A group of telecom semiconductor makers have endorsed an industry standard they say will enable a smooth transition to very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber linesbroadband access.
Discrete multi-tone (DMT) modulation is supported by the following companies: Alcatel, Analog Devices, Broadcom, Ericsson, Ikanos Communications, Intel, LSI Logic Corporation, Nokia, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Thomson Multimedia.
The firms form the industry group, the VDSL Alliance, which has been meeting to discuss the technology and draft the standard’s specifications.
“With 11 of the leading DSL silicon and systems providers supporting DMT . . . it is clear that DMT is on track to become the favored modulation for standardized VDSL deployments,” said Matt Davis, a Yankee Group analyst.
DMT is the most widely deployed DSL line code and is compatible with existing ADSL. The transition is important because it sets the stage for a multi-DSL infrastructure capable of providing a wide range of services from Internet access and packet telephony to high-quality digital video, the group said.
Not everyone agrees. Another group, called the The VDSL Coalition favors a line coding scheme based on Quadature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), a single-carrier system that is less expensive, simpler and consumes less power.
Coalition members include AT&T Broadband, Qwest Communications and Samsung Electronics, among others.