These sources of information include but are not limited to municipalities, town planning department, developers and builders, banks and financial institutions etc. The forecaster must use his experience and judgement to gauge the reliability of the information received.
3.5.5 Assessing growth of tenancies and penetration factor

From the information of the existing network and development information calculated above the forecaster will assess the number of different types of tenancies expected to come up in various years for which forecast is to be made. At this stage different types of residential R1, R2,..) and business tenancies(B1, B2,...) can be assessed separately as the penetration factor will be different in different cases. For example, grouping all types of residental tenancies into just one category and applying only one penetration factor to get the forecast will result in unreliable figures. Assessing tenancies may not pose much of a problem. Assessing PF for various forecast years is a more difficult proposition. Penetration factor is the ratio of demand and tenancies and therefore changes whenever demand or tenancies change. These changes could be caused by economic growth, social changes, increase in population, migration of population, increase of disposable income levels etc. A forecaster may have to study the past growth trends and development information to arrive at PF values for future years. A trend analyis based software may be of help.
3.5.6 Calculating forecast figures

Demand forecast for any year(y) and any category of tenancy(t) is given by Forecast(y,t) = Tenancies(y,t) x PF(y,t)

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3.6 Reliability of forecast

The method of forecasting demand described above is known as "Bottom-up" forecasting method. The forecaster starts by making a forecast for sections and then arrives at Block forecast by summing up the forecasts of all the sections in the block. Block forecasts are then totalled to make exchange level forecast. Exchange level forecasts can be used to make the next higher level forecast i.e. regional or country wide. To make sure that the forecast figures given by the above method are reasonably correct then they must be compared with forecast figures calculated by some other method. A method which is commonly used known as "Top-down" method of forecasting. Here the forecasting process begins by forecasting demand for an upper level unit like the whole country or a region or an exchange area rather than a lower level unit like section. This forecast is based on macro level parameter like population, income levels, GDP without concerning about the exact location of the subscriber. Correlation, regression and other statistical techniques are used to arrive at the forecast figures. Figures obtained at, say exchange level, by both the techniques should be compared. A variation of 10% to 15% may be acceptable depending on the policy of the administration. A variation of more than this would require a reassessment of bottom-up forecasts.

3.7 Traffic Forecasting

Those familiar with copper based access network planning would know that traffic consideration have rarely been important for dimensioning the access network. The reason for this has been exclusive rights of a subscriber on the pair allocated to him. The maximum traffic that a pair can carry is 1 Erlang. Also that is the maximum a subscriber can generate. [ simply put, a circuit continuously busy during the observation period is said to be carrying 1 Erlang traffic]. With the advent of new technologies, use of concentration in the access network (a la V5.2 interface), subscriber will no longer have exclusive right over a channel from his phone to the exchange. A subscriber does not use his phone all 24 hours a day and channels can be more efficiently utilized if shared among many subscribers. This would need measurement and forecating of traffic.

3.8 Traffic data

The production of traffic forecasts and the subsequent application of traffic theory to the dimensioning and administration of a telephone network depends on the availability and quantity of reliable reference data. This means that the data should be properly identified and related to the correct quantities of existing equipment for the relevant measurement period. These data must be systematically checked during collection and processing to ensure their integrity. Finally, for data to be in sufficient quantity, methods for collecting and processing must be readily available. Traffic data for planning purposes are of three main types: a). Exchange Data These are the general statistics which specify the traffic generating capabilities of part or all of the exchange and include measured data as well as data supplied from other sources, together with information derived from these data. For example this information includes:

Number of subscribers of various categories. Total originating and terminating traffics from groups of subscribers within the exchange Call holding times. Usage rates (erlangs per subscribers)

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b).Traffic Route Data These data usually include established routes which are dimensioned for a good grade of service and contain information about route size, identity, and the traffic carried by it. This would be required for dimensioning junction network c). Dispersion Data These data are held in the form of a set of row vectors for each originating exchange. They may contain call dispersion and/or traffic dispersion and associated mean holding time statistics. This would be required for dimensioning junction network 3.9 Traffic forecasting methods There is a wide variety of different forecasting methods available. Many of them are already used in the transport network. The principal ones used may be categorized in the following way: 1. Intuitive forecasting is the systematic assessment of informed opinion and is often the basis of subscriber surveys which are developed to produce forecasts of subscriber development. 2. Trend methods assume that the future will have a predictable relationship with past performance. Their application depends on the existence of a database of past statistics which can be analysed to determine past trends. Trend projection is a frequently used traffic forecasting method for the short to medium term. For trend methods, the main mathematical technique used is to adapt a function to historical data, applying the least squares curve fitting method and obtain the best fit to these data points. This mathematical function is then extrapolated to produce traffic values for future time points. As we shall see the curve fitting approach is also used in normative forecasting. If we plot traffic quantities on a graph we often find that they show a consistent pattern over time, and consequently it may be possible to forecast future values by constructing a line of "best fit" through the data points. The problem is to find an equation which describes the relationship between traffic and time, and also to define the criterion by which the parameters defining the curve of best fit may be calculated. One method is to ensure that the sum of the squares of the deviations from the fitted curve should be a minimum. This is known as least squares regression, and subject to various assumptions, estimates made using this method have optimal statistical properties. The method of least squares can be applied to the calculation of numerical values of a given number of unknown parameters which are coefficients of a function in a mathematical model. The parameters of this model may be computed using the least squares method in the following way: Suppose that we have set of observations {y1, y2,..., ys} at time points {t1, t2,..., ts}, which we wish to model using a function of the type Y = u1 + u2t We require values of u1 and u2 which will give a straight line fitting the data as accurately as possible; this line is known as the regressionline. We could chose a model with more than two parameters and try to fit a polynomial through these points. The accuracy of the fitted curve would obviously increase as the order of the polynomial increases to (s-1) the most accurate curve resulting when the number of parameters (r) is equal to the number of observations. The purpose of performing regression analyses in this context is to find the coefficients of the chosen model which is then extrapolated into the future, and yields a forecast for time points t > ts. Now, if we use a high-order polynomial which gives an excellent fit to the observed data, we may often find that such an extrapolation gives results which are quite unacceptable from a practical viewpoint. Thus in forecasting work, we usually limit regression analyses to the low-order polynomials (linear and quadratic).

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In many cases of traffic forecasting, a simple polynomial model may not be satisfactory as an explanation of the pattern of growth. Most of the other models which are in common use belong to the exponential family of curves, and the simplest of these is the exponential model. Other models in this family may be treated in precisely the same way. They may all be broadly described as Modified Exponential models since they all contain the Exponential function. Two examples of such models are: i)Logistic ii)Gompertz A number of errors can arise in the use of trend curves for forecasting. These errors may be due to one or more of the following:

1. The trend may not continue to follow the chosen model into the future. For example, the exponential model has no point of inflection whereas no 2. The parameters of the model have been derived from a limited amount of data, and they will be subject to some uncertainty which will lead to uncertainty about the position of the fitted curve. 3. The fact that most of the data points do not lie on the fitted curve. It is likely that uncertainty arising from the first cause above will increase as the period of the forecast is increased, but it is difficult to quantify this uncertainty. The effects of uncertainty from the remaining two cause may be determined statistically. Cause ii. Depends on the variance of the estimated coefficients while the third cause depends on the variability of the data about the fitted curve. 3. Normative or goal-oriented forecasting assumes that there will exist needs in the future which will have some effect on the parameter being studied. This is of importance in longer term traffic forecasting, (typically in excess of 5 years), since the total traffic is dependent on a variety of other parameter such as population, subscribers and calling rates, etc. A matter which cannot be analyzed statistically is whether the model which we choose will remain a true representation of the future values of the entity being forecast. In this case we may need to use some form of normative forecasting. The term "normative" suggests that our starting point for the forecast lies in the future itself; so that instead of looking forward from the present as we described for trend forecasting, we project backwards to the present from this future point. The procedures which we may employ in this form of forecasting include those from trend forecasting; however, this time we make use of explaining factors other than time which, in our subjective judgement, will be related to the variable which we wish to forecast. Note that it is important for us to be able to forecast the explaining factors with known confidence. This type of forecasting may be more adequately described as structural analysis since in its simplest form we separate different segments of the traffic which we wish to forecast, produce separate forecasts of the individual segments and then combine the results. The principles of the method will be illustrated by a discussion of originating and terminating rates: generally known as usage rates. The subscriber usage rate has the dimensions of erlangs per subscriber. This rate varies from exchange to exchange, but in aggregate it has been found to change little with time for large groups of subscribers, (for example, subscribers of a metropolitan area). However, it can be assumed that usage rates of existing subscribers tend to increase in the long run for the following reasons:
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i) The total number of subscribers is increasing and hence there are more people for each individual to call. ii)Subscribers become more accustomed to using their telephone or other telecommunications device and find more uses for them. On the other hand, new subscribers usually have lower calling rates than the older ones and tend to bring the average usage rate down. This factor must be taken into consideration when making usage rate forecasts. Other relevant factors are changes in the tariff structure and level of economic activity. All usage forecasts have a natural upper limit of 1 erlang per line (not per subscriber, as he may have more than one line). The usage rate is always estimated at the time of a carried traffic measurement and forms part of the summary report of the measurement. Therefore it forms part of the available traffic information contained within the historical Database. Trend forecasting techniques may be used to estimate the coefficients of a suitable model. The estimates obtained from extrapolating this model may then be combined with subscriber forecast estimates to provide estimates of future traffics. The above discussion has illustrated some of the considerations which need to be taken into account in the use of a simple normative forecasting technique. The process may be extended further by breaking the elements of a usage rate into the rate for individual types of subscribers, e.g. residential/business, single line/multiline, etc. At this level of detail we may be able to make measurements which will aid in the answering of questions such as: a). What causes changes in the usage rate? b). What are the effects of tariff changes on usage rates of long distance calls? Exogenous variables can be used as possible alternatives to 'time' as regression variables. Studies in the Bell System using 20 exogenous variables have demonstrated that when complete and accurate historical data are available usage forecasts for an entity (e.g. originating traffic) can be improved by applying quantified estimates of changes in selected variables for models developed from historical data. The problems which arise are that variables which have the most impact are not consistent among the entities, and that gaps in historical data make this approach impractical for many entities. The resulting model is then used to forecast the entity by inserting forecast values of the exogenous variables into the model. The exogenous variables chosen should represent factors which have a demonstrated impact on the entity being forecast and they should be drawn from a set of data which is available in the form of an accurate time series and has a proven record of forecasting accuracy. Some examples of exogenous variables of the use in calling rate forecasts are: 1. Gross National product (GNP). 2. Disposable income per subscriber. 3. Relative cost of telephone calls. 4. Introduction of new services etc. Note also that not all exogenous variables affecting calling rates can be used in normative forecasts; for example, the weather influences calling rates in various ways but it is impossible to use this fact for any long term forecasting of calling rates! 4. Iterative methods are characterized by the traffic matrix balancing algorithms to be discussed later in Section
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5. Comparison methods, where traffic patterns in a particular area are forecasted on the basis of known historical developments in another area

4. Planning Access Networks

4.1 Introduction
A large part of investment made in telecommunications is made in the subscriber or access part of the network. This investment, in many cases, may exceed fifty percent of the total capital investment made in a local exchange area. With such large investments at stake and increasing subscriber expectations, how does one continue meeting subscriber requirement in an effective manner? In order to continue meeting customers requirements in an effective manner it becomes imperative to properly plan networks based on a sound forecast using a scientific approach.

4.2 Flexible Networks

We saw earlier that the copper based access network may have one or two flexibility points a.k.a the cross connection points(CCP). The first one from the exchange is called the primary CCP or cabinet and the second one, if provided, is called the secondary CCP or pillar. The network therefore gets divided into two or three parts viz., primary, secondary and distribution. In many networks only cabinet exists and therefore we have only two parts of the plant: primary and distribution. Any pair in the cable from a DP to a cabinet can be connected to any pair of the cable between the cabinets and the exchange. In this way, all smaller pair groups from the DPs (distribution cables) can be combined to form larger pair group to the exchange (primary cable). Distribution areas are smaller(tens of subscribers) and the demand can fluctuate from the forecast by a large percentage. Considering the whole cabinet area, however, the fluctuations largely balance out and considerably smaller number of spare pairs in the primary cable section is necessary. Some of the advantages of having flexible networks are: sections of the network can be developed independently, making unexpected situations easier to handle. Flexibility obtained by the use of cabinets permits a high cable fill of nearly 90% for the primary cables. Cable fault localization is facilitated by the possibility of disconnection and testing at the cabinet. Some of the disadvantages of this system are: cabinets are unsuitable for highly humid areas with accompanying risk of low insulation. Frequent handling of a cabinet's jumper field and consequent liability of faults can not be totally eliminated. Advantages, however, far outweigh the disadvantages.

4.3 General Steps for outside plant planning

The broad activities involved in the outside plant planning are: 1. The line plant forecast at appropriate level(branch/city/exchange area) shows where circuits will be required for telephone and miscellaneous equipment, both for residential and business tenancies. This forecast is done and reconciled as per the procedure discussed earlier. 2. Details of the existing plant should be obtained from drawing office, record office and from planning records of the existing network. 3. Field surveys may be conducted, if required, in one or two stages. In the preliminary survey the planner can get a general idea of the area, existing plant construction difficulties, terrain, trees etc. The detailed survey would give information about surfaces, exact location of plant, duct space, joint positions etc.
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4. Keeping in view the information collected above requirements of physical pairs or logical channels is decided at various points of the network. If the initial objective of planning is to produce an overall plan of the area(to be later on subdivided into a number of detailed schemes) then a total of distribution pairs for each cabinet area can be assessed and primary pairs/channels required to feed these pairs would be calculated. If the plan is for an existing area then what we are essentially doing is providing relief to the network. Splitting cabinet areas, providing more cabinets, giving more primary pairs would be the activities involved. For a new area plan appropriate number of cabinets/ONUs, primary cable, distribution cable etc. 5. An assessment of resources required to carry out the above work is made. This may need to be approved at an appropriate level in the organisation. Budgetry allocations would be made based on these overall calculations. 6. Detailed schemes for distribution network, primary network and duct & other civil works would be prepared. Transmission and signalling losses are ensured to be within limits.We would see more details of the distribution and primary network planning in the later sections. A detailed estimate comprising stores, manhours, contract work(if required)will all costs calculations is prepared for each scheme. 7. The schemes may require authorization at appropriate level in the organisation. 8. Work instructions are prepared for the scheme in a manner in which they would be understandable to the construction staff.

4.4 Economic Planning Periods

When cable is laid it is necessary to provide some spare capacity to meet the future requirements. The number of years for which provision is made in advance is called the planning period. If a cable is provided for a long planning period, the initial cost per pair becomes less but considerable cable capacity remains idle for a long time period and such provision becomes uneconomical. On the other hand, if the cable is provided for too short a planning period, the cost per pair becomes very high and the cable provision again becomes uneconomical. There is an optimum period of planning for provision of cables. The economical planning periods for the primary network is short to medium term while that for distribution network is long term. Generally for bigger systems where the demand/rate of growth is high, it is not practicable to have long planning periods in view of uncertainty in forecast, the high capital cost involved, large scale introduction of fibre in the network and technological advances in the access network. It is therefore becoming increasingly common to plan the primary network for 3 to 5 years and distribution network for a 5-10 year forecast.

4.5 Planning Distribution Cable Network

The necessity of a distribution scheme results from the need to 1. Provide additional pairs to serve new properties or to meet an increased demand in existing tenancies or in business premises. 2. Develop new areas 3. Alleviate maintenance problems 4. Plan for introduction of new technologies

While it may not always be possible to do so, it should be a planning objective to ensure that schemes are planned such that plant is provided in advance so that service can be given on demand. In many cases, information on new development is acquired well in advance and as such the preparation of a scheme to meet the demand should pose few problems. Information required

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All or some of the following will be required for preparation of a detailed scheme:

Confirmed line plant forecasts Plant maps Cable pair distribution diagrams Site development plans Relevant cable pair records

All up to date records should be obtained from the drawing office and in turn the planner should advise the drawing office of any discrepancies found during the survey. Maintenance should be asked for details of any plant which has been giving undue maintenance difficulties so that where possible these can be cleared up in the design of the new scheme. Similarly, external works, should be consulted about any construction difficulties likely to be encountered. In addition information on road works either by Municipalities or other services which may affect the locality should be sought.

4.6 Plant provision policy

The policy when designing relief to an existing distribution area is the overlay principle. The existing network should be disturbed as little as possible except for requests to uplift existing plant which is or likely to cause maintenance or construction problems. Pairs' changeover should be avoided unless it can be established that it would be economic or would be preferable engineering method. Sufficient pairs should always be provided to enable exclusive service to be given to all customers. As with the main cable network, continuous monitoring of the network will indicate which parts need relief. Individual relief requirements will form a series of schemes that will be executed when 'triggered' by demand or when resources are available.

4.7 Planning for new areas

A section would correspond to one DP area and tenancies should be grouped into DP areas such that a standard size cable will meet the 10 year pair requirement calculated in accordance with the pair provision norms. All the sections may not require DPs to begin with and one DP can serve more than one section. As the area develops, more DPs will be opened and subscribers suitably transferred. DP cables may be grouped into larger cables in the course of proceeding back towards the cabinet. Normally all DP pairs are connected to the cross-connection point but the number of through pairs from residential DPs which have flexibility, (e.g. overhead radials), may be reduced to the forecast number of tenancies where this will result in smaller cables towards the cabinet. The overall aim is to achieve a clean layout. Joints with an unequal number of pairs in and out should be avoided wherever possible.

4.8 Planning relief to existing network

Methods of distribution and provision of plant for new development and new estates are fairly straightforward. However, developing and/or providing relief to existing networks creates extra difficulties as a "live" situation already exists and proposed improvements or augmentation require to be properly integrated. Where additional pairs have to be provided to meet an increased demand in existing areas, problems are more difficult. We need to answer questions like "How many extra pairs to provide?" Or "Which other DPs should be relieved at the same?" or type and size of DPs to be opened, location of DPs, transfer of DPs from one cabinet to another, diversion of pairs, etc. Many of these do not have such straightforward answers. It is possible, however, to predict the future exhaustion of DPs from an inspection of the spare pairs when considered in relation to the line plant forecast. Absolute accuracy is not so important as slight overprovision can not only be tolerated but also acts as a safety margin.

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This calls for good engineering planning. The extreme "cure" for exhausting existing networks would be to completely replace them with new plant and recover the old. This radical solution is unlikely to be adopted except perhaps in areas where the existing network has deteriorated to the extent that there is a very high maintenance cost liability or it will not support new services. Normally such a course of action would be a totally uneconomical The simplest and most economic way of providing service is by means of overhead distribution and this method should be used wherever it is acceptable and appropriate. However, in some residential areas, the quality of housing and nature of the locality may dictate, apart from Town Planning agreement that an underground distribution system is required. The method of providing service cables and distribution cables to the tenancies concerned is known as under ground radial distribution. The service cables, are laid from the house or villa to the footway and then along the footway to a common point where they are jointed to the distribution cable in a sleeve joint. Radial systems give a good service reliability, are easy to maintain and have an accessible test point inherent in the design. Multi-story residential and business blocks should be served by underground cable terminated within the building on an internal DP.

4.9 Planning Main Cable Network

The need for a cable scheme is indicated by the anticipated shortage of cable pairs between the exchange MDF and one or more cabinets or direct DPs. When planning relief to the exhausted area, consideration should also be given to relieving any other cabinets on the common cable route where existing plant is insufficient to cater for the planning period which, as mentioned earlier, is 3 to 5 years for the primary cable. Each relief scheme should be based on a line plant forecast of growth for the area concerned. Confirmation that a forecast is up to date should be obtained before it is used in the design of a scheme. For this purpose all existing and forecast connections should be considered with an addition for miscellaneous included to give the total forecast connections. The additional pair requirement is then calculated by subtracting the existing pairs from the forecast connections at the end of the third year from completion of the scheme or for the 5 year planning period. This process is repeated for all subsequent relief schemes so that all unforeseen changes in the forecast growth may be taken into account. Thus each successive relief will be considered as the initial installment of a new relief sequence. The objective is a clean layout with all conductors connected through at joints, giving full utilization of the plant provided and a simply executed job. Cable should be provided in the longest possible lengths consistent with other considerations. Where joints are unavoidable their positions should be selected having regard to economics and the work location. In some cases economies can be achieved by having parallel cables over a section of route so as to avoid costly enlargement of existing jointing chambers to accommodate extra large joints. As in the case of planning distribution cables, maintenance staff should be consulted to ascertain whether any plant is giving particular problems so that, if possible, these can be cleared up on the proposed scheme. Schemes must be planned economically but planners should always bear in mind the finished layout and future maintenance. Joints should be accessible and duct-ways not obstructed. Joints in any event are a maintenance liability and their numbers should be kept as low as possible. New cabinet may be required if the existing cabinet in any area does not have enough primary termination space or distribution termination space as dictated by the planning requirements. In such a situation the existing cabinet area is bifurcated and suitable transfer of the existing DPs is planned.

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The location of the cabinet will be at a place where a number of distribution cables of this area meet. Generally the location of the cabinet will be at the beginning of the cabinet area towards the exchange side to avoid any back feeding of the distribution cable. In this way, the number of cabinets for the exchange area under study as well as their locations are finalised. Some considerations in locating a cabinet are as follows. a) The function of the cabinet is to provide flexibility. Unless there are 5 to 6 DPs in a block, a separate cabinet for the block may not be justified instead the DPs can be served from the cabinet in an adjoining block. In such cases, the entire block must be included in adjoining cabinet area. b) The best point for location of cabinets is on the primary cable route after it enters the cabinet area. c) The cabinet area should be so demarcated that no major road crossings are encountered while laying distribution cables to feed the DPs of the area. d) Primary cables being ducted are safer as compared to the distribution cables which may be directly buried. The distribution cables are the weakest element in the system. Therefore, the distribution cable length from cabinet to the last DP should be the minimum possible keeping in mind the objective of reducing back feeding as well. e) The cabinet should not be target for any vehicular traffic. f) It should be away from the electrical cabinets. g) It should be away from the kerb stone i.e. adjacent and parallel to the wall. h) It should be so located that even on heavy rainy days the lowest connection strips do not get submerged. For this local enquiries may have to be made to find out maximum flooding level. If a cabinet has to be located in water logged areas then it should be on a suitable foundation. Normally larger cabinet areas are more economic than smaller ones so the aim should be to plan for these rather than a greater number of smaller areas. Full regard to safety aspects is essential. Economic considerations should not outweigh the safety of staff, public and plant. Where possible, work in dangerously situated jointing chambers should be avoided. This may mean giving thought to the construction of a new jointing chamber or providing extra joints or even seeking an alternative route. The site of all proposed work should be surveyed and changes made to initial proposals if necessary. The planner should "think through" the works operations and if appropriate discuss any problems with works staff. If required, the planner should give guidance during the work and be prepared to modify the proposals to suit site conditions.

4.10 Duct Space Planning

After determining the cable required as per the planning policies it is necessary to ensure that duct space is available. The existing duct space is said to be ample when space is available for the proposed first and second installments and in this case the initial cable will be provided without further study. The duct space is limited if the space will accommodate a larger size cable than calculated but its provision would preclude any further relief cable being drawn in. Space is just sufficient if the space is available for the proposed initial cable and none remaining. Space is inadequate if it is insufficient space even for the initial cable.

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If duct space is ample or just sufficient then the initial cable installment is provided. In case of limited duct space cable can be provided to fill duct space. In case of inadequate space, rearrangement to make space, providing smaller cable, using alternate route and constructing new ducts are the options to be considered. In case of no space new ducts need to be provided.

4.11 Transmission and Signalling Limits

With regard to subscribers loop, mainly two factors affect the establishment of call and quality of speech. One factor is called as "Signalling Limit" and the second factor is called as "Transmission Loss limit". The former is affected by the direct current (dc) performance of the line while the latter is affected by the alternating current (ac) performance of the line. The signalling limit impairs calling, dialing or ring trip functions etc. The d.c. loop condition is used to indicate origination of call by a subscriber and d.c. loop interruption pulses are used to indicate dialing in many cases. However for call originating condition, the d.c. loop resistance decides the signalling aspect. Electronic exchanges are capable of accepting loop resistance in the region of 2000 ohms. This limit differs with different exchange equipments. This loop resistance consists of line resistance, transmitter resistance and resistance of the relay in the exchange. The administrations policy may therefore fix an upper limit from exchange to the DP for the purpose of design of the network. The transmission loss impairs the level of the speech. The end to end loss is important to determine the quality of speech from calling subscriber to called subscriber. The end to end section consists of various components such as calling and called subscriber loops, junction networks and long distance network. Different values of transmission losses have been allocated to different sections. The maximum transmission loss limit prescribed for subscriber loop is 8 dB at 1600 Hz. Examples of loss parameters for normally used cables are given below: For Private automatic Branch Exchanges (PABXs) the set up involves exchange line upto the PABX and extension line from PABX to the subscriber. The PABX and its extensions consumes about 150 ohms and therefore the parameter used for the exchange line should be reduced by this amount. The dB loss for the PABX is about 1dB and planners should keep this in mind while planning the DP serving PABXs. 4.13 Summary The planner must strives for "the most economical provision of plant, to meet service requirements, consistent with sound engineering principles". We will see more aspects of planning of the access network when we read about new technologies.

5. Planning New Technologies in the Access Network

5.1 Introduction
The term access network refers to the network between the local exchange and the subscriber. In many countries this network is still predominantly made up of the copper cable based point to point connections. This has kept the network in large proportions passive, inflexible and relatively unreliable. This traditional network has long been tailored to the services generally provided i.e. voice, leased lines, and low rate data sometimes each by separate equipment and networks. The technology has not changed much during the last many decades even though considerable changes have been introduced in the field of switching and transport. With the advent of digital technology, the process of installation, maintenance have become less cumbersome and quality of services has improved. It is therefore felt that the any cause for dissatisfaction, among customers about present services, is predominantly due to the frequent failures in the access network and the time taken for restoring them.

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One of the most fundamental and remarkable of the driving technologies of today is the optical fibre. Without it the current telecommunications revolution would have been a non-event. Supporting the high growth telecommunications demand with copper, radio and satellite alone would have stalled the information revolution. These would not have made bandwidth and connectivity for all possible. Increasingly, therefore twisted pair copper cable is being replaced by optical fiber cable with new transmission technologies. The term access network has, infact, gained popularity after the advent of new technologies in the local loop. Another change which is now becoming evident is change of character of the access network from passive to active. These changes hold the promise of removing the limitations of the copper cable network.

5.2 Limitation of the copper network

In the foreseeable future the subscribers in all sectors: government, residence, business, education and military will demand more and more enhanced services. Demand for an integrated voice, video and data services is building up and very soon customers are not going to be satisfied even with the bandwidth the narrow band ISDN offers. The present network suffers from several limitations that make it inadequate to offer the customers all modern telecommunication services. Some of the significant limitations include: 1. It offers limited bandwidth and there are problems in overcoming this limitation. Cannot handle BISDN, CATV, VOD and high speed data 2. Inflexibility : both in time and types of service provisioning 3. Due to star topology with point to point connections from the exchange to the subscriber reliability is limited. 4. Installation time is long. 5. It is maintenance intensive due to possible cable damages and maintenance costs were high. 6. Largely passive making it difficult to manage. 7. Loop length limitations( ~ 5 km ) 8. Uneconomical in remote, isolated areas with low telephone densities. 9. Prone to electromagnetic interference 10. Has problem of security In the coming years the telephone companies will increasingly have to offer services like video on demand, broad band data, interactive video. This demand for higher bandwidth with the requirement of rapid provisioning of wide variety of services the above drawbacks of the traditional network become more glaring.

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How can telephone companies keep pace with the changing expectations? This requires them to take the following steps:

Provide infrastructure prepared for higher bandwidth, like fiber to the curb (FTTC) solutions. Move from a passive to a very active access network. Provide network units which will enable them to flexibly provision a mix of services with minimum impact on network management and installed equipment base. Develop ring structures within the network to increase the subscriber loop reliability.

In short the operator of Telecom services will have to change the service profile, transmission media and the network structure. Considering the above limitations and also the requirements of bandwidth for new services alternative access technologies need to be inducted in the subscriber network. The two main access technologies which are set to largely replace copper in subs loop are 1) fiber 2) radio. In the interim period technologies that enhance bandwidth of copper would prove to be useful.

5.3 New Technologies for enhancements in the copper access networks

There are more than 800 million lines worldwide built up with copper pairs. This amounts to a large investment on the part of the existing operators and administrations. It would make good economic sense to be able to make use of this existing network to deliver enough bandwidth to support the services required. Fibre to every home is of course the ultimate dream, but when are we going to accomplish this? Not in the near future! It is therefore imperative for administrations to give a serious look to the digital technologies that promise to deliver amazingly higher bandwidth on copper. A family of technologies that have begun to transform the narrow band copper access network into broadband network is the xDSL family of technologies. The term DSL, or digital subscriber line, refers to the modem which when connected at either ends of a normal twisted wire pair line, converts it into a digital line capable of handling data rates well into broad band. By using higher frequencies, DSL technologies enable much higher speeds over the twisted pair lines. Speeds up to 2 Mbps are readily achievable -- 35 times faster than today's fastest analog modems. Much higher speeds, up to about 52 Mbps, are today possible. This means that customers can have applications that need these higher speeds even if their towns or villages do not have optical fibre in the local loop. The letter "x" indicates that there are many variants of DSL technology. Some of these are HDSL, SDSL, ADSL and VDSL. Although the transmission varies greatly among these technologies, there are some distinct similarities. They are all bi-directional, digital signals that run on non-loaded, copper loop. Notwithstanding these similarities each type of DSL technology has its own characteristics. A brief discussion is given below
5.3.1 High data rate digital subscriber line (HDSL)

is a technology that delivers 2 Mbps to the customers. It is in effect a better way of transmitting E1 over a twisted pair of wires. HDSL requires 2 non- loaded copper pairs for bi-directional transmission. The loop length limitation is 4 to 5 kms on 0.5mm cable. Typical applications include PBX network connections, cellular base stations, Internet servers, WAN/LAN access. In some applications it is likely to give way to ADSL and SDSL in near future.

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5.3.2 Single line digital subscriber line (SDSL)

is the single line version of HDSL, transmitting E1/T1 signals over a single twisted pair and in most cases operating over POTS so a single line can support POTS and E1/T1 simultaneously. Most subscriber premises are equipped with a single pair and SDSL has an edge under such circumstances. Since SDSL works on a single pair, it commonly provides high- speed connections for work-at-home and Internet access applications over residential local loops. It should however be noted that SDSL has a limitation of about 3 to 4 km, a distance over which ADSL gives much higher rates.
5.3.3 Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)

Transmits an asymmetric data stream, much more going downstream to the subscriber and much less coming back. This is not a serious limitation because the most of the target applications for digital subscriber services are asymmetric. Fast internet access, video on demand, home shopping, remote LAN access, multimedia access, specialized PC services all feature high data rate demands downstream but relatively low data rate demands upstream. ADSL requires only one pair and delivers upto 2-8 Mbps. For 2Mbps the distance is about 5.5 km and for 8 Mbps it is about 3 km. ADSL enables POTS to be delivered over the same copper pair.
5.3.4 Very high Data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL)

is a new technology not expected to be in use in public networks for some years. VDSL transmit asymmetric streams at data rates higher than ADSL but over shorter lines. It is expected to provide speeds as high as 52 Mbps downstream and between 1.5 and 2.3 Mbps upstream. The distance at the upper end at 52 Mbps would be about 0.3kms and more at lower speeds (1.3 km at 13 Mbps). These could work in conjunction with fibre to the curb or building to deliver high bandwidth to the homes. VDSL can take care of all ADSL applications and additionally high definition TV.

Comparison of various DSL technologies is given below: Name Meaning Data Rate Connection Type Distance to exchange Applications

DSL

Digital subscriber Line

160kb/s

Symmetrical

~5 km

ISDN series, voice and data comm.

HDSL

High Data Rate Digital Subscriber

2Mb/s

Symmetrical

4-5km

No POTS, E1 LAN/WAN, Service

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Line

access feeder plant.

SDSL

Single Line Digital Subscriber Line

2Mb/s

Symmetrical

3-4km

Same as HDSL + POTS

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

1.5 to 8Mb/s Down 128kb768kb Up

Asymmetrical

3-6km

Internet, VOD, simplex video, remote LAN, interactive multimedia.

VDSL

Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line

13-52Mbp/s Down 1.52.3Mbp/s Up

Asymmetrical

0.3-1.5km

Same as ADSL plus HDTV

5.4 Fibre based new technologies in the access network

Optical fibers, clearly the chosen technology for transmission media, are beginning to find their place in the subscriber's loop. Currently fiber costs are high as compared to copper but there is a trend towards decreasing costs of optical fiber cables and photonics employed. In addition the tremendous advantages in terms of information capacity of fiber, its small weight and size over copper cable are making it a very attractive technology to replace copper in subs loop when advanced broadband services need to be offered to the customer. To carry the same information as one fiber cable we would need hundreds of reels of twisted wire Cu cables. Further, fiber is 23 times lighter than Cu cable and 36 times less in cross- sectional area. These features of light weight and small size make it easier to handle fiber cable. In crowded city networks they can easily be accommodated in existing ducted systems. Fiber in loop (FITL) can be developed in several configurations.

5.4.1 Objectives of fibre in the loop

Must focus on todays services, POTS, Narrow band data Must be competitive for todays services on the basis of life cycle cost analysis Must use technology which allows evolution to tomorrows broadband services: video on demand, BISDN, broadband multimedia etc. Cost reduction
o

5.4.2 Fibre in the loop driving forces

increase of area served by one exchange

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o o

replacement of older technology in CO cost saving for system

Increase of transmission capacity

o

new revenues by new services

Technology has matured Increasing markets for FITL systems Larger serving area -- lesser and switching nodes Concentration of hardware -- less O&M costs Concentration of traffic -- less interfaces Less building space -- cost reduction Improved network management Configuration by management Easy introduction of new services Platform for integrated services High flexibility, all services:NB, BB

5.4.3 Advantages of FITL network

5.4.4 General planning issues

1. Philosophy of introduction of fibre in the network 2. Assessment of the available technologies and choosing the ones that conform to the philosophy and suit local situations 3. Deciding deployment strategies 4. Deciding access network architectures 5. Conducting economic/breakeven analysis whereever necessary 6. Dimensioning the network 7. Deciding location for terminal equipment (cabinets, ONUs, ADMs) and repeaters when applicable 8. Protection: laying of fibre cables in ducts/subducts 9. Provision of diversity in the same cable, another cable, another duct, another route, another media 10. Addressing power requirements. 11. Selection of proper route, use of existing approach roads, interaction with other utilities, wayleaves etc. 12. Coordination with local authorities and obtaining permissions

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13. Establishment of management and maintenance procedures

5.4.5 Planning deployment strategies

5.4.5.1 Methods of deployment of fibre The three methods that are normally used take their name from the location of the remote terminal equipment. Accordingly we have Fibre to the Curb(FTTC) in which the terminal equipment is located on the curb from where it would be convenient to serve a suitable service area. Since the distribution would still be copper, suitable location for the terminal would be one which optimizes the cost, reduces back-feeding, reduces distribution cost and takes safety factors into consideration. Wayleave and power availability need to be confirmed before finalising the location. Fibre to the building(FTTB) in which the terminal equipment is located inside a multistoreyed building. This brings higher bandwidth closer to the subscriber. The distribution part is still copper. For new buildings, the planners may negotiate for suitable location well in time. Fibre to the home/Office(FTTH/FTTO) in this method the fibre goes upto the subscriber premises 5.4.5.2 Fibre in the loop architectures A planner has a choice of the following architectures to choose from: point to point OF cabinet based configuration, fibre sharing with passive splitting, fibre sharing with active splitting and ring configurations. The location of the cabinet or equivalent units may be decided based on the distribution of subscribers and point to which bandwidth is to be delivered. a) In the point to point based implementation the planner plans remote terminals with corresponding central office terminals. The actual location will depend on the method of deployment chosen and the demand profile.

b) In point to multipoint/star architecture a number of remoter terminals can be parented to one central office terminal forming star structure

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c) Tree structures with passive or active splitting gives advantages of fibre and equipment sharing.

d) Ring structures have been made possible with the advent of SDH technology

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5.4.6 Technological options for planners

We have been mentioning names like fibre optic cabinets, PONs, ONUs, OLT, SDH, ADMs etc without much of explanation of these. In this section we would put these in right perspective. Much of the equipment that is currently in the access network conforms to PDH(plesiochronous digital hierarchy) that was described above. Examples of these are the fibre optic cabinets and PON(passive optical network). Synchronous Digital Hierarchy(SDH) is the new standard which promises higher data rates, more reliable, flexible and manageable access networks. 5.4.6.1 Fibre optic cabinets The optical fibre cabinet consists of fibre optic transmission equipment and customer access equipment. It consists of three internal chambers. A battery chamber that houses upto 2 batteries, an MDF chamber housing MDF, alarms and fibre splice box, an equipment chamber housing transmission and access equipment. Exchange side of cabinets connect to exchange on 2Mbps or channel level and subscriber side of cabinets connect to subscribers via copper lines. These can be installed as outdoor or indoor cabinets. Outdoor cabinets are environmentally fitted and could be installed on curbs or in remote areas. Usual capacities of fibre optic cabinets have capacities 120, 240 and 480 channels. Each cabinet requires two fibres for operation and one dark fibre-pair is usually kept as spare. One of the relatively new type of FO cabinet, the Fujitsu FSX2000, meets the size requirements of 30, 120,480 or 1920 lines. It can supports 1920 lines with concentration. In case of 4:1 concentration it can provide upto 1920 lines with 16 E1s from the exchange using V5.2 interface. Indoor cabinets of sizes 30, 120, 480 lines and outdoor cabinet for 480 lines can be configured. It gives existing and new services and is migratable to SDH transport thereby giving the possibility of establishing high bandwidth ring structures. The FSX2000 remoter terminal(RT) can act as a hub for upto 16 satellite RTs each equipped with 120 POTs giving 1920 lines. It can be used in non-V5 mode as DLC(Digital Loop Carrier) in which case we have a central office terminal(COT) and an RT and can have upto 480 subscriber lines. The switched services supported in the DLC mode are POTS lines, Payphone lines, PABX lines and centrex lines. Interfaces are available for these. Digital 64 kbps and 2 Mbps services are suppported on G.703 interface. Also supports PRA and BRA. It also supports fractional E1 services nx64 kbps. Each line card connects 15 lines and for 480 line configurations a total of 32 line cards are required. In integrated access mode FSX2000 eliminates the need for the central office terminal provided there is an available means of transporting RT trunks back to the switching system. FLX ring network (Using STM-1) is one example. These systems can be implemented as fibre to the curb(FTTC), Fibre to the building(FTTB) or fibre to the home(FTTH) depending on where the cabinet is located. It is possible to upgrade the existing COT/RT DLC network to integrated network when the terminal exchange supports ETSI V5 interface. To do this, at the central office end remove the channel banks and the VF physical links and add 2 Mb interface cards and E1 ccts connected to the switch. The outdoor cabinet has three internal chambers 1. Battery chamber housing upto two batteries 2. MDF chamber housing MDF, alarms and fibre splice tray 3. Equipment chamber housing, transmission and access equipment

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Equipment chamber is surrounded by an air cavity which shields from direct solar radiation, also it is sealed to prevent ingress of dust and moisture from external air. Fans are provided for cooling. It can be installed rapidly on the prepared concrete plinth. MDF accomodates pairs of VF cables using line isolation type termination with optional gas lightening arrestors. Fibre splice tray is capable of holding four spliced fibres and two unspliced fibres. Battery chamber has two 4x12 V, 50 or 100 AH batteries. AC power cables enter through the floor of the battery chamber. Plant cables and fibre optic cables enter the cabinet through the floor of the MDF chamber. Earth bar is in the MDF chamber. The fibre optic cabinets offer point to point connections and can take care of POTS, ISDN(BA and PRI), DID, Payphones, 64Kbps leased lines 5.4.6.2 Passive optical network(PON) PON systems implement a variation of point to multipoint in the form of a tree or passive double star architecture.

Simple PON configuration

Basic PON system components Optical Line Terminal(OLT)

Located in the central office Interfaces with switch (possibly through V5 interface) Provides system control Implements protocol for transmission

Splitter

Splits source optical beam into multiple fibres

Optical Network Unit (ONU)

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Interfaces with subscriber terminals Works under the control of OLT to implement transmission protocol Can be configured in FTTC, FTTB and FTTH configurations

Typical implementation of PONs

PON Services

POTS (with CLIP) ISDN(BRA, PRA) Analog/Digital leased lines NX64 kbits/s 2 Mbps digital leased line Payphones When upgraded for broadband services: CATV, VOD, BB-Multi-media, High-speed data

PON benefits PON systems offer a number of benefits to the operator and the end users. Fiber is less costly to maintain than copper based systems so operators can reduce costs, increase profits or lower costs to the end-users. The technology conserves fibre and optical interfaces. All this leads to cost effective service delivery. Optical fibre future proofs the network and increases reliability. Both business and residential customers can be served on the same platform. Powerful network management makes network low cost to run. Customers get better quality of service. Network can be upgraded to support future services PON planning options Planning considerations regarding some of the units are given below: 1. Optical Line Terminals(OLT)

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This unit interfaces with the switch and provides transport control, operation, administration and management functions. The ones that are currently used have a capacity of upto 1920 channels utilizing 140 Mbps system. An OLT can typically support upto four PONs each having a capacity of 480 POTS lines. The equipment typically operates in the 1300 nm window. It supports a variety of signalling schemes including V5. Allows remote downloading of software to the ONUs thereby simplifying installation and upgradation of the outdoor equipment. 2. Optical splitters Split the beam into a number of directions. A two way splitter may have 2 input and two outputs. Signal may be fed to only one of the inputs with the other one being standby. Upto 1:32 splitters are available. Two types of optical splitters are commonly used:

Fused fibre splitter Planer waveguide splitter

3. Optical Network Units(ONUs) Provides interface between the customer's equipment and the PON. Each ONU provides a multi-service delivery platform for POTS, ISDN, leased lines and 2 Mbps services. Several types of ONUs are available street, wall and rack mounted. Loop back and line test capabilities are available. Typical ONU sizes are 4B to 120B. The smaller ones being used for FTTH/FTTB and the larger ones for FTTB/FTTC implementations ONUs require power supply which can be supplied from the central office or another distant point on copper cables or it can be made available locally. Location depends on the supply area and ONU size. Future of PON systems Technical advances and changing profile of services has drawn increasing interest to optical distribution networks with Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) over Passive Optical Network(PON). This is referred to as ATM-PON or APON. It is seen by many operators as the most promising approach to achieving large scale full service access network deployment that could meet evolving service needs of network users. It has been seen that APON could support a wide range of "FTTx" access network architectures. The network components supporting APON are OLT, ONT/ONU and passive splitter. One fiber is passively split upto 64 times. This allows users to share bandwidth and reduces cost. Costs are further reduced by a decrease in the number of opto-electronic devices needed at the OLT. The APON uses a double star architecture. The first star is at the OLT and the second at the splitter. In addition to the fibre and interface sharing benefits of the PON systems, the APON allows operators to serve more customers as compared to other technologies. At the same time operators can give QoS guarantees. It is estimated that APON technology can achieve savings of 20 to 40% over circuit based access systems. Because these systems are ATM based, they can adopt to virtually any service desired. Operators can deliver all of their legacy services as well as new services. 5.4.6.3 Active Optical Network(AON)

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In this type of implementation the passive splitting point is replaced with OLD(Optical Line Distribution unit) which is a powered unit making it possible to have higher bit rate on individual routes over longer distances than PON

Features of Active Optical Network

cost effective fibre network higher number of optical components compared to PON long link lengths possible additional active element(OLD) high flexibility and capacity Higher power supply problem due to OLD

AON services

POTs ISDN BA ISDN PRA Leased Lines

Advantages of PON/AON

Sharing of fibre and equipment as in case of PONs Increase in range at the cost of an additional active component(splitter) high flexibility in structures higher capacity Management
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o o o o

Configuration management:provision, modification and cessation of capabilities Performance management:routine testing, error monitoring Fault management:fault location, degradation discovering Security management:prevention of unauthorized access, security of transmission, detection of access

5.4.6.4 SDH in the access network The current network based on Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy(PDH) is unable to meet the demand of flexibly and reliably providing bandwidth on demand for video conferencing, remote data-base access, BBmultimedia, interactive video and other services that are round the corner. We had seen that this is primarily due to the inability of identifying and directly extracting 2 Mbps streams from higher order signals. The "mux mountain" problem makes the system inflexible and expensive. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy addresses these problems. ITU-T standards G.707, G.708, G.709 define the hierarchy with the basic rates of 155 Mb/s or STM- 1(Synchronous Transport Module-1), 622 Mb/s or STM4 and 2.4 Gb/s or STM-16, 10 Gbps or STM-64 and further levels are proposed. As can be seen from fig.10, with a single add- drop multiplexer a 2 Mb/s stream can be inserted or dropped with ease. A great advantage of SDH is that the present PDH systems can also be integrated with it. The deployment of SDH until now has been focussed on the core transport network. With hastening demand for more flexible and more advanced services from business and residential customer groups alike, the time is now ripe to re-assess the rolling out of SDH all the way up to the edge of the network, closer to the customer. Why use SDH?

Provides network simplification: SDH requires less equipment for the same functionality. Transports mixed voice and data services over a single pipe. Single stage multiplexer: management of tributaries by a single STM-n multiplexer. The planner is not burdened by the rigidity of the MUX hierarchy in the PDH. Planners have at their disposal bandwidth flexibility essential for introduction of new services. Reduced capital investment and operating cost PDH has limited facility for management SDH has good management capabilities. Survivability: Better methods of protection and restoration. Self healing rings Offers automatic reconfiguration Greater bandwidth: 155 Mbps or more to major sites. Subscriber can get any service in the network at short notice Standardisation: enables multi vendor networks, Inter-operability of equipment from different vendors Improved network resilience: A synchronous network will be more reliable due to increased reliability of individual elements and more resilient structures of the network will allow

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development of network topologies that will be able to achieve network protection i.e. survive failures by reconfiguring and maintaining service by alternate ways. This can be achieved by crossconnects or self-healing rings.

Future proof networks

SDH planning The SDH add-drop multiplexer(ADM) discussed above can be used in a number of configurations of which point-to-point and ring topologies are of interest. Point-to-point configuration

Used as PDH replacement in the National network at STM-4, STM-16 and in other high utilization connections--like 2 point links Ring configuration

For high survivability, self healing fibre rings are planned. These rings are able to reconfigure without intervention of the external network management should equipment or cable failure occur. The ring structures are used in national, junction and access networks. National: STM-4, STM-16 and higher Junction: STM-4 Access: STM-1 There could be a number of variations of the basic ring structure. Most suitable ring type dependent on traffic flow in the network. The planner must examine traffic on your network. Strategic decisions to be made by planners

39

Decide protection method 1+1 or shared protection Decide configuration: All traffic on a ring: easier to manage Have more than one rings and split traffic between rings: better survivability Partitioning: deciding number of rings and their interconnections Determine collection points between tiers and between rings in a tier Should high volume connections be point to point Handling traffic growth Single or dual, manual or electronic, switching at VC12/VC4

It is seen that optimization is sometime impractical or at least difficult to achieve. As the stations in the network grow, the number of possible rings grows exponentially. Hill climbing technique for planning is very often followed: start with an intuitive plan. Decide on the number of rings and ADMs on each ring. Add or drop ADMs on ring as the scenario changes. Rings provide better protection than meshes. Meshes may provide better restoration. Overall better solution is determined by current equipment cost and other engineering considerations. 5.0 V5 interfaces The V5 interface is the interface between an access network and the local exchange which has been standardized by ITU( G.964/965) and ETSI. It has two variations V5.1 and V5.2. The V5 interface is not limited to any specific access technology though much of the work has been done with optical access network in mind. These can be used with radio access networks as well. Interconnection between telecommunications networks of different operators is also a potential use of V5 5.1 V5.1 interface

The V5.1 interface only allows one single link between the access network and the local exchange. The services supported by V5.1 are PSTN analog, ISDN BRA, semi-permanent leased lines, permanent leased lines. A V5.1 can only support basic rate ISDN because it does not have sufficient capacity for standard primary rate ISDN. A single V5.1 interface can support upto 30 PSTN ports or 15 ISDN ports. Both PSTN and ISDN ports can be supported on the same 2 Mb link. 5.2 V5.2 interface The V5.2 interface can support upto 16 2 Mbps links. In addition to the functions of the V5.1 interface, the V5.2 supports concentration of traffic. The physical configuration can be depicted as follows:

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A V5.2 interface can support both basic rate and primary rate ISDN. It also supports both semi-permanent and permanent leased lines. A single V5.1 interface supports 30 PSTN ports while a single V5.2 can support several thousand ports utilizing concentration and dynamic allocation.

5.5 Conclusion
The bottom line is that in future the subscriber has to be provided a mixture distribution media and services at the same access point within the network. Today there are different networks i.e. telephone, telex, data, video, with separate access facilities. This restricts flexible service assignment to the subscriber the intention then is to migrate to a network architecture capable of cost effectively offering all services over only one access point. Such a network structure will fulfill the following requirements. 1. Flexible and cost effective extension of services 2. Save cost by reusing the existing infrastructure 3. Provide common management for the whole network independent of the distribution media. 4. Rapid provisioning and high reliability. What does all this mean? The telecommunications environment in the access area is changing in terms of services, distribution media and network structures. We require a solution which allows migration form the network of today to that of future protecting the investment. It should be easy to add new services as also provide existing services quickly to the subscribers. Future will therefore see more of fiber and more of intelligence being pushed into the local loop.

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