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DSL is an acronym for Digital Subscriber Line. Presently, there are at least four types of DSL. While each type of DSL is given some treatment here, we are primarily concerned with ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. ADSL is a high-speed digital signal processing method for encoding information that is well suited for transmission over copper lines.
ADSL technology allows the simultaneous transmission and reception of data at speeds of up to 10 Mbps downstream and 650 Kbps upstream over 18,000 feet of copper wire without additional signal conditioning. Since 80 percent of U.S. homes and businesses are located within 18,000 feet of a central office, most of us will be able to use ADSL technology without any additional signal conditioning. Unless otherwise specified, the following discussions will refer to ADSL technology.
Why? Copper wire and bandwidth, faster faxes, faster Internet access, video-on-demand, multimedia, teleconferencing, telemedicine, virtual theaters, and cyber-cinemas. Virtually every homeowner and most businesses, from now on referred to as users, have four copper wires running from their home/business to a local telephone company switching office called a central office (CO). An inexpensive technology that can utilize the current infrastructure with minimum modification and deliver good quality data at the speeds necessary for the applications in demand is much needed. ATM/ADSL is that inexpensive technology. Competition between telecommunications service providers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and cable TV companies drives the race to add ATM and ADSL technology to telecommunications service providers infrastructure.
It is estimated that 650 million dial-up telephone lines are currently installed around the world. Of the 650 million, 50 million are fiber and 600 million are copper. By the year 2000, there will be an estimated 700 million dial-up lines. Each one of these dial-up connections represents a potential customer for Internet, multimedia, and video services using ATM and ADSL technologies.
Previously, for a user to have multimedia services, expensive technologies were required to get the information from the service provider to the users facility. ATM and ADSL equipment manufacturers are predicting that users will be able to have multimedia services for little more than the cost of a cable TV hook-up without running any additional cabling to the home or business. All that the user will need is a set-top box, similar to an analog modem.
ATM and ADSL may just be the driving force that unifies the world into the much talked about global community. A global community requires a global information repository, a global language, and a global information transmission system. English is the default language of the Internet. The Internet is the default global library. Through Internet usage, the English language is spread to every corner of the world and will become the default global language. Now, a global information transmission system is required. ATM and ADSL will become that global information transmission system.
ATM and ADSL have the ability to effortlessly perform the tasks necessary to become a universal and global information transmission system. ATM and ADSL will provide one global backbone network for all types of traffic. A backbone network is a network used by long-haul carriers to transport data from source to destination. A backbone network is composed of various transmission equipment and network management functions.
ATM can:
ADSL can:
ATM provides for incremental migration capability of legacy (already existing) networks, assuring economical allocation of scarce resources while allowing users to incorporate ATM technology in todays networks. ATM is scaleable, meaning it comes in various speeds, from small (64 Kbps) to large (gigabits/second).
For ATM to survive and even thrive, there must be economic incentives for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to design and manufacture ATM equipment, for service providers to install ATM backbone networks, and for users to migrate from legacy networks to ATM.
ATM/ADSL for business is a many-faceted diamond. ATM empowers numerous desirable network characteristics:
ATM/ADSL, besides offering exciting, new opportunities for businesses, gives consumers access to the information superhighway at speeds difficult to even imagine a few short years ago. And the worlds audio and video library will be at our fingertips. Let us rejoice that we live in an age of such monumental change in the very way we will evolve as social creatures. Why ATM/ADSL for the consumer? High-speed Internet access, video, video, and more video.
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