xDSL Moving Forward

Kind Readers,

The momentum grows on several fronts with this technology even as providers find their schedules slip behind. Must be taking lessons from Microsoft. Actually, the resistance is with the LEC (Local Exchange Carriers) who are taking their own sweet time unbundling their networks. The Telecom Act requires it but does little to make it proceed at a decent pace.

In the recent news is a new acronym for networks. BAN (Building Area Networks) are becoming the *rage* in some metropolitan areas. Easy to administer and connect, and to eliminate the problems of load coils and bridge taps; they are turning up in office buildings on both coasts. And, a heating and ventilation contractor in New York is putting them in upscale condominium buildings.

Elsewhere, Westell made a bid for Amati, holder of the patents on DMT, only to be outbid by Texas Instruments, DSP (Digital Signal Processor) vendor with a bevy of patents of their own. No *bad blood* over the deal as Westell immediately signed on with TI for joint development projects for xDSL.

For those not aware of it; TI also holds many of the patents on the GaAs (Galium-Arsenide) technology that the military has so closely guarded. Many of the chips are able to easily pass information at a five gigabit rate with "perfect" square wave quality. They are still heat-sensitive but becoming viable for consumer communications in the post-Cold War era.

UUNET rolls out their IDSL to cities. Though behind schedule it proceeds at a decent pace in some areas. Again the *locals* are part of the problem. Some businesses cannot "beg, borrow or steal" the connections they want and are *locked* in by LECs. BMW in SC is screaming to anyone who will listen as the local says it will not allow DSL on its unbundled lines.

The final bit of news is about Rockwell and Northern Telecom (Nortel.) The last one is, of course, one of the big switch makers for phone companies. they will be building the Rockwell CDSL technology into their switches. That technology now has three names; DSL Lite, Consumer DSL and Customer DSL. Whatever name you choose, it does not matter because it seems that it may *kick-start* the entire area, and the ITU has taken notice even as Rockwell puts its proposal before it. It is one of the slower xDSL formats, but heck 1 Meg coming downstream still beats the 56k proponents rather solidly. Currently not implemented at that speed.

Peace,
Clarke