Three alternative architectures for an optical fiber to the home delivery system are analyzed: an all digital switched video and voice/data system; an analog broadcast video, digital voice/data system; and an analog switched video, digital voice/data system. These architectures are studied with respect to a potential application in a representative telephone serving area in terms of cost and technical feasibility. Four distribution topologies are considered. These are a one fiber star, a two fiber star, a ring, and a bus/star topology. The three architectures are integrated with the four distribution topologies to create five feasible fiber to the home models. Each model has been analyzed in terms of costs and practicality. The bus-star broadcast analog video, digital voice system is the least expensive alternative at present. However, it is not clear that this topology is a good choice for future growth. Issues such as privacy, reliability, and the potential lack of expandability of this architecture may mitigate this result.

Date Published: 14 December 1988
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 0991, Fiber Optic Datacom and Computer Networks, (14 December 1988); doi: 10.1117/12.960013

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0991:
Fiber Optic Datacom and Computer Networks
James E. Hayes; James Pazaris, Editor(s)