Joint ITU/IEEE Workshop on Ethernet - Emerging
Applications and Technologies
(Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September2012)
FTTx Access in North American
MSO Networks
Edwin J. Mallette
Distinguished Engineer
edwin.mallette@bhnis.com
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
North American MSO
Broadband: A Brief History
North American
Multiple System
Operators changed
the face of
broadband in 1997
with DOCSISTM
version 1.0
specifications
(ITU-T J.122 Annex
B (1998)) and the
introduction of the
cable-modem.
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
Fast forward to
2008 when North
American Cable
Operators began
deploying
DOCSIS3.0 (ITU-T
J.222) to increase
access speed over
coax to satisfy
consumers
voracious appetites
for IP bandwidth.
2
North American MSO
Broadband: Market
In 2012, ~90 million homes, or
about 70% of all homes in North
America, are passed by DOCSIS3.0.
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
North American
DOCSIS 3.0 Homes Passed
100
90
80
70
Millions
Some North
American
MSOs are
offering tiers
>100mbps
down with
DOCSIS3.0.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Year-to-Year Growth Numbers
Source: Heavy Reading
3
North American MSO:
xPON History (1)
DOCSIS and coax isn’t
the only protocol and
medium North
American MSOs have
been deploying.
Some North American
MSOs have been
implementing PON
technologies for over
a decade (as early as
~2001.)
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
The early MSO uses of
xPON was largely for
commercial /
dedicated access last
mile.
The set of applications
are rather broad –
generally xPON was
used to provide data
rate performance
>>> DOCSIS.
4
North American MSO:
xPON History (2)
The very early deployments were of
the BPON variety.
Some MSOs stepped up to GPON
while others shifted over to EPON.
While the EPON versus GPON debate is
a favorite topic among many the
rationale that drove MSO decisions were
largely requirements based.
Capital costs was a large component in
the decision after requirements like
native POTS/TDM line support.
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
5
North American MSO:
Market
There are at least 10 North
American MSOs deploying
and/or trialing xPON
technologies today.
Some are in the midst of
both long-term
deployments and next
generation PON technology
trials.
Today there are tens of
thousands1 of NA MSO
customer locations served
with xPON technology.
1Reference:
Most customers
served with xPON are
business locales.
This is still a growth
market when
considering North
Americans MSOs
serve Hundreds of
thousands of
commercial customer
locations
Tens of millions of
residential subscribers
RVA LLC’s First Quarter 2012 North American FTTH Deployment Update.
URL: http://s.ftthcouncil.org/files/northamericanftthdeploymentq12012.pdf
6
Commercial xPON Applications
Below is a sample of a few common
applications used with xPON.
MEF Services Last Mile
Internet Access + Business Voice/SIP
Mobile Backhaul (T-1+Ethernet)
L3VPN / Managed Routing
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
WiFi / Hotspot Aggregation
7
North American MSO:
Residential Market
Some North
American MSOs are
deploying
residential services
with EPON.
In a few words this
market is small but
growing.
These trial/targeted
deployments are
(typically) green field
builds.
DOCSIS Provisioning
of EPON (DPoETM)
specifications help
MSO deployments
operationally.
Today:
Several MSOs are using their existing
DOCSIS back office systems to provision
8
services over EPON in the first mile.
Where are MSOs headed next ?
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
9
The MSO Future is Fiber Deep
The cost to overbuild
existing coaxial
operations is
significant.
MSOs have a desire to
leverage the
investment in existing
fixed assets as long as
possible.
Nonetheless with
current DOCSIS3.0
technology many MSOs
are pushing fiber closer
to the home.
2Reference:
Operators expect to
continue pushing fiber
deeper with both
(future) DOCSIS3.1
and/or EPoC.
This is in answer to
meet the continuing
growth of IP bandwidth
consumption.
And there’s little doubt
that bandwidth
consumption worldwide
will continue to climb2.
IEEE 802.3TM Industry Connections Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment.
URL: http://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/bwa/BWA_Report.pdf
10
The MSO Future is Fiber Deep for
Higher Speed Access
Build
Strategy
Multiple Tech
Choices
5/1Gig
Fiber Deep
Coax First
Mile
Fiber Deep
Coax First
Mile
DOCSIS3.1
EPON+DPoE
+EPoC
Fiber Deep
Fiber First
Mile
Higher Speed
Access
Serving
Group
5/1Gig
Serving
Group
10/10Gig
EPON+DPoE
Serving
Group
11
Closing Remarks
FTTx is in wide use by the North
American MSOs, even for traditional
services.
With continued evolution in the
access space (DOCSIS3.1, EPoC) and
the drive to higher access speeds the
x point in FTTx (pole, curb, etc) will
get marched closer to the home.
FTTH (via EPON) is expected to
increase though it is expected to be
opportunistic.
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 September 2012
12