Fiber in the loop
Encyclopedia
Fiber In The Loop is a system implementing or upgrading portions of the POTS
local loop
with fiber optic
technology from the central office
of a telephone carrier to a remote Serving area interface
(SAI) located in a neighborhood or to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) located at the customer premises (residential and/or business). Generally, fiber is used in either all or part of the local loop
distribution network. FITL can be implemented with any FTTx
architecture, such as fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the node (FTTN), and fiber to the premises (FTTP).
Residential areas already served by balanced pair distribution plant call for a trade-off between cost and capacity. The closer the fiber head, the higher the cost of construction and the higher the channel capacity. In places not served by metallic facilities, little cost is saved by not running fiber to the home.
A similar network called a hybrid fibre-coaxial
(HFC) network is used by cable television
operators but is usually not synonymous with "fiber In the loop", although similar advanced services are provided by the HFC network.
The expression "Fiber in the Loop" was popularised by (possibly originated by) Robert Barrett through the company that he founded in 1999 called Fiber in the Loop a.k.a. FITL. Robert developed a One Gigabit Ethernet GBIC equipped add / drop mux that provided a user with four T1 / E1 ports and a 1GE customer equipment port. The equipment was developed as a piece of managed CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) for the "new-age" Ethernet Service Providers (e.g. Yipes / Telsion). The device was one of the first to use Circuit Emulation of T1 / E1 circuits using Ethernet packets / frames with accurate clock recovery and synchonisation. Robert's domain name www.fitl.com now used for a new venture in the cycling and fitness assessment sector - see entry for Formic Intelligent Training Labs.
Source: Robert Barrett
Plain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
local loop
Local loop
In telephony, the local loop is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the carrier or telecommunications service provider's network...
with fiber optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
technology from the central office
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
of a telephone carrier to a remote Serving area interface
Serving area interface
The serving area interface or service area interface often called B-box, cross-connect box, cross box, ped , or access point is an outdoor telecommunications cabinet usually mounted on the ground on cable right-of-ways, but sometimes also on telephone poles...
(SAI) located in a neighborhood or to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) located at the customer premises (residential and/or business). Generally, fiber is used in either all or part of the local loop
Local loop
In telephony, the local loop is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the carrier or telecommunications service provider's network...
distribution network. FITL can be implemented with any FTTx
FTTX
Fiber to the x is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for last mile telecommunications...
architecture, such as fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the node (FTTN), and fiber to the premises (FTTP).
Residential areas already served by balanced pair distribution plant call for a trade-off between cost and capacity. The closer the fiber head, the higher the cost of construction and the higher the channel capacity. In places not served by metallic facilities, little cost is saved by not running fiber to the home.
A similar network called a hybrid fibre-coaxial
Hybrid fibre-coaxial
Hybrid fiber-coaxial is a telecommunications industry term for a broadband network which combines optical fibre and coaxial cable. It was commonly employed globally by cable television operators since the early 1990s.-Description:...
(HFC) network is used by cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
operators but is usually not synonymous with "fiber In the loop", although similar advanced services are provided by the HFC network.
The expression "Fiber in the Loop" was popularised by (possibly originated by) Robert Barrett through the company that he founded in 1999 called Fiber in the Loop a.k.a. FITL. Robert developed a One Gigabit Ethernet GBIC equipped add / drop mux that provided a user with four T1 / E1 ports and a 1GE customer equipment port. The equipment was developed as a piece of managed CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) for the "new-age" Ethernet Service Providers (e.g. Yipes / Telsion). The device was one of the first to use Circuit Emulation of T1 / E1 circuits using Ethernet packets / frames with accurate clock recovery and synchonisation. Robert's domain name www.fitl.com now used for a new venture in the cycling and fitness assessment sector - see entry for Formic Intelligent Training Labs.
Source: Robert Barrett