50-100 megabits so cheap it can go everywhere. Lantiq's new VINAX dp8 is designed to lower the price of an 8 port DSLAM to $20/connection. Include the hookup cost and it's only about what the customer pays in a single month. Lantiq says similar units today cost more than twice that. The nominal speeds in the lab are 200 down, 100 up; 50+ megabits down, 25+ up will often be practical for 500 meters. In small buildings, performance will be much better, often 100/50. While larger buildings can be served with multiple cheap units, the interference in the binder becomes a crucial factor. With vectoring, the rate reach would often double, but that's a more expensive and complicated system.   

The unit is based on their existing 8/16 port VDSL chips, controlled by an inexpensive network processor Lantiq originally designed for their GPON system on chip. Eliminating the high-performance network processor simplifies design, further reducing cost.

See the diagram for the logical design. Lantiq has long supplied half a dozen large Chinese design houses with a standard modem design; the competition has kept modem prices very low - ADSL modems in volume are $25-30 or so. Those same companies can manufacture this small, simple DSLAM design. These ODMs produce high volumes at very low costs.  

Stefan Hirscher writes "Our chipsets work together seamlessly, without a network processor in between. They still provide all the required network processing capabilities for the GPON/VDSL flow control, impulse noise protection and quality of service requirements. An all new firmware leverages the hardware resources including the L2 switch in our GPON SoC and the packet engines in our chipsets to enable very smart and efficient DPUs. In NPU-less designs, it’s a big challenge pushing throughput to the absolute limit of current day VDSL, unaffected by CPU load and chip control overhead. We have spent a lot of effort to got it right.”

He adds, "For FTTdp applications we can take full advantage of all the hardware building blocks in our chipsets. Other GPON and VDSL chipsets in the market might offer a more programmable architecture, which has its merits in certain applications, but if you want to make a baby DSLAM without carrying the complexity, cost and power consumption of a network processor, VINAX dp8 is the best choice. By taking out the complexity of a network processor, we are enabling new market players and new business models. Besides lower invest per port, deployments become more scalable. Telcos can tailor their invest better to actual demand. Multi-port FTTdp with VINAX dp8 will change the way broadband is brought to people with low data rates or no broadband access all." 

The chips are available today.

Lantiq Introduces Most Efficient Broadband Access System Ever

Technology Media, Business & Financial Press

New 8-Port Fiber-to-the-Distribution-Point (FTTdp) Solution Delivers Ultrafast Broadband – Up to 300 Mbps per VDSL Line – In Compact, Robust Design

Munich/Neubiberg, Germany – April 13, 2015 – Lantiq, a leading supplier of broadband access and home networking technologies, today announced availability of its new VINAX™ dp8 Fiber to the Distribution Point chipset, supported with a reference design to enable rapid deployment of 8-port broadband hybrid fiber/copper distribution point unit (DDU) with data rates of up to 300 Mbps per VDSL line – a milestone for the communications industry and the most efficient broadband access system in the market.

The GPON/VDSL DPU terminates a carrier’s fiber line near subscriber homes, and then extends 8 VDSL lines into customer premises. Based on the renowned Lantiq FALC™ ON GPON SoC and the new Lantiq VINAX dp8 VDSL2 transceiver, this innovative system integrates all required network processing functions for flow control with advanced impulse noise protection (G.INP) and solid quality of service (QoS) features. The reference design also includes an advanced reverse power extractor, ensuring balanced power sharing among up to 8 individual user lines.

Key features of the VINAX dp8 system solution:

• Up to 8 VDSL lines with up to 300 Mbps aggregated data rate per line at 100 meter range from the DPU
• Robust architecture, with data rates not impacted by CPU load or in-band control
• Minimal footprint of the complete solution; with the integration of network processing functions and a new reverse power extractor, the reference design fits in a 16 x 16 cm box
• Carrier-grade feature set and future proof roadmap, based on field proven GPON and VDSL platforms with millions of lines installed worldwide

By eliminating the need for costly termination of fiber lines inside each customer premise, FTTdp is the most economical network topology available to many carriers that have invested in fiber distribution lines.  On short copper loops in a hybrid FTTdp network, VDSL2 technology provides fiber-like rates up to 300 Mbps. Furthermore, hybrid fiber/copper DPUs can be reverse powered from the subscriber home and do not require a power source. Additionally, the low port density of DPUs makes FTTdp substantially less complex and much easier to deploy and manage than conventional DSLAMs and MDUs.

Comment:

Dirk Wieberneit, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Broadband Business Unit: “The VINAX dp8 chipset and our reference design system solution is a paradigm shifting innovation that enables ultra-lowest cost MDUs. The highly integrated design enables record time-to-market and provides network operators with an immediate solution for state-of-the-art 150 Mbps to 300 Mbps class broadband services at minimal system cost per port.”

Availability

VINAX dp8 and the corresponding Lantiq DPU reference design are available now. More information is available at:www.lantiq.com/FTTdp