Fiber optic broadband network infrastructures
Most of us have already heard a lot about the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network. This initiative has been taken in many countries, including Japan, Italy, and the United States, etc. Fiber connections are terminated at the home premises. Home can use this ultimate connection to effortlessly stream HD videos, use high-speed internet for video calls, file sharing, downloading, online gaming, and more. With Internet, the user can also enjoy HDTV connection, Video on Demand (VoD), telephone connection and other additional services offered within the same fiber connection. Approximately 10 million homes around the world have integrated with the FTTH infrastructure and many more are in the works.
The rest of the perhaps less fortunate users enjoy the combination of a high speed fiber connection and then the copper wire communication system that eventually connects to their home or business. These people may still be able to make use of the additional services mentioned above (HDTV, VoD, etc.) but perhaps at a lower level of quality. The position in which the connecting channel changes from fiber optic to copper determines the infrastructure and therefore the name of the specific architecture of the communication network. Some of the common infrastructures are explained in the following passages.
FTTN (fiber to the node / neighborhood) is when migration takes over the cabinet from the street. The cabinet provides the connection to the neighborhood and thus the name of the architecture. However, the end user may still be at a great distance (up to a few miles) and will therefore have to rely on the characteristics of the copper network. In contrast to this, FTTK / FTTC (fiber to curb / curb) switches to copper relatively closer to the end user (approximately 1000ft Approx. 300m). The migration still takes place in the cabinet or closet, but the end user enjoys a better high-bandwidth copper network and can therefore take advantage of luxury Ethernet and other services.
FTTP (fiber to the premises) is the category that encompasses both FTTH and FTTB (fiber to the building). The connection ends at the building premises usually in the basement. From there, the means of communication is the network of the building itself and therefore users can enjoy very good quality and high speed communication associated with fiber optics.
In the final category, the migration takes place at the end user himself. This is the Fiber-to-Desktop (FTTD) architecture and the glass fibers terminate at the fiber media converter at the user’s desktop. This user may be the most privileged of all the infrastructures.