Technology Teach-in
Dr Tim Whitley
MD Research & Technology
3 October 2011
Agenda
• BT‟s innovation approach and breadth
• Focus today on three broadband related activities:
– Increasing copper based broadband capability
– LTE – a reality check
– TV White spaces
© British Telecommunications plc
2
Innovation around the world
BT Innovation centres: USA, UK, Israel, UAE, India, China, Japan
BT invested £684m in R&D in 2010/11
Portfolio of 5,600 patents
© British Telecommunications plc
3
BT‟s “open innovation” strategy
Revenue
Innovate within each stage and through the entire value chain
Customer
experience
Cost
reduction
Invent
Architect
Customers
• Customer coinnovation
• Bid support
• Roadmaps
• Future proofing
Validate
Operate Productise Channels
& Implement
Universities
• Strategic
partnerships
• Contract
Research
• Benchmarking
• Internships
People
& org
Government
• Collaborative
Research
• Regional
Partnerships
• EU, TSB, BIS
• Standards
• Lobbying
Customers
Partners
•
•
•
•
Co-Innovations
Prototyping
Proof of concept
Access to new
technology
• Influencing
industry
Start-ups
• Access to
technology and
business models
• Informing BT
business options
• De-risking
We multiply the research leverage through our open innovation partners
© British Telecommunications plc
IN CONFIDENCE
4
BT has a proud history of innovation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1837 - William Fothergill Cooke and Professor Charles Wheatstone
patented the world's first practical electric telegraph in June. Cooke
founded the Electric Telegraph Company in 1846 - from which BT is
directly descended.
1926 - BT/Post Office and Bell Laboratories engineered the world's first
two way transatlantic telephone conversation (by radio). Commercial
radio telephone service started in 1927
1943 - One of BT's (Post Office Telecoms') research teams designed and
constructed Colossus, the world's first programmable computer used at
Bletchley Park to assist wartime code breaking)
1962 - world's first satellite telephone from London to New York via
Telstar
1968 - The world's first digital exchange was opened near Earl's Court
1979 - BT/PO launched Prestel, the world's first viewdata network
1980 - BT laid the world's first purpose-designed optical fibre submarine
cable in Loch Fyne
1984 - BT brought into service the world's first 140 Mbit/s commercial
optical fibre link using single mode transmission
1989 - BT launched Skyphone, the world's first satellite telephone system
1999 - BT Cellnet was the world's first mobile network to make a live data
call via GPRS
2006 - BT implemented the world's first fully-automated 'spam buster'
system
to track
down and tackle professional spammers
© British Telecommunications
plc
5
Industry recognition of BT‟s approach
Business Excellence Award for
Innovation 2010
Optimising & accelerating
product and system migration
with ontology system
Local Optical Service
Innovation
Primary voice service for
Ebbsfleet FTTP (BT and
2Wire)
Local optical network
Fibre to the cabinet:
Openreach and Huawei
Technology
Excellence – R&D
Achievement of the
Year:
Winner
Autonomic Fault
Prediction and
Resolution
Managed services
Legacy network
transformation: BT Global
Services and Alcatel-Lucent
Billing services innovation
Revenue assurance project
(BT and cVidya)
New media innovation
Shape-shifting media (BT and
Real Time content)
UK IT Industry awards medal for R&D
Achievement of the Year : 2 MEDALLISTS:
1. Cloud Service Broker
2. Cloud Secure: Virtual Hosting for Cloud
© British Telecommunications plc
The IET
Innovation
Awards 2009
Global Telecoms
Business Awards
2009
Best Innovation for
Telecommunications
I-Plate
The IET
Innovation
Awards 2010
Best Innovation in IT
WAN Optimisation
Service
Global Telecoms
Business Awards
2010
IT Service Innovation award:
WAN Optimisation Service
with Riverbed
Business Migration Innovation
award:
Optimising & Accelerating
Product & System Migration
with Ontology systems
6
BT‟s strategy drives everything that we do
Direct research into our
customer experience
Research to support profitable
revenue growth
• Proactive diagnosis and trouble
resolution – „predict and prevent‟
• Advanced tests and diagnostics
• Customer self-provisioning
• Security
• Research into consumer
behaviour
• Identifying ways to accelerate the roll-out of
SFBB, DSL and fibre
• Supporting delivery of TV & Content
• Cloud
• Mobility, wireless and convergence
• Influencing standards agenda
... and research
into emerging
areas
Using research to cut costs
• Organisation and process transformation
• Field force transformation
• Reducing costs in the access network
• Saving money through network rationalisation
© British Telecommunications plc
programmes
Enabling our wider
business priorities
• Sustainability
• Inclusion
• Customer engagement (hothouses,
showcases)
7
... and now for the science part
•
Increasing copper based broadband capability with innovations which:
– Increase speed / coverage of installed copper broadband asset
– Create a copper broadband evolution path in BT‟s NGA/SFBB
strategy
•
LTE – “a reality check”
– What LTE is, and its performance characteristics
– LTE‟s role in a mixed economy approach
•
TV White Spaces
– Description of the technology and BT‟s activities
– Capabilities and opportunities enabled by TV White Spaces
© British Telecommunications plc
8
Radio spectrum
2G/3G/
Mobile
Phones
Satellite TV
TV
Fixed links
FM Radio
MW
Radio
LW
Radio
VLF
3
MF
LF
30
WiFi
300
HF
3
KHz
VHF
30
UHF
300
SHF
3
MHz
EHF
30
300
GHz
Increasing coverage,
but less bandwidth
Decreasing coverage,
but greater bandwidth
DSL band
plan
TV White
Spaces
LTE
© British Telecommunications plc
9
Supercharging Super Fast Broadband
Peter Bell
Access Platform, BT Innovate and Design
Copper based broadband
• Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology enables high speed
data communications to be sent over the existing phone lines.
• Significantly faster than dial-up through use of higher
frequencies
• Separate frequency bands used for downstream and upstream
transmission
– Downstream transmission from exchange to customer
– Upstream transmission from customer to exchange
• Downstream throughput typically higher than upstream, hence
“asymmetric”
• A DSL system typically comprises the following :
– Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) which terminates the
line in the exchange or cabinet and provides backhaul connectivity
– Splitter filters used to enable voice and data to be transmitted
simultaneously over the same line and separated out at each end
– Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) which terminates the line in the
customers premise
© British Telecommunications plc
Common DSL technologies
• Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
– Data rates of up to 8Mbit/s downstream and 448kbit/s upstream
– Exchange based system
• ADSL with extended bandwidth (ADSL2plus)
– Data rates of up to 24Mbit/s downstream and up to 1Mbit/s upstream
– Exchange based system
• Very high-speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL)
– Currently up to 40Mbit/s downstream, up to 15Mbit/s upstream
– Cabinet based system
– Key enabler for UK Next Generation Access (NGA) systems
© British Telecommunications plc
SFBB - Setting the scene: Broadband from the exchange
BT/other core
networks
Local
exchange
(5600)
Backhaul
Copper
cables
ADSL DSLAM,
ADSL2plus MSAN
plus fibre backhaul
Street
cabinet
~90k
Copper
cables
CPE
Overhead
distribution
Telephone
pole
~8M
CPE
CPE
homes
& businesses
Underground
distribution
CPE
© British Telecommunications plc
SFBB: Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC)
VDSL DSLAM,
plus fibre backhaul
BT/other core
networks
CPE
Backhaul
Overhead
distribution
Fibre
CPE
Copper
cables
CPE
Underground
distribution
CPE
Distance from cabinet to customer still
varies so speed achieved still varies from
customer to customer
© British Telecommunications plc
Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC)
Existing Narrowband Street Cabinet
Copper Connection
to Customer Premises
© British Telecommunications plc
Copper „Tie-Cables‟
New Broadband Cabinet
Fibre From the Exchange
Strategy for achieving 100Mbit/s FTTC
• Change the VDSL band plan
– Change to a proven increased band plan to boost line rates
– Industry wide agreement completed on 4th September 2011
– Implementable on BT‟s NGA systems via remote software upgrade
• and potentially in the future …
– Vectoring
• Remove signal interference (crosstalk) between copper pairs that reduces
VDSL line rates
• Requires next generation of DSLAM hardware which is now becoming
available
– Bonding
• Use 2 or more copper pairs to customer to double VDSL line rates
• Needs new modem and spare copper pairs
© British Telecommunications plc
What is the “Band Plan” change?
•
UK NGA is currently constrained to using a band plan with an upper frequency of 7MHz
D1
U0
0.025
•
U1
3
0.138
Current Plan (truncated to 7MHz)
D2
5.1
7.05
f (MHz)
U0, U1, D1 and D2 represent the frequency bands used for upstream and downstream
transmission
BT assessed the available options for changing this and what they would offer UK NGA
BT convinced UK Industry to get the regulations changed to enable NGA to be deployed
up to 17MHz.
•
•
–
–
–
Extending the frequency enables higher data rates
Access Network Frequency Plan (ANFP) revised to include new band plan
All UK NGA lines must be configured to use the new band plan by 1st July 2012
U0
0.025
0.138
D1
U1
3.75
U2
D2
5.2
8.5
D3
12
D=Downstream, U=Upstream
© British Telecommunications plc
14
Newly Agreed
Plan (17MHz)
17.664
f (MHz)
Band plan impact
• Lines with short D-sides
– New Band plan allows approx doubling of maximum speed
compared with previous plan (i.e. download of up to 80Mbps from
up to 40Mbps)
• Lines with long D-sides…
– Little change from previous plan (i.e. band plan benefit fades with
distance)
© British Telecommunications plc
What is “vectoring”?
• The challenge:
•
•
•
Crosstalk is due to signal interference between pairs in a multi-pair copper cable
and limits VDSL2 performance (speed and reach)
Increasing the number of active broadband pairs in a cable increases crosstalk and
reduces line-rates
Crosstalk also increases with frequency
• The solution:
•
•
•
•
•
Reducing crosstalk results in improved performance.
The technique for doing this in real-time is called “Vectoring”
Vectoring estimates the crosstalk on each line and cancels it dynamically
Vectoring is an international standardised technology with global suppliers
BT currently evaluating the network performance of a prototype vectoring system
Signal 1
line 1
The unwanted coupling from line to
line is called “Crosstalk”.
Signal 2
line 2
Another term you will hear is FEXT
or Far End Crosstalk.
Signal 3
line 3
© British Telecommunications plc
Band plan and vectoring impact
• Lines with short D-sides
– New Band plan allows approx doubling of maximum speed compared
with previous plan (i.e. download of up to 80Mbps from up to 40Mbps)
– Vectoring further improves those speeds to 100mbps+
• Lines with long D-sides…
– Little change from previous plan (i.e. band plan benefit fades with
distance)
– Vectoring continues to deliver improvement, though at a reduced rate
(i.e. there is a reach benefit)
© British Telecommunications plc
Downstream rate improvement from 7MHz to 17MHz
© British Telecommunications plc
Improvement
With vectoring and bandplan change, VDSL can
reach 100Mbps downstream....
© British Telecommunications plc
http://cms.comsoc.org/SiteGen/Uploads/Public/Docs_Globecom_2009/Vector_globecom2009_final_v2.pdf
What is “Bonding”?
• Bonding is a technique to use multiple copper pairs to increase
the total line rate
– The data carried on two pairs is combined together to give an
aggregate rate of ~double the individual rates carried on each pair.
• This technique is already widely used by BT for Ethernet in the
First Mile (EFM) services using symmetric DSL technology
(G.SHDSL)
• Bonding can be applied to VDSL to achieve either:
– Increase bit rate – i.e. doubling line rates to 160Mbit/s
– Increase reach – i.e. making 80Mbit/s available on longer loops
•
Bonding requires dedicated equipment in customers premise
X Mbit/s
2X Mbit/s
2X Mbit/s
VDSL modem
Y Mbit/s
X Mbit/s
Aggregator
2Y Mbit/s
2Y Mbit/s
Y Mbit/s
DSLAM
© British Telecommunications plc
CPE
Summary
• Technical developments are driving FTTC line rates up
• BT gained industry approval to double FTTC line rates to the benefit
of the UK
• Data rate could rise from up to 40Mbit/s to up to 80Mbit/s
• BT is trialling vectoring technology and has seen real world lines
achieve 100Mbit/s
• Bonding offers additional benefits to further increase the rate and
reach of FTTC
• Copper pairs still have a strong broadband evolution path and BT is
actively pursuing technical and regulatory developments
© British Telecommunications plc
Focus on broadband related activities:
•
Increasing copper based broadband capability:
– Increase speed / coverage of installed copper broadband asset
– Create a copper broadband evolution path in BT‟s NGA/SFBB
strategy
•
LTE – “a reality check”
– What LTE is, and its performance characteristics
– LTE‟s role in a mixed economy approach
•
TV White Spaces
© British Telecommunications plc
25
In Commercial Confidence
BT’s
LTE Strategy,
Overview
October
2009
Steve Buttery
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the latest in a progression of mobile
communications standards
2G
Global System General Packet
for Mobile
Radio Service
GSM
(2nd Generation)
Channel: 200 kHz/8
Typical Data Rate: 10 kbit/s
GPRS
n*200 kHz/8
40 kbit/s
Release
99
(3rd
3G
Enhanced Data-rates
for GSM Evolution
Rel 99
Generation)
Channel:
5 MHz
Typical Data Rate: 384 kbit/s
EDGE
n*200 kHz/8
100 kbit/s
High Speed
Packet Access
Enhanced
HSPA
HSPA
HSPA+
5 MHz
1 - 2 Mbit/s*
5 MHz
1 - 3 Mbit/s
Long Term
Evolution
4G
© British Telecommunications plc
(4th Generation)
Channel:
Typical Data Rate:
27 •Ofcom: Measuring Mobile Broadband in the UK – May 2011
LTE
Up to 20 MHz
2 - 12 Mbit/s
LTE
Advanced
More on
this later...
Through each evolution there has been a change to the radio
capability – LTE also produces a “flatter” network architecture...
The 50,000 mobile masts in the UK (for
all operators) are usually split into
three “sectors” to increase capacity.
2G radio designed
for voice with data
added later
3G radio gave
better data in fixed
spectrum blocks
4G radio gives
greater spectrum
flexibility
© British Telecommunications plc
28
2G
3G
4G
PSTN
Controller
Circuit
Core
Internet
Controller
Packet
Core
Packet
Core
Internet
TDM E1
TDM E1 /
Ethernet
Ethernet
Radio Access
Network
Core
Network
Any radio system is a trade-off between three key factors...
Coverage
Capability
Better building
penetration and rural
coverage is required
Capacity
Mobile networks are
struggling to meet increasing
capacity demands
Lower latency and higher
peak rates will better
support advanced services
© British Telecommunications plc
29
Any radio system is a trade-off between three key factors...
Coverage
Capability
Capacity
LTE will only provide a coverage
advantage over 3G in the lower
frequency bands:
- 2.6 GHz will provide poorer
coverage and is for capacity
- 850 MHz digital dividend will
extend coverage
© British Telecommunications plc
30
Any radio system is a trade-off between three key factors...
Coverage
Capability
The capacity of a base station
is the average rate achieved by
users across the area and so is
much lower than the peak. LTE
provides a small advantage
over HSPA+, but most capacity
benefit is from new spectrum.
Capacity
HSPA+ (2x5MHz)
LTE (2x10MHz)
Headline peak rates
are only available by
devoting all the shared
capacity to one user
close to the mast.
LTE (2x20 MHz)
Assume 5 active
users/cell
The difference between „peak rate‟
and „sector throughput‟ is important...
© British Telecommunications plc
31 Derived from: http://www.motorola.com/web/Business/_Documents/static%20files/Realistic_LTE_Experience_White_Paper_FINAL.pdf
Although the very high peak rates offered by LTE are impressive,
they do not necessarily translate into high cell capacities...
The ‘average sector throughput’ is
lower than some of the headlines
might suggest because:
1.
The high headline rates are only
achieved VERY close to the
basestation.
Large cells have a low
Small cells have a high
capacity and high data
rates “at the edge”
© British Telecommunications plc
32
Cell Capacity &
Capacity
Data Rate
Peak
capacity and low data
rates “at the edge”
Near the basestation, high
data rates can be supported…
Ce
ll C
ap
ac
ity
…but at the edge of cell, the
data rates are much lower.
Distance from basestation
Although the very high peak rates offered by LTE are impressive,
they do not necessarily translate into high cell capacities...
The ‘average sector throughput’ is
lower than some of the headlines
might suggest because:
1.
The high headline rates are only
achieved VERY close to the
basestation.
Access bandwidth is shared between
all of the users in the ‘sector’.
2.
Core
Backhaul
Wireless
Wired
Core
Backhaul
© British Telecommunications plc
33
Although the very high peak rates offered by LTE are impressive,
they do not necessarily translate into high cell capacities...
The ‘average sector throughput’ is
lower than some of the headlines
might suggest because:
1.
The high headline rates are only
achieved VERY close to the
basestation.
Access bandwidth is shared between
all of the users in the ‘sector’.
In practice, the amount of spectrum
available is limited.
2.
3.
If operators wants to radically increase
their network capacity, they need to
(a) buy more spectrum and/or (b)
move to much smaller cells.
© British Telecommunications plc
34
UK Mobile Spectrum Holdings
To meet future demand, operators must move to smaller cells...
Traffic Growth Forecasts
*
#
Various predictions of mobile traffic show
exponential growth BUT LTE on existing sites
can only provide modest capacity growth in
line with new spectrum. To match predicted
growth, operators will need to move to a
different architecture with many more
basestations – i.e. many small cells.
This makes the fixed network increasingly
relevant to mobile... Wi-Fi and Superfast
Broadband play a key role in this future.
*Analysys Mason, May 2011: “Wireless network traffic worldwide: forecasts and analysis 2011–2016“;
# http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns827/white_paper_c11-520862.html
Core
network
Backhaul
Large cells, medium capacity
Tomorrow
Small cells, high capacity,
more backhaul capacity
Core
network
© British Telecommunications plc
35
Today
So what is the role for LTE?
• Much of the benefit of LTE will come with the new spectrum:
– Enhanced coverage in lower frequency bands
– Increased capacity with new spectrum
– BUT spectrum is a scarce commodity
• Even with LTE in the widest bandwidth, the capacity of a single antenna will be
~30Mbit/s shared between all users under the base station:
– This is equal to the capacity a single customer connection on an NGA fixed network
– It will be insufficient to provide video-rich services to many users
• To significantly increase capacity will require many small cells:
– These will all require backhaul over the fixed network
– For very high capacity cells, Wi-Fi is an ideal solution
• As with other mobile, LTE will be largely complementary to fixed broadband:
– Used for truly mobile, lower data volume services that will command a premium
– Fixed broadband will be needed for high performance services
• One exception to this could be broadband in ultra-rural areas:
– LTE capacity could be enough to provide an improved experience to the outer edges
of the fixed network...
© British Telecommunications plc
36
BT and Everything-Everywhere have recently announced a trial of
LTE – delivering broadband to challenging ultra-rural locations.
May 25, 2011
Everything Everywhere and BT Wholesale to deliver the
UK’s first live customer trial of 4G high speed
broadband technology
• Trial to showcase the benefits and potential of 4G LTE¹
mobile technology for customers
• The collaboration will see mobile and fixed broadband
coming together for the first time in the UK
• The field trial will be launched in Cornwall, and will be the
first of its kind in the UK to involve customers
“BT is committed to bringing the highest speed
broadband to everyone in the UK, whether
that‟s over fibre, copper or airwaves. This is a
great mixed economy example of innovation
and collaboration by two organisations
pushing the boundaries of technology for the
benefit of customers.”
© British Telecommunications plc
37
Focus on broadband related activities:
•
Increasing copper based broadband capability:
– Increase speed / coverage of installed copper broadband asset
– Create a copper broadband evolution path in BT‟s NGA/SFBB
strategy
•
LTE – “a reality check”
– What LTE is, and its performance characteristics
– LTE‟s role in a mixed economy approach
•
TV White Spaces
– Description of the technology and BT‟s activities
– Capabilities and opportunities enabled by TV White Spaces
© British Telecommunications plc
38
TV White Spaces for Rural Broadband
Paul Bruce – Head of Wireless Research
TV “white spaces” spectrum
© British Telecommunications plc
TV “white spaces” spectrum
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
•
•
16 channels (128MHz) of cleared spectrum for auctions (2012)
32 channels (256MHz) interleaved spectrum retained for:
•
•
•
© British Telecommunications plc
38•
69
Licensed Primary Usage for Digital Broadcasting - 6 x DTT
multiplexes and licensed wireless microphones
Unlicensed Secondary Usage – via „Cognitive Radio‟
Access controlled via reference to an Ofcom geo-location
database
1 channel (8MHz) dedicated to Radio Microphones
TV “white spaces” spectrum
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
© British Telecommunications plc
31 32
Channel 60
69
TV “white spaces” spectrum versus Not-Spot locations
The more rural areas of Great Britain are where
there are the highest levels of broadband at
<2Mbps due to line length….
Percentage of
problem lines due
to length
0 to 1%
1% to 2%
2% to 3%
3% to 5%
5% to 9%
9% to 11.4%
© British Telecommunications plc
…which correlates well with the areas
of Great Britain where the most TV
white space spectrum will be available.
White space spectrum
availability
White = greatest availability
Red = least availability
The Not Spot opportunity
– If „D + E‟ are too long then 2Mbps
broadband is not possible. NGA
might bring fibre to cabinet but „D‟
length still might be too long
– Challenge is to cover „not-spot‟,
premises that cannot get 2Mbit/s
broadband
Number of notspots
– There are 2.75m customers whose
service is <2Mbit/s in the UK
[Ofcom]
– TV white space technology could
cover around 25% of these.
Satellite
Next
Generation
Fibre +
Copper
Access
BET
Copper
Access
TV White
Space
wireless
Access
© British Telecommunications plc
Non-LoS TVWS
LoS TVWS
BET – Broadband Extension Technology
The Concept
Standard TV Aerial
Up to 5km non line-of-sight, 8km line-of-sight
TVWS BS
TV white space transceiver
to Ethernet
Router
Ethernet
DSLAM
Backhaul
 Sharing wireless spectrum with Digital TV
Transmitters.
 UHF between 470 – 790MHz
© British Telecommunications plc
 Low diffraction and building penetration loss
Rural Broadband Trial on the Isle of Bute
• Collaborative R&D project supported by the UK government‟s
Technology Strategy Board started 1st April 2011 until mid 2012
• To build and test a trial white space broadband network on Bute,
Scotland, with backhaul connection to the mainland via microwave
• Purpose: to prove the viability of the technology and establish the
processes required
• Six collaborating partners:
© British Telecommunications plc
So currently ...
• BT‟s activity with TV white space is in the research phase
• Carrying out a technology trial on the Isle of Bute
• Part of the toolkit for delivering broadband in difficult situations where
copper and fibre not suitable
• Ofcom predict real deployments in 2013 following appropriate
legislation
• Several other research activities including the „Cambridge White
Space Trial‟ and EU funded projects
© British Telecommunications plc
... and more opportunities with Cognitive (thinking) Radio
Secondary use
of military
spectrum
coming
available.
(Date tbd)
Home Hub 3 Introduced Cognitive
Radio techniques to WiFi to
improve the efficiency of 2.4GHz
operation. (Available 2011).
© British Telecommunications plc
Earliest opportunity
is rural broadband
in TV white space
using geo-location.
TSB trial (mid-2011
for 12 months)
Solve challenges to
make system support
QoS & mobility. EU
Project QoSMOS
(Jan 2010 for 36
months)
With dedicated
silicon introduce a
whole new era of
M2M (machine to
machine) control.
Working with the
„Cambridge White
Space Trial
started‟ (mid-2011)
Thank you and
questions