Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Where Is Access in the Network?

2. Access Evolution Drivers

3. An Overview of Access Alternatives

4. Twisted-Pair Solutions

5. Twisted-Pair Access—Remote

6. Fiber and Coax

7. Wireless

8. All Fiber—PON

9. All Fiber—SONET

10. Conclusion

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

2B1Q
2 binary 1 quaternary

ADSL
asymmetric digital subscriber line

AMPS
advanced mobile phone service

AN
access node

ANSI
American National Standards Institute

ATM
asynchronous transfer mode

CAP
carrierless amplitude and phase modulation

CDMA
code division multiple access

CDPD
cellular digital packet data

DMT
discrete multitone

DSL
digital subscriber line

DWMT
discrete wavelet multitone

FSK
frequency shift keying

FTTC
fiber-to-the-curb

HDSL
high-bit-rate digital subscriber line

HDT
host digital terminal

HFC
hybrid fiber/coax

ISDN
integrated services digital network

ISP
Internet service provider

LAN
local-area network

LMDS
local multipoint distribution service

MDF
main distribution frame

MMDS
multichannel multipoint distribution service

NID
network interface device

NIU
network interface unit

ONU
optical network unit

PCS
personal communications service

PON
passive optical network

QAM
quadrature amplitude modulation

RADSL
rate adaptive digital subscriber line

S
splitter

SDB
switched digital broadband

SDH
synchronous digital hierarchy

SDSL
symmetrical digital subscriber line

SLC
simple line code

SMDS
switched multimegabit data service

SONET
synchronous optical network

STB
set-top box

STM
synchronous transfer mode

TDMA
time division multiple access

TIA
Telecommunications Industry Association

VBD
voiceband data

VDSL
very-high-speed digital subscriber line

WWW
World Wide Web