Te c h n i c a l P a p e r

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL):

Using Next Generation
Technologies to Expand
Traditional Infrastructures
USB ADSL Modem
Contents

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): Using Next Generation Technologies

to Expand Traditional Infrastructures 2
How does DSL work? 2
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) 2
How does ADSL work? 3
G.Lite 3
DSL vs. cable modems and shared bandwidth 3
Typical Setup 3-4
Conclusion 4

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 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): tion speeds greater than 6 Mbps and uplink
Using Next Generation speeds of 640 Kbps, or as much as 1.1 Mbps
in both directions. This makes DSL not only
Technologies to Expand much faster than 56K analog modems, but
Traditional Infrastructures also faster than ISDN and rivaling cable
modems in bandwidth. This allows phone
With competing and emerging technologies companies to compete with cable Internet
that allow for increased bandwidth of all Service Providers. Because many of the
kinds, the home and small office markets have expected applications for DSL involves digi-
needed an inexpensive, reliable, and unobtru- tal, compressed video, forward error correc-
sive conduit to data, entertainment, and com- tion is employed to reduce impulse noise
munication. Cable and ISDN are competing error with symbol-by-symbol error correction
with traditional phone companies and gaining to counteract continuous noise.
inroads into those markets. Digital Subscriber
Lines (DSLs) give phone companies a means DSL is not a bus-related technology like ana-
to compete with cable and ISDN providers in log or cable modems. With DSL, bandwidth
the broadband supplier market while utilizing rates available are more consistent to the end
traditional twisted-pair copper telephone user. There is a geographic requirement that
lines, making installation relatively simple and the end user must be within 18,000 feet of
inexpensive. the central office or signal degradation will
become too great and DSL unfeasible.
DSL is a broadband technology that allows
for high-speed Internet connectivity over tra- The family of DSL technologies, known as
ditional twisted-pair copper telephone lines, xDSL, includes CDSL, UDSL, VDSL,
thus eliminating the need for costly infra- HDSL, IDSL, SDSL, RADSL, VADSL,
structure upgrades common with other tech- G.SHDSL, and ADSL. Each DSL technology
nologies. The ability to implement DSL ser- provides different data communication speed
vice within the confines of existing telephone capabilities. The U.S. Robotics USB ADSL
lines makes it both affordable and practical Modem specifically utilizes ADSL technology.
for small businesses and residential homes,
allowing for high-speed connectivity for inter-
active gaming, on-demand streaming audio Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
and video entertainment, and for download- Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
ing huge files in seconds instead of minutes. is an “always on” high-speed broadband tech-
Being able to deliver multimedia entertain- nology that operates off existing twisted-pair
ment, information, and services will become copper telephone lines. The asymmetric
increasingly important as phone companies nature of the data transmission means that
and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) look to most of the channel bandwidth is allocated
new markets and new applications for contin- for the downstreaming of data with a relative-
ued revenue growth and increased customer ly small portion of the channel bandwidth
demand for fast, reliable access to data and allocated for upstreaming. This produces
entertainment. incredibly fast download speeds of up to 8
Mbps and upload speeds of up to 640 Kbps
with the U.S. Robotics USB ADSL Modem –
How does DSL work? that’s up to 145x faster than a 56K analog
DSL allows for greater bandwidth by utilizing modem, making ADSL an ideal tool for
more of the bandwidth available on a com- telecommuters and virtual office employees.
mon analog line and connecting digitally on
both the uplink and downlink connection.
DSL modems can provide downlink connec-

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How does ADSL work? Office (point to point). Cable modem band-
ADSL modems are able to pack more infor- width is a shared resource, meaning that the
mation over the same phone lines used for given bandwidth is split up among the users
analog voice because of signal processing tech- in a given community, so the theoretical con-
niques that utilize those frequencies that are nections of 10 Mbps uplink and 30 Mbps
not used for standard voice service, thus opti- downlink will not be possible for everyone on
mizing the traffic of digital data onto the the local network. This shared bandwidth
same analog line by creating multiple chan- includes cable modem users as well as those
nels. Multiple channels are created using utilizing cable television programming.
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) and Problems similar to those using 56K analog
echo cancellation to make full use of the modems can be encountered in that heavy
bandwidth. community usage during peak hours can have
a dramatic effect on data rates actually experi-
Generally speaking, FDM creates two broad enced. Because of the “shared resource” aspect
bands, one for upstream data, and the other of cable modems, actual rates will vary
for downstream data. Each band is then according to traffic conditions and the type of
divided, or multiplexed, further. Echo cancel- modem being used; security could also be an
lation allows for both the upstream band and issue for some users of cable modems.
the downstream band to overlap one another
while using echo cancellation to separate the
two. A POTS (Pain Old Telephone Service) Typical Setup
splitter, which is installed at the user site, seg- Typical adopters of DSL (and ADSL) tech-
regates the digital data from the voice signal, nology are expected to include small business-
allowing for uninterrupted voice calls and fax- es and private residences. Connecting the
ing without impacting data traffic rates. DSL modem to the computer itself involves
Chances are, if a business or household has either using a computer with an Ethernet
standard RJ-11 phone jacks, then there Network Interface Card (NIC) or USB con-
should be sufficient wiring to, along with a nection. A common setup might consist of
DSL modem, provide high-speed Internet the following basic equipment/software
access. depending on whether the computer is set up
for Ethernet or USB:

G.Lite Ethernet
G.Lite (or ADSL Lite, officially known as • 10 Mb or 10/100 Ethernet Network
G.992.2) is considered the standard way to Interface Card (NIC)
install ADSL and supports downstream data • Twisted-pair Ethernet cable RJ-45
rates up to 1.5 Mbps and upstream rates of (crossover)
512 Kbps. Because G.Lite runs at a slower • Twisted-pair RJ-11 cable
rate than standard ADSL, neither requires a • Ethernet-supportable computer
POTS splitter, nor a service call from the pro- • Web browser
viding telephone company, which in turn • DSL modem (commonly provided by DSL
saves money. Voice and data operate in a service provider)
manner similar to ADSL.
USB
• USB cable
DSL vs. cable modems and shared band- • Twisted-pair RJ-11 cable
width • USB-supportable computer
DSL has advantages over high-speed cable • Web browser
modems, in that DSL lines are dedicated lines • DSL modem (commonly provided by DSL
running from the user directly to the Central service provider)

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 The U.S. Robotics USB ADSL Modem is est developments in keeping people in contact
equipped with the convenience of a USB worldwide – with information, entertainment,
connector. Being USB bus-powered, no and each other.
additional dedicated power source is required.

Conclusion
DSL service provides broadband technology
solutions to both the small business and con-
sumer to deliver the multimedia entertain-
ment, information, and services that are con-
tinually becoming a larger part of both our
workplace and home environments. DSL,
through its ability to provide high-speed
Internet access over ordinary telephone lines,
gives phone companies new markets and new
applications for continued revenue growth by
providing the means for fast, reliable access to
data and entertainment.

A brief recap of the advantages of DSL

include the following key points:

• Unobtrusive way to build a high-speed net-

work utilizing common twisted-pair tele-
phone wiring.

• High-speed network that’s both faster than

ISDN and without the pitfalls of shared
bandwidth and security issues of cable
modems.

• Convenience of using a single phone

line for voice calls and Internet access
simultaneously without degradation of
voice call quality.

• ADSL’s ability to exploit the predominantly

downstreaming of Internet data with an
emphasis on high download rates.

The benefits of DSL and the convenience in

which it can be applied to both businesses and
residential households make it ideal for a vari-
ety of applications and solutions.

U.S. Robotics continues to develop solutions

to provide data access to both the business sec-
tor and to consumers. The U.S. Robotics USB
ADSL Modem is just one of many of our lat-

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About U.S. Robotics
U.S. Robotics is the world’s leading

modem provider, bringing the Internet

into millions of homes and businesses

around the world. For three decades,

U.S. Robotics has been at the

forefront of modem technology,

and in the 1990’s was the first to

boost analog modem speeds to the

V.90 56K standard. U.S. Robotics has

reemerged as an independent

company and will continue its

tradition of making the most reliable,

simple and innovative Internet access

solutions available. All U.S. Robotics

resources — from engineering to

consumer support — are dedicated to

fulfilling that commitment. U.S.

Robotics is a privately held company

headquarters in Schaumburg, IL.

To learn more about U.S. Robotics products visit our website at www.usr.com
Copyright ©2001 U.S. Robotics Corporation. All rights reserved. U.S. Robotics and the U.S. Robotic logo are registered trademarks of
U.S. Robotics Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. All specifications are
subject to change without notice.