Broadband Forum holds VDSL2 G.Vector plugfest

A group of chipset vendors developing VDSL2 G.Vector products participated in one of the first interoperability testing events of the ITU-T's G.Vector specifications held in late September at the University of New Hampshire's Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL).

UNH-IOL lab station

A lab station at the UNH-IOL testing center. Tour the lab. (Image source: FierceTelecom)

For existing telcos looking to leverage their existing copper-based networks in order to deliver higher speed broadband services to consumers and businesses, G.Vector can increase subscriber data rates by canceling crosstalk in real-time between VDSL2 enabled wire pairs.

By eliminating the effects of the crosstalk noise between wire pairs, G.Vector equipment made by the likes of vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), ADTRAN (Nasdaq: ADTN) and Calix (NYSE: CALX) can operate at higher bit rates.

Chip vendors participating in the event included Broadcom, Ikanos, Lantiq, Realtek and Triductor. Also participating in the event was Telebyte, which provided test equipment to stimulate the crosstalk of copper networks during the testing.

The event was endorsed by BT (NYSE: BT), an advocate of using a mix of hybrid fiber/copper Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC) and Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) approaches for its next-gen last mile strategy.

"This was the first event in a very important journey and we are looking forward to continued progress as the innovative technology is implemented and scaled for deployment," commented Kevin Foster, head of BT's UK Access Platform Evolution, in a press release.

While this plugfest is encouraging, the majority of the work that DSLAM and broadband network vendors have conducted around vectoring has been largely experimental.

Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei said they were able to deliver 300 Mbps and 700 Mbps, respectively, using Phantom Mode DSL technology. Meanwhile, Telekom Austria is leveraging Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) vectoring technology to deliver up to 100 and 50 Mbps speeds at distances of up to 300 meters and 800 meters over their existing copper network.

For more:
- see the release

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Slideshow: Touring the UNH Interoperability Lab

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