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Fiber to the X or FTTX is an umbrella term used for any broadband or wide area network using fiber optic cable for all or part of the last mile of its network. Last mile is referred to the link between the end user premises and the service provider’s first hop. The last mile is the final leg of the network that delivers the services to the end user. Usually the service provider’s hop is located somewhere near the end user premises such as communication poles or cabinets in the neighborhood. Use of fiber optic cables in last mile links is becoming more and more common as fiber optic cables are capable of carrying more data at higher speeds as compared to the traditional copper and coaxial cables. Fiber optic cables also allow unified communications, i.e. carrying multiple types of data on a single wire. This can include the internet, cable television and telephony.
This article will look into the different specifications of FTTX to enable better understanding of different architectures being used by the service providers for provision of their services. The different terminologies used are given below:
- Fiber to the Home – FTTH
- Fiber to the Premises – FTTP
- Fiber to the Building – FTTB
- Fiber to the Cabinet – FTTC
- Fiber to the Node – FTTN
The above categories can be further classified into two main groups; i.e. FTT-H/P/B (Fiber all the way to the customer premises) and FTT-C/N (Fiber optic cable ending at the last mile cabinet and node of the service provider).
Fiber to the Premises – FTTP
Fiber to the Premises will cover the FTTH and FTTB as well. The main concept behind FTTP is to provide fiber optic connectivity till the customer premises which can be a home, office, building or even a desk. The fiber can be directly terminated in the end points which support fiber optic termination or a media convertor can be used to connect ethernet cables to the end points. A switch is usually required to provide connectivity to multiple devices. FTTP is very useful to provide triple-play services to home and corporate users. Triple-play services usually include internet, television and telephony service over a single fiber optic cable.
Fiber to the Cabinet – FTTC
Now, let us discuss the FTTC architecture. In this technique, the fiber optic cable is terminated at the cabinet or node located near the customer premises and the terminating connections are provided over copper cables. Usually, UTP or coaxial cables are used for the links between the cabinet and the customer premises. One limitation for this architecture is that the cabinet/node has to be located within 1,000 feet of the customer’s premises as the generally used copper cables are not capable to go beyond this limit.
Benefits of FTTX
There are several benefits of using the FTTX architecture, many of these benefits are directly related to the customers and end users. FTTX architecture provides very high bandwidths, usually 1 Gbps end user bandwidth. This high bandwidth allows the users to access the high bandwidth applications and faster internet connections. The other benefits include less cabling required to get access to multiple services.
The service providers also find FTTX architecture favorable as it is easier to upgrade and highly scalable. The terminal equipment can be upgraded to enhance the bandwidths of end user and increase the user capacity. This eliminates the need to change the equipment at customer premises for every upgrade, thus requiring less man power and lower operational costs.
