Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
  • H04M11/06—Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
  • H04M11/062—Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors using different frequency bands for speech and other data
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q1/00—Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements
  • H04Q1/02—Constructional details
  • H04Q1/14—Distribution frames
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q1/00—Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements
  • H04Q1/02—Constructional details
  • H04Q1/14—Distribution frames
  • H04Q1/145—Distribution frames with switches arranged in a matrix configuration
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q1/00—Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements
  • H04Q1/02—Constructional details
  • H04Q1/14—Distribution frames
  • H04Q1/147—Distribution frames using robots for distributing

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the installation of telecommunication services, and more particularly, to a method and system for providing xDSL and telephony services to subscribers using telecommunication networks.
• DSL digital subscriber line
• xDSL represents a group of higher bit- rate digital subscriber line communications schemes using the standard copper wire twisted pair subscriber lines to provide office or residential broadband access to the Internet.
• ADSL Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line
• ADSL is primarily aimed at the residential market and provides greater bandwidth for downstream data than for upstream data and works by reserving a portion of the available channel bandwidth for support of traditional analog telephone service, also often referred to as Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).
• POTS Plain Old Telephone Service
• Other examples of DSL include High data rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL), and Very high data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), and Symmetric DSL (SDSL) which provide equal bandwidth in both the upstream and downstream directions. SDSL does not provide support for POTS and is better suited to business applications such as network server communications, etc.
• the central office houses a telephone exchange to which subscriber home and business lines are connected to the network on what is called a local loop.
• many of the connections to residential and business subscribers are made using copper wires or twisted pairs that collectively form a large copper network operated by the telecom provider.
• MDF main distribution frame
• the central office must dispatch technicians to the MDF site to manually perform installations of telephone and other services such as xDSL which are highly labor intensive processes that result in one of the most significant costs faced by telecom providers.
• Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art connection of a conventional analog phone connection from the subscriber phone 100 to the central office exchange via the MDF.
• the subscriber phone 100 and corresponding subscriber line 102 connects to a connector block within the MDF cabinet.
• the MDF typically comprises columns of connector blocks 110 for the line side that connect to the subscriber lines.
• columns of connector blocks 112 on the exchange side for which lines from the exchange are connected within the MDF.
• a cross-connection is generally made by physically placing a jumper wire 114 to connect the subscriber line to the exchange, for example, subscriber line 102 to port 1.
• the exchange is further connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for routing incoming and outgoing calls to and from the subscriber line.
• PSTN public switched telephone network
• the connector blocks used in MDFs are basically similar, however, there are minor variations that are currently in use, the most common being the LSA-Plus connector block manufactured by KRONE Inc., a subsidiary of GenTek Inc. of Hampton, New Hampshire, USA.
• the KRONE connector blocks are typically able to accommodate up to 2 x 10 line pairs at a time. Thus there can be 10 subscriber line pairs connected to the connector block for connection to the exchange ports 1-10 respectively. Additional subscriber line pairs are cross-connected to the exchange via further connector blocks to further exchange ports.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary prior art process for connecting a subscriber line 102 to a central office data network 126 for delivering high-speed xDSL service.
• the data network can be the Internet, local public or private Intranets, or other types of data networks.
• the subscriber phone apparatus 100 and computer equipment 101 are connected to a splitter 103 and connected the subscriber line 102.
• the line is connected to connector block 110 however, instead of connecting a jumper wire directly to the exchange side connector block 112, jumper wire 118 is typically connected to connector block 120, which feeds into a filter device 122 comprising high and low pass filters for separating the low frequency analog phone signals from the high frequency data signals on the subscriber line.
• the high frequency signal components are supplied to, or received from, one or more so-called digital subscriber loop access multiplexers (DSLAMs).
• the DSLAM contains 'analog front end' (AFE) circuitry that includes amplifying circuitry for processing the high frequency signals by digitizing the high frequency signals from the xDSL lines and supplying the resulting digital data signals to a digital signal processor (DSP) modem 124 for transmission to and from the data network 126.
• AFE 'analog front end'
• DSP digital signal processor
• the low frequency phone signals from the low pass filter is typically routed to a connector block 130 on the line side in order to make a cross-connect back to the connector block 112 for connection to physical exchange port 1 which maintains the original subscriber telephone service and number.
• the physical port is the same as the logical port in the exchange. It is readily apparent that the installation of xDSL service made in this way is rather labor intensive since the central office must dispatch a technician to manually install appropriate cross-connects for each subscriber line. Another disadvantage of the above technique is that it requires the use of additional connector blocks on both the subscriber and exchange side for the rerouted jumper wires, which adds to operator costs. When installing xDSL to an existing subscriber line, the existing jumper wire needs to be removed and two new jumper wires added, which often makes it is necessary to expand the MDF. This means there are additional requirements for additional connector blocks, jumper wires, floor space, and labor for each new installation.
• the amalgamation of jumper wires may cause a multiple of signalling problems.
• the extending wiring adds capacitance and resistance and may pick up considerable electromagnetic interference from external sources such as cross talk from adjacent active pairs. All of these effects can disrupt xDSL broadband digital service and reduce the performance provided to the subscriber.
• a method and system for providing digital subscriber line (xDSL) and telephone service to subscribers via a telecommunication network installation of xDSL for providing broadband service is performed by connecting, via the main distribution frame (MDF), the subscriber line to a central office high-speed data network.
• MDF main distribution frame
• the subscriber lines may be connected to a central office exchange to provide conventional telephone service.
• the exchange includes a plurality of physical ports and corresponding programmable logical ports for providing conventional telephone service.
• the MDF includes a plurality of connector blocks used for connecting the subscriber lines to the various services.
• the method of installing xDSL service for subscribers with previous telephone service comprises the steps of: connecting the subscriber line to an integrated filter board(s) for separating the signal components relating to the telephone service from signal components relating to the digital data signals, routing the signal components relating to the telephone service to a new physical port on the exchange, re-configuring the logical port on the exchange to correspond with the new physical port in order to retain the subscriber's previous telep hone service and number, and routing the digital data signals from the integrated filter board to a modem bank for transmission to and from the data network.
• New subscribers without previous telephone service can be routed directly to the integrated filter board for onward connection to the data network and exchange, without the need for port reconfiguration.
• the system for providing xDSL service is operable in cooperation with an automated cross-connect system used for remotely managing cross- connects within the central office MDF.
• the automated cross-connect system comprises a plurality of modular cross-connect boards inserted into or attached to the connector blocks within the MDF.
• the automated cross-connect system automatically routes the subscriber line pairs to the integrated filter board for onward connection to the exchange and data network.
• the invention significantly reduces the amount of labor required for installing xDSL service to subscribers by providing a pooled solution for subscriber lines connected to integrated filter board(s) on the exchange side. This enables remote installation of xDSL and telephony services from the central office without the need for manual intervention by technicians at the MDF site.
• FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary connection of a conventional subscriber phone 100 to the central office exchange via the MDF;
• FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary xDSL installation in the MDF for delivering highspeed DSL service to local subscriber loops
• FIG. 3 shows an exemplary xDSL installation in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 4 shows an exemplary DSL installation operating in cooperation with an automated cross-connect system in accordance with a second embodiment
• FIG. 5 is an exploded side view illustration of an integrated filter arrangement and integrated filter board inserted into a connector block
• FIG. 6 shows side view illustration of an exemplary installation combining the access board with twin filter board connected as a unit inserted into connector blocks;
• Fig. 7 depicts a top view of the twin filter board inserted into the connector block in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 8 depicts a top view of the integrated twin filter board in accordance with another aspect of the invention.
• the subscriber's telephone network carrier installs an xDSL modem unit at the network end of the user's existing twisted-pair copper telephone wiring.
• this modem is installed in the serving central office or in the remote terminal of a digital loop carrier system.
• the subscriber connects a compatible xDSL modem to the subscriber premises end of the telephone wiring that is connected to the central office data network via subscriber line to the MDF.
• FIG. 3 shows an exemplary installation of xDSL and telephone service to a subscriber 100,101 via a telecommunication network.
• the central office technician connects the subscriber line to the high-speed data network 126.
• the connection is routed to a integrated filter board 160 containing a bank of combined high and low pass signal filters located in the MDF.
• the output from the filter comprising the low pass signal components is plugged into a new physical port on the exchange. This means that the original physical port 1 that subscriber 100 previously used for phone service has now changed.
• the new physical port has been reconfigured to the original logical port 1, as shown in the figure. Furthermore, the original physical port 1 on the exchange that hosted the original telephone connection is reconfigured to logical port 41 from the previously associated with the new physical port.
• the reconfiguration of the logical ports on the exchange is performed by software at the central office at the time of installation. Virtually all modern telephone exchanges have the capability to reconfigure the port assignments with software commands as opposed to the analog exchanges used in the past.
• the output from the high pass filter comprising the digital signal components is sent to an xDSL modem 150, which is typically a modem shelf comprising a bank of modems, is generally installed in the serving central office or in the remote terminal of a digital loop carrier system that are further connected to the data network 126.
• Installed with the subscriber's computer equipment is compatible high-speed modem (not shown) that converts high frequency analog signals into modulated digital signals and vice versa, which are demodulated at the central office modem 150.
• the high frequency analog signals have a frequency in the range from about 25 kHz to several megahertz, whereas the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) signals have a much lower frequency i.e. less than 25 kHz, for example.
• the described solution allows all subscribers serviced by the MDF to be connected to the integrated filter boards at the time xDSL service is installed. This has the advantage of eliminating redundant wiring for individual filter and modem connections. Significant savings are achieved by reducing the amount of expensive labor time when performing multiple subscriber installations, since it will only require the technician to plug a jumper wire into the integrated filter board.
• the corresponding step reconfiguring the logical exchange ports can be performed at the central office or at the MDF site by the technician. Further advantages of the technique include the elimination of the need for additional connector blocks and extra jumper wiring previously used to route the POTS lines back to the original exchange ports.
• Fig. 4 shows the xDSL system for providing broadband service that is operable in cooperation with an automated cross-connect system 400, in accordance with a second embodiment.
• the automated cross-connect system 400 enables so-called any-to-any connections from any of the subscriber line pair to any physical (or logical) port on the exchange.
• the process for xDSL installations can be similarly automated by utilizing the automated cross-connect system to automatically route subscriber lines to the integrated filter board.
• subscriber line 100,101 is connected at the MDF via connector block 110 as described previously.
• the output lines from the connector block are coupled to the cross-connect system 400, which establishes on demand a cross-connection to the integrated filter board 160 comprising a bank of filters components integrated on the board.
• the low pass telephone output signal from the subscriber line is routed to the logical exchange port 1 to provide normal telephone service.
• the exchange ports are then reconfigured by software to enable the subscriber to remain on logical port 1 to retain the same phone number.
• the high pass output signal is routed to modem 150 for connection to the data network 126, thus making the entire xDSL installation process transparent to the users.
• the connector blocks have the capacity to connect up to 10 line pairs thereby requiring rerouting of subscriber lines to additional integrated filter boards as the numbers of subscriber xDSL installations increase.
• the invention is no way limited to the capacity of the particular connector blocks used since other connector block types may be utilized with the invention.
• the automated cross-connect system utilizes a plurality of interconnected modular cross-connect boards that are connected to the connector blocks in the MDF on both the line and the exchange sides.
• the connector blocks used in the embodiment are manufactured by KRONE Inc., which have the capability for allowing boards to be inserted into them. It should be noted that the invention could be used with other types of connector blocks whereby the boards can be connected thereto in ways other than by insertion.
• the xDSL integrated filter boards are similarly inserted into to the connector blocks of the MDF along with the modular cross-connect blocks. This provides a pooled solution to eliminate the need for filters for the individual lines.
• Fig. 5 is an exploded side view illustration of an integrated filter board inserted into an exemplary MDF connector block.
• the integrated filter board 160 includes a bank of integrated filters on the filter board and that the enlarged view of a single component is shown for the sake of simplicity.
• the inputs to the filters arrive from the subscriber line or jumper side (J) contact pin of the connector block.
• Each filter component comprises a high pass and low pass filter component integrated on a PCB board by conventional well-known techniques.
• the output from the high pass filter 164 is connected to the output port leading to the modem shelf 150, which is further connected to the data network 126.
• the output from the low pass filter 166 is routed to the exchange port via the line side (L) contact pin in the connector block.
• the number of filter components on the access board typically corresponds with the number of line pairs handled by the connector block, which in this example is 10 pairs.
• FIG. 6 shows side view illustration of an exemplary installation configuration using a combination of a cross-connect access board and integrated twin filter board inserted into a set of connector blocks and operating as a unit.
• the embodiment is particularly suited for operating in conjunction with an automated cross-connected system installed in the MDF, such as the NexaTM automated cross-connect system using modular cross- connect boards inserted into the connector blocks.
• the access board and twin filter board together provide direct access to the lines and the exchange. It is possible that the cross-connect system employs a center stage made up of a plurality of cross- connect boards to accommodate higher capacity MDFs.
• an access board cross-connect board
• twin filter board are linked together and inserted into two connector blocks to operate as a unit.
• the cross-connect or access boards are capable of cross-connecting 20x20 line pairs each compared to the 10 pairs of the connector block.
• an additional board is inserted into an adjacent connector block for connecting a second set of 10 line pairs to the access board for cross-connecting a total of 20 line pairs. Since the additional board is only used for connecting the second set of line pairs it is possible to include or integrate the filter components on the board i.e.
• twin filter board filters out the data signals on the subscriber line and sends them on to the modem bank for connection to the central office data network.
• line capacities mentioned relate to the capacities of the connector blocks, which are exemplary that may result in other board installation configurations and that invention is in no way limited to the numbers expressed since other capacities may be used.
• Fig. 7 depicts a top view of the twin filter board 160 inserted into the connector block in accordance with the present invention.
• the twin filter board is a PCB comprising a bank of integrated filters (only a single component is shown for simplicity) implemented with conventional circuit board techniques.
• the subscriber line 162 is input into the filter bank whose high frequency output 164 is routed to a connector port leading to the modem shelf 150, whereas the low frequency output 166 is routed to a connector port leading to the exchange port via the access board coupling.
• Fig. 8 depicts a top view of the twin filter access board also referred to as an integrated filter/modem board in accordance with another aspect of the invention. With current integrated circuit techniques it is possible to incorporate an xDSL modem bank 170 into the filter board in order to further streamline the system.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Use Of Switch Circuits For Exchanges And Methods Of Control Of Multiplex Exchanges (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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• 2004
  • 2004-03-17 SE SE0400669A patent/SE0400669D0/xx unknown
• 2005
  • 2005-03-15 EP EP05709018A patent/EP1730943A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2005-03-15 WO PCT/IB2005/050911 patent/WO2005091613A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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