Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Issue 1.0
Date 2012-03-12
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Overview
Ever since its birth in the 1990s, the rapid development of copper access technologies has
enabled digital subscriber line (DSL) to be a ubiquitous solution and become today's most
widely used and most successful fixed broadband access technology. To date, approximately
300 million DSL lines have been deployed worldwide. Meanwhile, DSL technologies have
been breaking new grounds and maturing. Services supported have diversified from the initial
pure data transmission to nowadays' Multi-Play services, including high-speed Internet access,
IPTV, VoIP, private line access, mobile backhaul, and remote power supply.
As the bandwidth requirements of the "last mile" access are booming, the "reach vs. rate"
contradiction of DSL is increasingly intensified. New services such as IPTV and mobile
backhaul are also putting higher demands on stability and reliability of DSL. Crosstalk
between twisted pairs has become the main factor that affects the rate, stability, and reliability
of the DSL line. To cope with crosstalk, the Vectoring technology comes into being. This
technology uses various methods such as crosstalk detection, compensation, and cancellation
to achieve the best DSL performance in the "crosstalk-free" environment. Moreover, this
technology fully explores potentials for copper access and meets carriers' requirements for
smooth evolution, low costs, fast time-to-market, and is manageable and controllable O&M.
This document describes the Vectoring technology, including its origin, technology principle
and standard, product implementation, application and deployment scenarios, and evolution
trend. This document also describes Huawei's contribution in the Vectoring field and
end-to-end Vectoring products and solutions.
Change History
Date Revision Version Description Author
Contents
1 Origin
1.1 Origin
Currently, requirements for smooth evolution, low costs, fast time-to-market, and easy O&M
have become the main targets for broadband access network construction. Based on these
requirements, "Fiber-in copper-out" is blossoming in the access network. Fiber moves closer
to users and copper plants are shorten, and FTTx network is widely introduced and developed,
including FTTN, FTTC, FTTB, and FTTH. In the access network, VDSL2 is the main access
mode to face the "last mile" challenge because of its high bandwidth (ideally, 100 Mbit/s)
over a short distance. However, VDSL2 requires high frequency which introduces crosstalk
between copper lines. Compared with single-pair crosstalk-free VDSL2 access, the bandwidth
on multi-pair bundle’s VDSL2 access decreases sharply as more pairs are used, because of the
increasing impact of crosstalk. The larger the number of copper lines in a bundle of cable, the
higher crosstalk is generated. Therefore, crosstalk is the main factor that impairs the VDSL2
performance.
DSL crosstalk is divided into near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk (FEXT), as
shown in Figure 1-1. In NEXT, Tx signals are sent from the disturber pair, coupled to the
victim pair, and then are sent to the near-end Rx end of the victim pair. In FEXT, Tx signals
are sent from the disturber pair, coupled to the victim pair, and then are sent along the victim
pair, to the far-end Rx end of the victim pair. For DSL, NEXT is interference between
upstream signals and downstream signals of different pairs; FEXT is interference between
upstream signals of different pairs or between downstream signals of different pairs.
The VDSL2 system uses frequency division multiplexing (FDM), Tx signals of the disturber
pair and Rx signals of the victim pair use different frequencies. Therefore, the impact of
NEXT on the VDSL2 access can be eliminated or significantly decreased by using a filter.
However, FEXT signals of the disturber pair cannot be eliminated through the filter because
they have the same frequency as the normal Rx signals of the victim pair. In addition, VDSL2
requires short transmission distance (usually within one kilometer) and high frequency (30
MHz at highest). As a result, FEXT in VDSL2 is more serious than other traditional DSL
technologies and becomes the main factor that affects its performance. FEXT leads to
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decrease, which reduces the line data rate or increases the bit error
rate (BER), or potentially resynchronization, severely affecting system stability and customer
experience.
To cope with FEXT, the dynamic spectrum management (DSM) technology has been widely
used to adjust Tx signals of DSL lines in the same bundle to balance the DSL performance
and stability. There are four levels from level 0 to level 3 in the development of the spectrum
management technology as shown in Figure 1-2. Level 0–level 2 partially decrease FEXT and
optimize DSL performance and stability by managing spectrum of Tx signals of single-pair
DSL lines or multi-pair DSL lines. However, FEXT cannot be canceled completely.
To fully cancel FEXT from VDSL2, ITU-T formulates the Vectoring technology standard,
a.k.a. DSM level 3. Vectoring technology cancels most of VDSL2’s mutual FEXT, thus
improving VDSL2 performance obviously.
without crosstalk, Yn = Hnn*Xn. With FEXT, distortion h12*x2 is added to y1 and distortion
h21*x1 is added to y2.
In the upstream direction (the CO end), the Vectoring system uses the FEXT decoder to
extract the FEXT information, and then removes the FEXT information from the original Rx
signals to get the nearly crosstalk-free performance. In the downstream direction, the CPE
feeds back the FEXT information to the CO in the way negotiated between the CPE and the
CO, and then the CO uses the FEXT pre-coder to pre-code the FEXT information to the
normal Tx signals. After that, the pre-coded signals and the FEXT information are canceled in
transmission and the Rx end receives the correct information almost without crosstalk.
To accelerate the application of Vectoring, ITU-T formulated the G.993.5 standard in 2010
and amended the existing standards including G.993.2, G.994.1, and G.997.1. The Broadband
Forum (BBF, formally known as DSL Forum) focuses on Vectoring's performance, test,
interoperability, and O&M. Moreover, China and North America may also formulate
proprietary Vectoring standards or specifications.
Table 1-1 describes the International standards and specifications about Vectoring.
Self-FEXT cancellation
G.993.5
(Vectoring) for use with 2010 Amd 1
(G.vector)
ITU-T VDSL2 transceivers
G.993.2 Second-generation VDSL
2006 Amd 5, Amd 6
(G.vdsl) transceivers
1.3 Prospects
Theoretically, Vectoring can fully cancel FEXT impacts on the VDSL2 performance, and
achieve higher data rate over the same distance, or larger coverage with the same data rate.
The curves shown in figure 1-4 represent the "reach vs. rate" performance of VDSL2 (17a
profile, B8-11 PSD mask, line diameter 0.4 mm) in the downstream direction as an example.
From the figure, it can be seen that the VDSL2 performance in the crosstalk-free environment
is 50–90% higher than which in the FEXT environment without Vectoring. The result shown
in Figure 1-4 also indicates that the denser the lines and the higher the number provisioning
rate, the stronger the FEXT. Therefore, vectoring technology plays an important role in the
improvement of VDSL2 performance. The VDSL2 performance in the upstream direction is
similar to that in the downstream direction.
Figure 1-4 Performance comparison for VDSL2 with and without Vectoring
Vectoring, as a new generation technology for improving the performance, is compatible with
the other DSL technologies, including retransmission (G.inp), bonding, network time
reference (NTR), seamless rate adaption (SRA), and bit swap (BS), etc. With all these
technologies, Vectoring can be flexibly used in various scenarios, such as residential user
access, commercial user access, mobile backhaul, and remote access site backhaul.
2 Vectoring Productization
2.1 Challenges
The Vectoring system jointly processes signals of all VDSL2 pairs in a Vectoring group
(jointly sending signals in the downstream direction and jointly receiving signals in the
upstream direction) to cancel self-FEXT and improve performance.
Compared with the VDSL2 system reference model, the Vectoring system adds the vectoring
control entity (VCE) and the interface between the VTU-Os and the ME (Management Entity),
as shown in red in Figure 2-1. Inside the AN, the ME further conveys the management
information for a particular line (over an interface here called ε-m) to the vectoring control
entities (VCEs) of the Vectoring group that line belongs to. Each VCE controls a single
vectored group, and controls VTU-O-n (connected to line n in the vectored group) over an
interface here called ε-c-n. Pre-coder data are exchanged between VTU-O-n1 and VTU-O-n2
over an interface here called ε-n1-n2. Figure 2-1 shows the first pair in the Vectoring group.
The main challenge for Vectoring productization is how to transmit and process the mass data
with high reliability and easy O&M. Specifically, the main challenge is the ε-n1-n2 interface.
A pair in the N-pairs Vectoring group exchanges the pre-coded data with another N - 1 pair.
When the Vectoring system capacity increases, huge amounts data need to be exchanged.
Here, the 48-port Vectoring line card is used as an example. The bandwidth for transmitting
the pre-coded data will be 20-30 Gbit/s. If an AN contains multiple Vectoring line cards, the
bandwidth will be hundreds of Gbit/s, which is close to or beyond the data transmission
volume of an optical access equipment.
2.2 Consideration
Similar to the Vectoring system reference model, the Vectoring product need integrate
Vectoring process (VP) parts and related interfaces based on the current DSL AM product.
Different carriers' networks in different countries/areas have different AN site models.
Accordingly, Huawei provides different specifications and has different implementation
considerations for Vectoring productization. As shown in Figure 2-2, the small-capacity
Vectoring products normally do not use independent VP card. Instead, the VP parts are
integrated in the same card with parts such as the main control unit and DSL access unit. The
medium and large-capacity Vectoring products use independent VP card, featuring
high-efficient and more-flexible processing architecture.
For medium and large-capacity Vectoring products, DSL line cards and VP card communicate
with each other in a super-high speed backplane buses or external cables. Compared with the
external cable, the backplane bus will be highly reliable for hardware connection and service
assurance, facilitates cards’ interconnection, and saves space in installation, ensuring high
reliability and easy O&M of the Vectoring system.
Furthermore, the Vectoring technology speeds up the downward DSL user network interface
(UNI). Accordingly, the "speedup" challenge arises in the bandwidth of the convergence
interface on the backplane of the DSL line card, traffic processing capability of the control
card, and convergence bandwidth of the upward network node interface (NNI). This issue also
needs to be considered in Vectoring productization.
2.3 Practice
In the 3rd quarter of 2010, Huawei took the lead in launching a small-capacity Vectoring
prototype. In the 3rd quarter of 2011, Huawei released a cross-equipment large-capacity
Vectoring prototype, the first of its kind in the industry. To date, Huawei has partnered with
many worldwide tier-1 carriers for Vectoring testing. The typical test results are shown in
Figure 2-3, which are taken with some Tier-1 carrier in Europe.
Figure 2-3 Results for lab test and live network validation
According to the current technology and product maturity, Huawei points out that Vectoring
application and deployment face the following TOP challenges:
z Vectoring adaptation to various application scenarios
z Good quality of experience (QoE) guarantee
z Comprehensive support for Vectoring solutions
power back-off (DPBO) and PSD shaping to eliminate the impact of those
low-frequency interference sources such as SHDSL, SHDSL.bis, ADSL, and ADSL2+.
z In scenarios where Vectoring and VDSL2 coexist over the same carrier network, Huawei
provides three coexistence policies (no coexistence, limited coexistence, and full
coexistence), which can be flexibly selected or adjusted by carriers at different Vectoring
deployment stages.
z In scenarios where Vectoring and VDSL2 coexist across different carrier networks
because of LLU/SLU regulation, an independent DSM system could be adopted for
managing the Vectoring system and VDSL2 system in a unified and harmonious manner
while at the same time ensuring service quality. This DSM system balances between
general performance optimization and stable coexistence.
z In scenarios where Vectoring on different carrier networks coexists because of LLU/SLU
regulation, Huawei provides a cross-equipment Vectoring solution. This solution enables
coordination between Vectoring equipments of different carriers, which are all provided
by Huawei, achieving general performance optimization and stable coexistence.
However, the cross-equipment Vectoring solution between different equipment vendors
still faces interoperability challenges including architecture, protocol, software, and
hardware design and implementation. In the foreseeable short- and mid-term, this
solution cannot be realistic and practical.
For the last two scenarios mentioned above, Huawei recommends the virtual loop unbundling
(VLU) solution. In a typical VLU solution, only one carrier is 100% responsible for bundle
resource management, Vectoring rollouts, and Vectoring O&M to maximally achieve
performance improvement brought by Vectoring technology, while other carriers wholesale
appropriate channelized bandwidth on demand. The VLU solution achieves not only optimal
Vectoring performance but also fairness among carriers, and reduced network rollout and
O&M costs, fully guaranteeing end customers' benefits.
of multiple lines, repeated synchronization of very few rouge lines, and synchronization in a
bundle (or a Vectoring group) that contains too many lines.
Huawei's Vectoring system provides built-in intelligent analysis and processing algorithms,
and fully leverages various DSL features to significantly expand the available bandwidth
while controlling its reliability and synchronization time in a level comparative to traditional
DSL technologies.
Figure 3-1 shows a typical Vectoring application scenario and required supporting
equipment/systems.
1. Vectoring DSLAM: Series Vectoring DSLAMs of different capacities are provided for
different site scales and deployment scenarios. A Vectoring DSLAM needs to support
traditional DSL technologies (such as VDSL2+, ADSL2+, and ADSL), plug-and-play of
different types of CPEs, and smooth evolution of Vectoring.
2. Vectoring CPE: Includes CPEs that fully support Vectoring and Vectoring-friendly CPEs.
Normally, VDSL2 CPEs deployed on live networks can become Vectoring CPEs with
software upgrades only. (Vectoring-friendly CPEs do not affect the performance of
Vectoring lines, but the performance of lines connected to Vectoring-friendly CPEs
cannot be improved.)
Huawei's Vectoring solution has the most complete series of products in the industry. Figure
4-1 illustrates a typical example of Huawei E2E Vectoring products and solution.
The MA5603T, a large-capacity Vectoring product, provides built-in high-speed Vectoring
buses and does not require extra space in an outdoor cabinet for interconnection of Vectoring
cards. This device can be deployed to mainstream large-capability Vectoring sites.
The MA5616 is a medium-capacity Vectoring product that has the highest density in the
industry. With a compact in size of 2 U height, 19-inch width and 300 mm depth, the MA5616
provides built-in high-speed Vectoring buses and supports 192 Vectoring lines, applying to
mainstream medium-capability Vectoring sites. Compared with 3U or even larger-sized
devices that support 192 Vectoring lines in the industry, the MA5616 saves installation space
by at least 33%. It can be flexibly used in scenarios such as capacity expansion of backup
power/battery, installation of baseband units (BBUs) for mobile base stations in the same
cabinet, and installation of ODN components in the same cabinet. The MA5616 supports up
to 384 Vectoring lines through cross-equipment interconnection, meeting the requirements of
super-large-capacity Vectoring sites.
For small-capacity Vectoring sites in some remote areas or sites that have requirements for
lesser coverage, shorter distance, and higher rate, Huawei provides a variety of flexible and
customized Vectoring solutions:
z With the following features, the MA5662 can be directly installed against a pole or on an
outdoor wall in harsh environments, without the need of a cabinet:
− Fully-enclosed structure
− IP66 water-protection rating
− Operating temperature ranging from –40°C to +70°C
z The pizza-box MA5623A and MA5622A are small-sized (1 U height, 19-inch width, and
300 mm depth), maximally saving installation space. They apply to the following
Vectoring deployment scenarios:
− New deployment of super-small-capacity sites
Conforming to the trend of fiber-in and copper-out in the area of broadband access,
high-speed copper access at a short distance facilitates the smooth evolution of access
networks. In the near future, the access rate per twisted pair will exceed 1 Gbit/s, making
copper access a supplement or substitute solution of fiber to the premise (FTTP).
As shown in Figure 5-1, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) that combines Vectoring and
bonding increases the access rate by several times at the same distance using multiple twisted
pairs. In actual deployments, two twisted pairs are commonly used. As an improvement of
MIMO, the SuperMIMO technology can create N - 1 pairs of virtual lines based on any N
pairs of physical lines to achieve the transmission capabilities of 2N - 1 pairs of lines, further
increasing the access rate. MIMO and SuperMIMO apply to the multi-pair home-access
scenarios, such as commercial user access, mobile backhaul, and backhaul of remote access
sites. In the 3rd quarter of 2010, Huawei launched a SuperMIMO prototype, which uses four
twisted pairs to achieve an access rate of 700 Mbit/s at a distance of 400 meters.
The G.fast technology focuses on the single-pair home-access scenarios (mainstream
application scenarios). Using G.fast, an access rate (sum of upstream and downstream rates)
reaches 1 Gbit/s can be provided at a distance within 100 meters and the upstream and
downstream rates can be assigned on demand. In addition, G.fast will be spectrum-compatible
with traditional DSL technologies, and their spectra can coexist over the same bundle.
Designed to have low power consumption, support reverse power supply from CPEs, and be
adaptable to different environments, G.fast products can be flexibly deployed in various places
such as manholes, poles, walls, or corridors. The application of such G.fast products can make
full use of the "last 100 meters" copper home-access resources and cost-effectively resolve the
issue where optical fibers cannot enter the buildings or homes. Standards setting organizations
including the ITU-T are working on G.fast-related standards, which are expected to be
finished in 2013. In the 4th quarter of 2011, Huawei launched the industry's first E2E Giga
DSL prototype. This prototype complies with the G.fast standard draft and uses a single
twisted pair to achieve an ultra-high access rate of 1 Gbit/s within 100 meters.
6 Summary
Ever since its birth in the 1990s, the rapid development of copper access technologies has
enabled DSL to be a ubiquitous solution and become today's most widely used and most
successful fixed broadband access technology. As the bandwidth requirements of the "last
mile" access are booming, the inherent "reach vs. rate" contradiction, stability, reliability, and
environment adaptability of DSL face ever-formidable challenges. To conform to the trend of
smooth network evolution as "fiber-in and copper-out", the Vectoring technology has been
developed. This technology uses various methods such as probe, compensation, and
cancellation to achieve the best DSL performance in the "crosstalk-free" environment.
Moreover, this technology much further exploits the potential of copper access networks and
meets carriers’ requirements for smooth evolution, low costs, fast time-to-market, and is
manageable and controllable O&M.
Mass applications and deployments of Vectoring still face several challenges, such as
coexistence with traditional DSL technologies (especially VDSL2), adequate QoE guarantee,
and comprehensive support. An E2E Vectoring solution covering the series Vectoring
equipment at the CO, Vectoring CPEs, EMS, DSL expert system, sites with outdoor cabinets,
and professional supporting services can address such challenges, meeting requirements for
mass deployments.
The innovation of copper access technologies will continue. Vectoring working with other
technologies such as bonding, virtual pairs, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM) can achieve an ultra-high access rate of 1 Gbit/s at a short distance, enabling a
cost-effective and smooth evolution of fix broadband access networks.
A
ACS auto-configuration server
ADSL asymmetric digital subscriber line
ATIS alliance for telecommunications industry solutions
B
BBF Broadband Forum
BBU base-band unit
C
CAPEX capital expenditure
CO central office
CPE customer premises equipment
D
DLM dynamic line management
DSE disorderly shutdown event
DSL digital subscriber line
DSLAM DSL access multiplexer
DSM dynamic spectrum management
E
EMS element management system
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
F
FTTB fiber to the building
FTTC fiber to the cabinet
FTTCurb fiber to the curb
FTTEx fiber to the exchange
FTTH fiber to the home
FTTN fiber to the node
FTTP fiber to the premise
I
INP impulse noise protection
ITU International Telecommunication Union
L
LLU local loop unbundling
M
MIMO multiple-input multiple-output
N
NEXT near end crosstalk
O
ODN optical distribution network
OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
OLT optical line terminal
OPEX operational expenditure
OSS operating and supporting system
P
PSD power spectral density
Q
QoE quality of experience
R
RFI radio frequency interference
RT remote terminal
S
SHDSL single-pair high-speed DSL
SLU sub loop unbundling
SNR signal-to-noise ratio
SRA seamless rate adaptation
SSM static spectrum management
T
TCO total cost of ownership
TMS terminal management system
V
VDSL very-high-speed DSL
Vectoring Vectoring (self-FEXT cancellation for use with VDSL2 transceivers)
VLU virtual loop unbundling
VN virtual noise
B References
[1]. ITU, Self-FEXT cancellation (Vectoring) for use with VDSL2 transceivers, 2010
[2]. ITU, Very high speed digital subscriber line transceivers 2 (VDSL2), 2006
[3]. Frank Defoort, Jan Verlinden, Introduction to DSL instabilities, April, 2008
[4]. IEEE, The ITU-T's New G.vector Stand Proliferates 100 Mb/s DSL, 2010