Alcatel introduced its fifth generation DSLAM targeting greater subscriber density, more bandwidth intensive DSL services, and greater backhaul efficiencies in the "second mile" of carrier networks. The Alcatel 7301 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) will allow service providers to quadruple the number of users while supporting bandwidth-heavy applications, such as business access and residential video services. Key attributes of the 7301 ASAM include a 5 Gbps network processor, a 170 Gbps backplane, and 1.4 Gbps of capacity to each slot on the chassis. The design supports high-speed downstream datalinks, enabling the 7301 ASAM to serve as a hub and to aggregate traffic from other downstream DSLAMs. Alcatel said that by supporting multiple ASAMs on one link back to a central switch/router, a greater efficiency is creating in the access network. Another advantage is that advanced services can be injected directly in the access network where most economical. Alcatel will also add support for Gigabit Ethernet trunks for carriers that do no have extensive ATM backbones. Like the predecessor 7300 ASAM, Alcatel's new DSLAM design offers a separate 622 Mbps broadcast video bus across its backplane, enabling the delivery of up to 250 channels from a video headend to each user without impacting other traffic on the DSLAM. The new network processor also provides advanced IGMP multicasting, freeing substantial amounts of bandwidth for other applications. Alcatel said these capabilities wouldl also be provided as an upgrade to existing 7300 ASAMs. The company expects carriers will deploy the 7301 ASAM alongside existing DSLAMs in their networks.
http://www.alcatel.com
- As of Q4 2002, Alcatel had shipped a total of 23.5 million DSL lines worldwide.
