From: Mark Laubach <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: July 21, 2005 1:52:07 PM PDT
To: "Dewayne-Net Technology List" <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: SDM vs ETTH over cable. Why stop at 100Mbps???
Recently, Finnish firm Teleste released PR about 100Mbps Ethernet-
to-the-home
over cable. The information presented is likely a very good
summary of the
general approach of ETTH over Cable. I'd like to compare some
information
about Broadband Physics' Sub-band Division Multiplexing (SDM) vs
ETTH over cable.
SDM ETTH
----------- ---------------
Speed (Mbps) 180 100
Cost $ $0 delta $60.28 to $241
Changes to cable plant None Yes
Head End changes Yes Not stated
DOCSIS Compatible Yes No
EURO DOCSIS Compatible Yes No
Field Trials 2H 2005 Summer 2005
Quantity 2007 2007
Patent Protected Fully Not stated
For ETTH, the peak speed is 100Mbps with a significant cost to the
operator per subscriber. Also, it is not clear what changes need to
take place at the existing Fiber Nodes in the Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial
plant
Any changes could be potentially expensive. The biggest drawback
is that
the approach is appears to not be DOCSIS compatible. Also, it is not
clear if this is a to-the-home or to-the-device technology. If it is
only to-the-home, then the cost to connect subscriber equipment via
Ethernet needs to be taken into account.
For SDM, the technology uses the exact same Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial plant
without changes. The change to subscriber equipment is a chip change
that is targeted at the same costs as today's chips in mature
quantities
yield a $0 delta cost. Add $4-$7 to maintain backwards compatibility.
The native speed provides a peak rate of 180Mbps for each subscriber
device. A channel bonding approach can bring speeds in excess of
1Gbps.
Head end support is a blade change or a box change. The technology
fits neatly into the DOCSIS 2.0 specification, which means
straightforward compatibility for DOCSIS 3.x adoption. As SDM is
already fully patent protected, future cable industry adoption
would not be subject to any intellectual property challenges.
The quantity time frame for both SDM and ETTH is in 2007.
An complete economic impact comparison requires understanding all the
system changes required for and ETTH method vs the SDM method.
Neglecting
head end costs, SDM requires $0 changes in existing cable plant
between
the head end and the subscriber equipment. ETTH will require unstated
changes in the existing architecture that could be significant.
Which would you choose?
Mark Laubach, CEO
Broadband Physics, Inc.
At 1:06 PM -0700 7/20/05, Dewayne Hendricks wrote:
Broadband eyes a quantum leap
Internet access 50 times faster than current speeds could arrive
via TV cables as early as '06. Reuters reports broadband Internet
access via TV cables will be able to hit 100 megabits per second
as early as next year, 50 times faster than the average broadband
speeds now offered to cable TV homes, a Finnish firm said
Wednesday. Similar data transmission speeds are possible over
fiber networks, but these cost much more for the operators to build.
<http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/20/technology/broadband.reut/
index.htm?cnn=yes>