432 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,p.

432-438(October 2006)
Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs):
Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
V Brett Handl ey
(Manuscript received April 13, 2006)
While it is possible to envisage a Next-Generation Network (NGN) solution with a
heterogeneous core, the same cannot be said for the fixed access network. Multiple
legacies and new technologies must continue to be supported, delivering the widest
range of services and adapting them so they can be carried over the NGN core. This
paper considers the range of services and technologies that have to be handled by the
access network and how a single solution the Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN)
can be cost-effectively developed and deployed to meet the challenge of providing an
access gateway to the NGN core. It then looks at an MSAN solution called GeoStream
Access Gateway that was developed by Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Limited
and chosen by British Telecom (BT) for their 21
st
Century Network in the UK.
1. Introduction
Tr adi ti onal l y, fi xed access networ ks have
been devel oped to del i ver speci fi c ser vi ces, for
exampl e, publ i c swi tched tel ephone networ ks
(PSTNs) and pri vate ci rcui t (l eased l i ne) networks.
I n general , thi s has l ed to a prol i ferati on of access
network technol ogi es, each l i nked to a subset of
the total set of communi cati ons servi ces. One of
the fundamental pri nci pl es of a Next-Generati on
Networ k (NGN) i s the abi l i ty to offer ser vi ces
i ndependent from the underl yi ng del i very tech-
nol ogy, and i n the mai n thi s means convergi ng on
I P as the common networ k l ayer pr otocol for
everythi ng.
However i t i s not possi bl e, except i n pur e
gr eenfi el d appl i cati ons, to si mpl y r emove and
repl ace al l the exi sti ng end-user termi nal s i n the
network the cost of doi ng so woul d far outwei gh
the benefi ts gai ned by movi ng to an NGN. Thi s
cr eates a r equi r ement to mai ntai n suppor t for
l egacy access technol ogi es and to convert to I P as
cl ose to the edge of the network as possi bl e, as
defi ned by network economi cs. There i s al so the
questi on of how far i nto the access network the
I P-l ayer i ntel l i gence needs to reach.
I n order to fl exi bl y meet these requi rements,
networ k oper ator s need a Mul ti -Ser vi ce Access
Node (MSAN), whi ch i s a pl atfor m capabl e of
supporti ng al l the wi del y depl oyed access tech-
nol ogi es and ser vi ces as wel l as the newl y
emer gi ng ones, whi l e si mul taneousl y pr ovi di ng
a gateway to an NGN cor e. To suppor t the
mi grati on of operators to NGN, Fuji tsu Tel ecom-
muni cati ons Europe Li mi ted has devel oped the
GeoStream Access Gateway. Thi s gateway i s a
compl ete MSAN sol uti on that can cost-effecti vel y
del i ver a combi nati on of tradi ti onal and emerg-
i ng servi ces over a vari ety of access technol ogi es
(Pl ai n Ol d Tel ephone System [POTS], I ntegrated
Ser vi ce Di gi tal Networ k [I SDN], Asymmetr i c
Di gi tal Subscri ber Li ne [ADSL], Symmetri c Di gi -
tal Subscr i ber Li ne [SDSL], and Synchr onous
Di gi tal Hi er ar chy [SDH]), i nter faci ng to both
l egacy and NGN cores.
433 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
2. PSTN migration challenge
For many tr adi ti onal networ k oper ator s
(for mer post, tel ephone, and tel egr aph [PTT]
oper ator s), the PSTNs wer e the or i gi n of thei r
busi ness and remai n a key, i f decl i ni ng, source of
revenue. Over many years, PSTNs have evol ved
a wi de range of servi ces and features, al l desi gned
to be del i ver ed over the exi sti ng copper access
i nfrastructure. When such an operator deci des
to depl oy an NGN, retai ni ng the exi sti ng PSTN
servi ces i s l i kel y to be a pri ori ty. Thi s coul d be
achi eved by mai ntai ni ng a par al l el PSTN
i nfr astr uctur e, but thi s i s not al ways sensi bl e
economi cal l y, and so mi grati on of PSTN servi ces
to an NGN becomes necessary.
Large, nati onal carri ers may have many mi l -
l i ons of PSTN customers, whi ch makes upgradi ng
every end user termi nal unreal i sti c i n the short
term. Thi s means that an MSAN must support
exi sti ng access i nter faces, i ncl udi ng anal ogue
POTS, basi c rate I SDN, and pri mary rate I SDN.
On top of these, ther e ar e often other l egacy
access i nterfaces, for exampl e, I SDN i n Europe
based on pr e-ETSI standar ds, as wel l as other
speci al servi ces del i vered over the copper access
such as meter pul ses for payphones and connec-
ti ons for i ntruder al arm systems. The chal l enge
i n cr eati ng a sol uti on to meet al l these ser vi ce
requi rements i s consi derabl y more arduous than
si mpl y depl oyi ng an overl ay Voi ce over I nternet
Protocol (VoI P) sol uti on.
As wel l as suppor ti ng the whol e r ange of
PSTN ser vi ces, ther e ar e often l egal and other
regul atory requi rements that must be met. For
exampl e, many carri ers are obl i ged to suppl y a
l i fel i ne tel ephony servi ce; that i s, thei r standard
POTS (and i ndeed basi c-rate I SDN) servi ce must
conti nue to functi on i n the event of a power fai l -
ure at the customers premi ses so that cal l s to the
emergency servi ces can be made. Effecti vel y, thi s
often means that ter mi nal devi ces must be
powered from the network. Consequentl y, MSANs
depl oyed to suppor t POTS and I SDN ser vi ces
must al so provi de thi s feature.
Ther e ar e many competi ng and/or compl e-
mentary VoI P sol uti ons, some of whi ch have been
avai l abl e for sever al year s. However, when
consi deri ng a compl ete PSTN repl acement sol u-
ti on (rather than a si mpl e, basi c cal l onl y model )
the choi ces are not so wi de. Fuji tsu has pl ayed
an acti ve rol e i n the devel opment of the standards
r equi r ed to depl oy such a sol uti on thr ough the
Mul ti -Ser vi ce For um,
1)
I ETF,
2)
ETSI ,
3)
and
I TU-T
4)
speci fi cal l y hel pi ng to defi ne H.248 as
a sui tabl e protocol for control of MSANs support-
i ng a ful l range of PSTN servi ces. The use of a
sti mul us-based protocol wi th servi ce i ntel l i gence
r esi di ng i n centr al i sed cal l ser ver s i s advanta-
geous when compared wi th the al ternati ve opti on
of re-devel opi ng exi sti ng servi ces to operate i n a
mor e di str i buted envi r onment (e.g., by usi ng
Sessi on I ni ti ati on Protocol [SI P]).
3. Continuing and enhancing
deployment of xDSL services
The MSAN must suppor t exi sti ng, wi del y
depl oyed, xDSL access technol ogi es (e.g., ADSL,
ADSL2, ADSL2+, READSL, SHDSL, and VDSL)
and be abl e to suppor t futur e technol ogi es, for
exampl e, VDSL2, wi th mi ni mal upgr adi ng. To
cr eate the GeoStr eam Access Gateway, Fuji tsu
bui l t on i ts Di gi tal Subscri ber Li ne Access Mul ti -
pl exer (DSLAM) experti se to devel op a sol uti on
that can be cost-competi ti ve i n the commodi ti sed
DSLAM market where the pri ce per port has
fal l en dramati cal l y over the past fi ve years and
yet sti l l be capabl e of supporti ng the ful l MSAN
servi ce/technol ogy set. As wel l as del i veri ng typ-
i cal , hi gh-bandwi dth, best-effort I nternet access
servi ces over xDSL, the MSAN must al so be abl e
to del i ver hi gh-qual i ty addi ti onal servi ces such as
br oadcast and on-demand tel evi si on, vi deo
tel ephony, and other i nter acti ve mul ti medi a
appl i cati ons.
MSANs for the NGN must al so take i nto
account that every copper access l i ne can be used
for POTS/I SDN, xDSL, or a combi nati on of both
of these at the same ti me.
434 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
4. Adding fixed-wireless access
I t i s anti ci pated that fi xed-wi r el ess access
usi ng 802.16-based technol ogy
5)
wi l l be used to
provi de broadband connecti vi ty i n some regi ons
wher e xDSL cannot r each. Whi l e standal one
Worl dwi de I nteroperabi l i ty for Mi crowave Access
(Wi MAX) systems can be used for thi s, there are
consi derabl e operati onal advantages for the net-
work operator i n usi ng the access pl atform that
i s al r eady bei ng used to del i ver fi xed l i ne
ser vi ces: for exampl e, backhaul i nter faces and
oper ati onal pr ocedur es can be r eused and/or
shared. The busi ness case for depl oyi ng a wi re-
l ess sol uti on can be consi der abl y i mpr oved by
usi ng MSANs that support both wi red and fi xed-
wi r el ess access si mul taneousl y, al l owi ng the
addi ti onal cost per customer of wi rel ess access to
be amorti sed across a wi der user base.
5. Increasing fiber penetration
Many l ar ge oper ator s, and smal l er ones
focusi ng on parti cul ar market segments, al ready
have fi ber connecti ons to some of thei r customer
premi ses typi cal l y to l arge busi ness customers
who requi re very hi gh bandwi dth connecti ons for
thei r voi ce and data servi ces. Operators are al so
conti nual l y i nvesti gati ng the feasi bi l i ty of
br i ngi ng fi ber cl oser to smal l er customer s
by fi ber-to-the-ker b or even fi ber-to-the-home
sol uti ons someti mes wi th di rect fi ber or more
general l y by usi ng Passi ve Opti cal Network (PON)
archi tectures (Gi gabi t PON [G-PON])
6)
i n parti c-
ul ar). Once agai n, the MSAN needs to support
the exi sti ng fi ber access sol uti ons and provi de a
pl atform to del i ver deeper fi ber penetrati on as the
access network evol ves.
As al ready di scussed i n rel ati on to Wi MAX,
depl oyment of FTTx sol uti ons can become more
economi cal l y attr acti ve when r esour ces can be
shar ed wi th equi pment depl oyed for exi sti ng
mass-market servi ces. For exampl e, the i ntegra-
ti on of a G-PON sol uti on i nto the MSAN means
that al l features and servi ces that have evol ved
for del i very over ADSL2+ can al so be provi ded over
fi ber access networks, and common resources, for
exampl e, for swi tchi ng, mul ti casti ng, and back-
haul i ng, can be reused.
6. Meeting deployment
requirements
When consi deri ng the i mpl ementati on of a
l ar ge-scal e NGN consi sti ng of connecti ons to
mi l l i ons of end-users, the target i s for the NGN to
r each as cl ose to the customer as economi cal l y
feasi bl e. When l ar ge cor por ate customer s ar e
i nvol ved, the busi ness case for i nstal l i ng fi ber-to-
the-premi ses makes sense. At the opposi te end of
the spectrum, for resi denti al users i t wi l l usual l y
be necessary to mai ntai n the exi sti ng l ast-mi l e
technol ogy, al though fi ber may gr adual l y be
i nstal l ed cl oser to the end-user as ti me
progresses.
Thi s means that for di fferent areas of depl oy-
ment, di ffer ent MSAN confi gur ati ons wi l l be
requi red. Some technol ogi es wi l l be requi red i n
one area but not i n another. I n other words, the
MSAN i s not a one-fi ts-al l sol uti on, but must be
tai l ored for appropri ate, cost-effecti ve depl oyment
i n l i ne wi th the operators NGN pl ans.
Smal l MSANs wi l l be r equi r ed i n ar eas
currentl y served by tel ephone exchanges wi th up
to a few thousand customer l i nes. I n these areas,
there may be very few l arge busi ness customers
and so ther e i s no need to depl oy the busi ness
fi ber access sol uti on. (For customers that do need
a fi ber sol uti on, they can be di rectl y connected to
the nearest l arger MSAN.) Even smal l er MSANs
may be requi red for i nstal l ati on i n street cabi nets
or other si mi l ar encl osures where exchange bui l d-
i ngs are no l onger requi red.
Very l arge MSANs wi l l be requi red i n areas
currentl y servi ng 10s of thousands of customer
l i nes from an exchange. These wi l l need to sup-
port a ful l range of servi ces over copper and fi ber
today, wi th rapi d evol uti on to other technol ogi es
i n the future.
There wi l l , of course, be a compl ete range of
MSAN si zes requi red to meet the requi rements
435 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
of the smal l si tes, l arge si tes, and si tes i n between.
Si mi l arl y, evol uti on to new technol ogi es may take
pl ace i n some areas before others; therefore, sup-
port features such as Wi MAX and G-PON need to
be opti ons on top of the basi c MSAN wi th i ts POTS
and ADSL capabi l i ti es.
Unl ess an operator i s depl oyi ng a greenfi el d
NGN, or creati ng an overl ay network to coexi st
wi th i ts l egacy pl atforms, there wi l l be an addi -
ti onal r equi r ement for the MSAN to suppor t
si mul taneous connecti vi ty to both NGN and l ega-
cy core networks. Thi s coul d, for exampl e, mean
supporti ng mul ti pl e types of backhaul connecti ons
(e.g., Ethernet and SDH) ei ther as separate i n-
terfaces or mi xed onto a common fi ber. I n l arger
si tes, the backhaul may al so carry mul ti pl e trans-
port protocol s over a si ngl e WDM connecti on.
7. GeoStream Access Gateway
Fuji tsus GeoStream Access Gateway i s an
MSAN sol uti on devel oped by Fuji tsu Tel ecommu-
ni cati ons Eur ope Li mi ted to meet the mar ket
requi rements descri bed above. I t i s a pl atform
composed of mul ti pl e modul es that can be used to
bui l d a var i ety of MSAN sol uti ons that ar e
customi sed to speci fi c depl oyment requi rements.
Figure 1 shows a hi gh-l evel over vi ew of the
GeoStream Access Gateway archi tecture.
The access gateway compr i ses thr ee mai n
bui l di ng bl ocks:
1) FDX: Thi s el ement can be a standal one
MSAN for access ser vi ces del i ver ed over
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FDX
FCX
WDM
FBX
WiMAX
BS
G-PON
OLT
Analogue
telephone
service
GE: Gigabit Ethernet
FE: Fast Ethernet
BS: Broadcasting Satellite
STM: Synchronous Transfer Mode
ISDN
services
Telephony
and
xDSL
services
E1, E3, STM-1,
and Ethernet
services
Range of residential
and business services
(Ethernet, E1, )
nx64k, E1, E3, STM-1,
and Ethernet services
Figure 1
GeoStream Access Gateway architecture.
436 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
copper l i nes or part of a l arger MSAN confi g-
ur ati on. I t can suppor t mul ti pl e xDSL
technol ogi es and offers tradi ti onal POTS and
I SDN customer i nter faces. The bui l t-i n
Access Gateway Si gnal l i ng Functi on enabl es
FDX to support mul ti pl e Vi rtual Access Gate-
ways, each contr ol l ed i ndependentl y by
central i sed cal l servers usi ng H.248 si gnal -
l i ng. Over 10 000 l i nes can be supported on
a si ngl e node, i ncl udi ng si mul taneous
support for ADSL2+ and POTS on every l i ne
i f requi red. The mul ti casti ng features al l ow
del i ver y of enter tai nment ser vi ces such as
broadcast tel evi si on wi th rapi d processi ng of
channel change requests handl ed by i ndi vi d-
ual l i ne cards. Ethernet and Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) servi ces can be sup-
por ted at the same ti me over the 40 Gb/s
packet swi tchi ng fabr i c, wi th opti ons to
depl oy mul ti pl e SDH ATM and Gi gabi t
Ethernet i nterfaces to the core network or to
the FCX modul e. FDX can al so support smal l
numbers of fi ber access servi ces (SDH and
Ethernet based) al ongsi de the mass-resi den-
ti al copper access capabi l i ti es. Smal l er
versi ons of FDX are al so provi ded for depl oy-
ment i n street cabi nets. Figure 2 shows the
r ack l ayout of the GeoStr eam Access
Gateway (FDX).
2) FBX: Thi s el ement provi des busi ness fi ber
access servi ces usi ng SDH and Ethernet i n
the access network. Wi th a set of compl e-
mentar y customer-pr emi ses networ k
termi nati ng equi pment (NTE), a wi de range
of busi ness servi ces can be del i vered, i ncl ud-
i ng n 64 kb/s pri vate ci rcui ts, n E1, E3,
STM-1, and mul ti -port Ethernet. Both SDH
and Ethernet based network i nterfaces are
supported for connecti vi ty to l egacy and NGN
core networks or to the FCX modul e. Addi -
ti onal l y, Ti me Di vi si on Mul ti pl exi ng (TDM)
and Ethernet servi ces can be mi xed on the
GeoStream Access Gateway supporting 6144 ADSL + POTS lines
Figure 2
Rack layout of GeoStream Access Gateway (FDX).
437 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
same SDH backhaul network usi ng Vi rtual
Concatenati on (VCAT).
7)
3) FCX: I n l arger MSAN confi gurati ons, FCX
i s used to concentrate traffi c from one or more
FDX or FCX modul es and pr ovi de di r ect
access i nter faces for Gi gabi t Ether net
servi ces. The FCX has a swi tchi ng capaci ty
of 160 Gb/s and can support mul ti pl e network
i nter faces, i ncl udi ng mi xed Ether net and
TDM traffi c over STM-64 VCAT.
FCX (or FDX i f appropri ate) can be used to
subtend addi ti onal access modul es that are not
necessari l y i ntegrated wi thi n the current FDX and
FBX el ements; exampl es of thi s i ncl ude opti ons
for G-PON and Wi MAX. These new technol ogi es
mi ght not be depl oyed on a network-wi de scal e
from day one. I t therefore makes sense to adopt a
modul ar approach, so they can be added just i n
the nodes where they are requi red and al so can
share a common i nfrastructure, servi ce l ogi c, and
network connecti vi ty wi th the other el ements of
the MSAN.
As descr i bed above, a r ange of backhaul
opti ons for the GeoStr eam Access Gateway ar e
pr ovi ded. These opti ons al l ow the networ k
oper ator to make the best use of exi sti ng and
devel opi ng core networks, whi l e mi grati ng from
l egacy networks to the NGN core at an appropri -
ate pace. FCX, FBX, and FDX al l support SDH
and Ethernet based network i nterfaces, wi th the
opti on to use SDH VCAT i n si tuati ons where TDM,
Ethernet, and ATM need to be mi xed onto a si n-
gl e backhaul network connecti on. I n addi ti on to
these i nterfaces, a wavel ength di vi si on mul ti pl ex-
i ng (WDM) opti on i s avai l abl e, al l owi ng tr affi c
fr om ver y l ar ge MSANs to be aggr egated onto
wavel engths i n a metro network.
The GeoStream Access Gateway i s a l ayer-1
and l ayer-2 access pl atform, wi th support for l ay-
er-3 functi onal i ty when appropri ate. For exampl e,
I GMP
8)
control of mul ti casti ng i s supported (as
used i n a broadcast TV over DSL servi ce), and
Bi di recti onal Forwardi ng Detecti on
9)
can be used
to i mpl ement I P-l ayer pr otecti on for sel ected
servi ces.
8. Conclusion
Fuji tsus GeoStream Access Gateway i s a true
gateway to the NGN. I t i s a mul ti -servi ce access
node that can be depl oyed to support the mi gra-
ti on of current servi ces to a new network as wel l
as the i ntroducti on of new servi ces over mul ti pl e
access technol ogi es. Oper ator s usi ng Fuji tsus
MSAN can reti re l egacy access networks but mai n-
tai n the revenue-generati ng servi ces that run over
them, creati ng a more cost-effecti ve busi ness mod-
el for NGN evol uti on.
The FDX modul e of the GeoStream Access
Gateway supports a ful l y standards-based, carri -
er-cl ass sol uti on for mi grati on of PSTNs, i ncl udi ng
suppor t for anal ogue POTS, I SDN, and l i fel i ne
requi rements. Exi sti ng fi ber-access servi ces are
supported by the FBX el ement, wi th a modul ar
upgr ade path for i ntr oducti on of deeper fi ber
usi ng G-PON, and fi xed wi r el ess access wi th
Wi MAX. Whi l e FDX can be scal ed down to sup-
port smal l MSAN confi gurati ons, i ncl udi ng street
cabi net depl oyments, FCX provi des a sol uti on for
the l argest i nstal l ati ons, wi th massi ve swi tchi ng
capaci ty and opti ons for WDM backhaul .
The modul ar archi tecture of the GeoStream
Access Gateway, coupl ed wi th i ts network-proces-
sor-based i mpl ementati on, scal abi l ty, and support
for mul ti pl e technol ogi es, al l ows network opera-
tors to create appropri ate MSAN confi gurati ons
to match thei r NGN mi grati on needs. At the same
ti me, i t enabl es operators to future-proof thei r ac-
cess network to cope wi th the i ntroducti on of new
servi ces.
I n the UK, Bri ti sh Tel ecom (BT) has sel ect-
ed Fuji tsu to provi de MSANs for thei r 21
st
Century
Network, whi ch i s a mi grati on of BTs compl ete
i nfrastructure, i ncl udi ng the PSTN, to an al l -I P
NGN to be depl oyed between 2006 and 2010.
Duri ng thi s peri od, al l exi sti ng POTS and I SDN
tel ephone l i nes, whi ch go to over 25 mi l l i on
connecti ons, wi l l be di sconnected from the tradi -
ti onal PSTN network equi pment and connected
438 FUJ ITSU Sci. Tech. J ., 42,4,(October 2006)
B. Handley: Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSANs): Gateways to Next-Generation Network (NGN)
to NGN MSANs, i ncl udi ng Fuji tsus GeoStream
Access Gateway.
References
1) The Mul ti -Ser vi ce For um (MSF).
http:/ / www.msforum.org
2) I ETF RFC3015 Megaco Pr otocol .
3) TI SPAN; PES; NGN Rel ease 1 H.248 Pr ofi l e for
Contr ol l i ng Access and Resi denti al Gateways.
ETSI ES 283 002 V1.1.1 (2005-06).
4) I TU-T Recommendati on H.248.
5) I EEE 802.16-2004.
6) I TU-T Recommendati on G.984.
7) I TU-T Recommendati on G.707.
8) I ETF RFC 2236 - I nter net Gr oup Management
Pr otocol , Ver si on 2.
9) I nter net Dr aft: Bi di r ecti onal For war di ng Detec-
ti on dr aft-i etf-bfd-base-04.txt.
Brett Handley, Fujitsu Telecommunica-
tions Europe Ltd.
Mr. Handley is Customer Solutions
Manager for Fujitsu Telecommunica-
tions Europe Limited and has over 15
years experience in the broadband tele-
communications industry. Prior to his
current role, he was involved in broad-
band and narrowband switching, xDSL
access, and triple-play network projects
as well as product management and
business development in both France and the UK.
E-mail: B.Handley@ftel.co.uk