Network access technology is evolving towards integration

In the evolution of the traditional PSTN network to the next generation network, the development of access networks that account for more than 40% of network construction investment has become one of the focuses of the industry. Especially with the opening of the telecom market, the development of access networks will be directly related to the operator's efforts to win user groups and provide business capabilities. Currently, in the face of the coexistence of traditional and new business needs of users, the integration of access networks has become the main way to enhance the business innovation capability of fixed network operators.

The characteristics of the access network determine the integration of the access technology. The goal of integrated access networks is to achieve full service access to voice, data, and video. This requires a sound architecture that can be integrated into existing telecom networks, it can also adapt to the future development of telecom networks. According to the Network Location of the access network and the business functions to be implemented, the integrated access network should have an integrated platform to facilitate network planning, upgrading and resizing. A wide range of interfaces should be available, to meet the access needs of various businesses; open interface standards should be supported to adapt to interconnection with core networks and user terminals; QoS Assurance for different services should be provided; it should be able to achieve unified transmission of integrated services, saving optical fiber; it should be able to support flexible networking, supports various network topologies such as the ring network and Ring Band chain, and hybrid networking with optical fiber cables, optical fiber cables, and copper cables and wireless cables to adapt to different network conditions and achieve wide coverage; unified network management should be implemented to reduce operation and maintenance costs. These characteristics make the technology involved in integrated access networks very complex, including exchange technology, transmission technology, and network management technology.

Especially with the increasing demand for broadband services for end users, FTTH has become a hot topic in the future. FTTH is a final form of the development of optical fiber access networks. PON technology began in early 1980s. Currently, PON products on the market are mainly divided into APON/BPON (ATMPON/broadband PON) and EPON (Ethernet PON) based on the technologies used) and GPON (gigabit-bit PON) are the most cost-effective among FTTH technologies. As two representatives of PON technology, EPON and GPON technology have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost investment and support rate. Compared with GPON technology, EPON has a low technical threshold and a low design difficulty for core chips. Many chip manufacturers have joined the EPON chip design camp, and their industrial chain is more mature. However, GPON is more technically advantageous. It supports multiple rate levels and supports the uplink/downlink asymmetric rate. GPON has the highest efficiency in both the transport aggregation layer and the Business adaptation layer, so it has considerable advantages in both total efficiency and equivalent system cost. Experts believe that with the gradual maturity of GPON technology, commercial users who are not price sensitive but have high technical requirements will truly become the user base of GPON.

With the large-scale construction of access networks and the emergence of new businesses, integrated access networks are increasingly showing their advantages in many aspects. When introducing their new products and solutions, some manufacturers believe that the advantages of integrated access networks are mainly reflected in the following aspects.

Integrated Access networks can reduce network construction costs and risks of network operation. Wide access network coverage and high investment. When backbone networks of major operators in China are basically built, integration of access layers can save equipment investment, avoid repeated construction, and shorten the procurement cycle, reduce procurement costs and quickly meet the needs of major customers for comprehensive business. In terms of service activation, the integrated access network can flexibly deploy voice, data, multimedia and value-added services as needed by the customer, reducing the O & M cost and operational risks of the entire network.

The integrated access network can meet the business needs of commercial users. With the development of telecommunication networks and the increasing standard of living, the demand of commercial users for communication is no longer limited to basic telecommunication services such as telephone, it is no longer satisfied with the access rate of dozens of kbit/s and the simple QoS Assurance Service provided by telecom carriers. Consumer demand for communication has gradually shifted from traditional telephone and fax services to high-speed Internet access, low/high-speed leased lines, Data, broadband services, and other fields. The integration of access networks can meet personalized and multi-business needs of commercial customers.

Integrated Access networks also have the Networking capability to fully adapt to the environment. In the network access layer, the lack of transmission and pipeline resources is a common feature of many operators. Using integrated access networks, You can take full advantage of the Integration of network transmission and access to solve the problem that a large number of pipe holes are required for a large number of cable without transmission or a traditional network construction mode. For example, the optical fiber laying on the access layer can take the lease of small pipe holes or overhead cabling. The wiring at the end of the access network can make full use of the integrated cabling system in the building to achieve comprehensive access to customer services. Some domestic and foreign equipment suppliers have also launched integrated access network solutions that integrate integrated transmission, active/passive, and wired/wireless.

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