LIGHTS! Broadband Basics
Presented by: CBG Communications, Inc.
Tom Robinson, President 73 Chestnut Rd, Suite 301
Paoli, PA 19301
Phone (610) 889-7470
NATOA ANNUAL CONFERENCE SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
2013 – ORLANDO, FL
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What is Broadband?
Multiple answers to this question
Characterized by its ability to provide multiple services over a single connection
What is Broadband?
Historically, broadband has been defined as: The opposite of narrowband Having a bandwidth greater than a voice grade line of
3 kilohertz (kHz) Facilitating a data transfer rate greater than 64
kilobits per second (Kbps) Facilitating a transfer rate equal to or greater than
768 Kbps downstream and 200 Kbps upstream (NTIA definition)
Current FCC Definition is at least 4 Mbps (megabits per second) downstream and 1 Mbps upstream
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CBG Communications, Inc.
What is Broadband?
Historically, broadband has been defined, cont’d: Cable television, sometimes referred to as a
“classic” broadband system
Anything referred to as “broadband” by advertisers
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CBG Communications, Inc.
CBG Communications, Inc.
What is Broadband?
How is broadband different from “not broadband”? Provides higher-speed of data transmission
Provides access to the highest quality Internet services
Broadband is “always on”
Less delay – enables high bandwidth, high capacity, “real-time” services
Broadband Speed Comparisons
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireline
Fiber optic infrastructure
• Also copper such as twisted pair (phone lines) and coax (cable TV)
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Wireline Connectors
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireline, cont’d
Advanced transport methodologies
Such as Gigabit Ethernet (1 billion bits per second)
Switched services
Information appliances
In the house and portable
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireline, cont’d
NIUs, NIDs, home gateways, etc. At the side of the building
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireless
Wireless antennas and towers
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireless, cont’d
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)
802.11a & 802.11g – data transfer rates up to 54 Mbps
802.11b – data transfer rates up to 11 Mbps
802.11n – throughputs in excess of 150 Mbps
Cellular Broadband
3G (3rd Generation) – Speeds of up to 4 Mbps
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Broadband Technology Elements
Wireless, cont’d WiMAX
802.16
Significantly greater coverage areas
Used for backhaul initially
As WiMAX evolves, it will migrate further into the network – 802.16e
4G (4th Generation) – Speeds of up to 30 Mbps+
LTE (Long Term Evolution)
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Wireless Technology Options
Best effort services 100% of networks throughput is shared by all users
Every user gets equal priority on and access to the network
Priority-based services
VoIP
Emergency communications
IP video
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Broadband Networks
LAN – Local Area Network
In home, in office, in building
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Institutional Networks (I-Nets)
Community Broadband Networks
Network of Networks
HFC Plant
HFC Plant
HFC Plant
School
Residential
Residential
Residential Residential Residential
Library
Cable System Headend
Residential Residential
Downtown
City Backbone and Cable Backbone
Fire Station
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Broadband Services
Services Provided Primarily to Businesses Transparent LAN, Ethernet private line
services 10 Mbps
100 Mbps
1 Gbps
T-1 (1.54 Mbps)
Dark fiber lease
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Broadband Services
Services for business, SOHO business, and the residential community
Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)
Cable modem services (HSI)
Integrated wireless services (cellular voice/wireless Internet access for integrated voice/data devices [smartphones, tablets, etc.])
DOCSIS
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications
Current DOCSIS 3.0 systems offer 100+ Mbps downstream and 20+ Mbps upstream to customers
DOCSIS 3.1 demonstrated speeds of 6 Gbps downstream in a lab setting using 750 MHz of bandwidth (85% - 100% of total bandwidth available on most active cable systems today)
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Broadband Impact on Cable Television
Transport to the headend Digital, optical, IP-based
Uncompressed digital
Delivery to subscribers Compression ratio or encoding rate utilized
QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation)-based
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)
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CBG Communications, Inc.
Broadband’s Impact on Cable Television
Switched Digital Video (SDV)/Switched Digital Broadcast (SDB) Frequently viewed channels broadcast to all
(system-wide delivery)
Other channels are individually selectable (multi-use bandwidth)
Interactive Television (ITV) Two-way services allowing application developers
access to subscribers through the cable platform
Switched Digital Video/ Switched Digital Broadcast
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Interactive Television
Interactive Television (ITV) is one way that service delivery is moving to attract the younger generation that desires and seeks out such services.
The cable industry is focusing on adding interactive elements, and consequently more on demand features, to traditional TV programming
It also allows the industry to promote convergence across TV, internet, digital phone, mobile and other device platforms, which are all platforms that the industry is involved in now
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Broadband Is:
Everywhere (or rather, needs to be)
Essential
Connecting us to the Future!
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CBG Communications, Inc.
Thank you!