Mar 6 2008
JDSU today announced the addition of the industry's first 30 MHz far-end device (FED), the UltraFED, to its leading portfolio of triple-play service testers. Designed to meet the test needs of field technicians who install and maintain VDSL access networks, the UltraFED is fully interoperable with the JDSU HST-3000 and enables the turn up and troubleshooting of 30 MHz VDSL2, typically the "last mile" technology in FTTx networks. The UltraFED will be on display at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, Germany, March 4-9 (Hall 13, stand B20).
The UltraFED combines advanced copper FED test features and process improvement applications using a variety of user-configured test states and modes. In the past, two high-end test instruments (like the HST-3000) operated by two technicians at each end of the circuit were required for VDSL pre-qualification and troubleshooting. Using the UltraFED and an HST-3000, only one technician is needed.
Challenges associated with the deployment of VDSL services emerge because the VDSL technology uses frequency bands in the copper plant outside of the current ADSL usage spectrum. This makes VDSL services more susceptible to impulse noise (unwanted electrical signals of short duration) and short bridge taps. Bridge taps are copper wires connected to, but not part of, a direct electrical path between the central office and the user premise. Detection of short bridge taps 20 feet to 100 feet in length is critical because they dramatically impact digital services carried across copper lines by introducing unwanted disturbances that increase electrical loss.
"The increase in broadband access speeds to accommodate services like IPTV, and the associated need to pre-qualify and troubleshoot high-bandwidth copper access networks, have created an ever-increasing strain on service provider field teams," said Jim Nerschook, vice president and general manager of JDSU's telecommunication field services (TFS) Communications Test and Measurement business segment. "The addition of the JDSU UltraFED puts greater testing power in the hands of field technicians and enables them to turn up and troubleshoot with 'one man out'."