The world focuses on optical networks, Europe develops strategies

Architecture of FTTx systems
(source: Wikipedia)

In 2007, the number of FTTH/FTTB (Fiber To The Home/Building) users was about 16 million. In 2008, the number increased by over 30%, this year it is expected to grow by 40%! The FTTH/FTTB services have most subscribers in Asia. In 2008 the percentage was 78%. The European market is only 5% of the global market.

Analysts estimate that by the end of 2011 year approximately 16 million homes in Europe will be connected to FTTH/FTTB - it will be about 8% of all dwellings. This "ambitious" plan contrasts with the results which were achieved in the end of 2008 in Asian countries: South Korea - 45%, Japan - 25%, Taiwan - 12%.

FTTH saturation at a level higher than 1% was also in Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, the USA, Iceland, Denmark, Andorra, Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, Lithuania, China, Italy, Estonia, Russia, Latvia. It is interesting that the list does not include Germany, France, and Great Britain. A bold policy aimed at quick development of optical networks is conducted by Slovakia which this year entered the group of 20 countries with the most developed infrastructure of this kind.

The penetration of FTTH/FTTB on the U.S. market is about 5%, and the most popular FTTH service is FIOS (Fiber Optic Service). Verizon, the operator of FIOS, has about 3 million subscribers. In China, the FTTH/FTTB share is 1.9%. However, the pace of growth is so fast (about 80% per year) that the report issued by FTTH Councils of Asia-Pacific announces Chinese leadership in the number of installed FTTH/FTTB within two years.

In Asia and the U.S., the development of telecommunications infrastructure is one of the most important elements in overcoming the crisis. In Europe, the need for progress in modern technologies was alreadyrecognized in 2000, when the Lisbon Strategy emerged. The aim of the plan was to make the EU "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010". The implied meaning was to overtake the USA. Unfortunately, Europeans have not managed to overtake Americans, but in many fields have been overtaken by Asian countries...

It stimulates Europeans to step up their efforts for the new strategy "EU 2020", which will replace the existing 2010 EU agenda for growth and jobs (Lisbon Strategy). The basic premise of this project is "more intelligent and ecological, knowledge-based market economy".

The European Commission launched a consultation on the new strategy, waiting for comments and suggestions sent by e-mails to EU2020@ec.europa.eu till January 15, 2010. On this basis, the EC will develop detailed proposals and present them for approval to the heads of states and governments during the summit in March 2010.

Admittedly, the optical infrastructure will not grow from the wide-ranging consultations, but the new strategy will be at least a bright vision of the future.

Modern system of monitoring dorms

Basic system architecture of the IP CCTV system

Maisel SudParis is an non-profit organization whose main mission is to provide accommodation for students of two prestigious French universities: "Telecom SudParis" and "Telecom Ecole de Management" (former INT). The campus located in Evry consists of six buildings with single rooms, studios, apartments, common living areas such as kitchens, dining rooms, laundry rooms, meeting rooms.

In order to counteract vandalism committed on the open access equipment, the administrator decided to install video surveillance system. The system will be launched in February 2010.

It will consist of 106 vandal-proof ACTi cameras integrated by managing and recording software (NVR) - domes with standard resolution (CAM-7321) and megapixel cameras ACM-7411. IP technology allows for simple construction of the large system and provides effective management tools. High resolution of the cameras increases the effectiveness of the fight against pathological behavior. Vandal proof housings of the cameras are ideal for such applications - the cameras can operate without fear of being damaged.
After startup of the system the investor expects a significant reduction of vandalism and petty crime.

LTE - the technology of the future

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a technology of mobile networks in which the download speed will reach up to 326 Mb/s and upload speed up to 86 Mb/s (20 MHz channel, 64QAM modulation, 4x4 MIMO).

The technology is seen as the next stage in the development of mobile networks, allowing them to achieve the possibility of efficient multimedia transmission. The popularity of smartphones (like iPhone) means the growing demand for mobile broadband networks.

LTE technology is flexible, both in terms of frequency band and width of the transmission channel. Depending on the needs, LTE networks can operate at frequencies from 700 MHz (rural areas - higher ranges) to 2.6 GHz (metropolitan areas). It is possible to use transmission channels with the following bandwidths: 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz. With the increase in channel width, the link speed rises as well.
The "downlinks" use OFDM spread spectrum technique with multiple subcarriers, whereas the "uplinks" are based on SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access) that uses a single carrier (to save the battery life of the client device) .

Additionally, LTE uses Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology which utilizes many antennas. So far, client terminals are usually equipped with two antennas (MIMO 2x2), due to implementation problems in such small devices.

An important element of LTE is a new network structure, called System Architecture Evolution (SAE). It is based entirely on IP protocol.

The technology is evolving in two directions: FD-LTE and TD-LTE. They differ in the utilization of the channel. In the case of FD-LTE, the transmission channel is divided into two frequency bands - one of them is used for transmission towards the base station and the second from the base station to the terminal.
The TD-LTE uplink and downlink transmissions are spread over the whole channel. The time at which transmission is carried out is divided into time slots, separated by guard time. In each time slot the transmission goes only one way. This allows for flexible use of the capacity of the transmission channel.
Currently, TD-LTE is gaining more and more supporters; not without significance is the fact that it is chosen as the primary technology for building commercial LTE networks in China.
The first commercial LTE networks will be launched in 2010 (China, USA, Scandinavia, Japan), however, works are already carried out to develop a more advanced version of this technology, namely LTE-A (Advanced), with estimated throughput of 1 Gb/s (downlink) and 500 Mb/s (uplink) within a 100 MHz band.