Huawei prototype achieves 700Mbit/s over bonded DSL

Patented Supermimo technology can deliver 175Mbit/s per twisted pair

Bonded DSL can offer a relatively cheap way to increase bandwidth

Telecommunications network provider Huaweihas demonstrated a 700Mbit/s DSL prototype that would allow network operators to increase bandwidth available from their old copper DSL networks by 75 per cent, according to the company.

This will come as a relief to companies that are under pressure to deliver increased bandwidth but do not yet have the funds to upgrade to optical fibre.

The company showcased the prototype in Hong Kong earlier today.

The bandwidth offered is far superior to conventional DSL broadband technology, which can usually only reach a maximum data rate of 100Mbit/s.

The faster performance is down to patented 'Supermimo' technology, which bonds four twisted copper pairs together.

Huawei claims that the technology increases DSL bandwidth by 75 per cent, from an average of 100Mbit/s per twisted pair to about 175Mbit/s.

Bonded DSL technology is also on offer in the UK. Some vendors, such as Pro-Net, are able to bond up to six ADSL lines (potentially from different ISPs, ensuring added resiliency), providing essentially one large pipe out to the internet that can achieve speeds up to 200Mbit/s.

The DSL connections are connected to a bonding router, and the traffic is fed into an aggregation server, which can either sit on the customer premises, or remotely at the provider's site.

But this is not without problems, as Gerry White, business development manager at Evolving Networks explained: "Bonding DSL from different ISPs can introduce latency, as different datastreams arrive at different times."

White explained that Evolving Networks provisions BT lines, and routes them through its own network, resulting in an end-to-end control of the datastreams, removing the latency issue.

Other transmission technologies can be bonded together, including leased lines, ISDN and 3G. "BAE Systems use ADSL and SDSL bonded together at Portsmouth Dockyard [to provide improved upstream and downstream access]," White explained.

Bonding cheap, fast connections together is a viable alternative to expensive leased line access technologies, in the quest for increased bandwidth. However, the 700Mbit/s target would be difficult to achieve in the UK, as the speed is limited by the exchange and quality of the connection to the user.