Providing an opportunity for companies that manufacture VDSL2 G.vector chipsets to perform interoperability testing based on the Broadband Forum’s Plugfest Test Plan
During September 24 – 28, 2012, multiple chipset companies met at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) to perform the first interoperability testing of the ITU-T’s new G.vector specifications. The G.vector technology provides a boost to VDSL2 subscriber data rates by leveraging new features in the G.vector specification to cancel the crosstalk in real-time between VDSL2 enabled wire pairs in the copper network. Removing the effects of the crosstalk noise between wire pairs allows the G.vector equipment to operate at higher bit rates, and will give subscribers quality access to even higher bandwidth services.
Broadcom, Ikanos, Lantiq, Realtek and Triductor all participated in the plugfest, providing chipset platforms to test with one another. Telebyte also participated, providing test equipment to simulate the crosstalk of copper networks during the testing.
“This was the first event in a very important journey and we are looking forward to continued progress as the innovative technology is implemented and scaled for deployment,” commented Kevin Foster, Head of BT’s UK Access Platform Evolution. “Interoperability has always been a key component of successful large-scale deployment of DSL, and we are looking to the Broadband Forum and UNH-IOL labs to lead these testing efforts to allow Operators to achieve smooth introduction of DSL innovations such as Vectoring.”
The Broadband Forum has a long-standing history of developing test suites and plugfests on xDSL, next generation fiber access and even CPE remote management. “We see interoperability of these technologies as one of the major driving forces of our member companies,” said Robin Mersh, Broadband Forum CEO. “Over the years, our plugfests have helped companies achieve interoperable solutions for ADSL through VDSL2; we see the G.vector plugfests as the next critical step in the interoperability of DSL technologies.”
This first event serves as a preliminary step in a series of plugfests planned by the Broadband Forum and UNH-IOL to progress the G.vector technology. The next event is scheduled to take place in November at the UNH-IOL in Durham, NH, USA. Future events will include system integrators, developing the actual equipment used in the network, such as DSLAM and CPE devices.