Broadband Forum readies release of G.fast management model

With service provider interest in Fiber to the Distribution Point (FTTdp) architectures growing, the Broadband Forum has responded with a new management construct that leverages the YANG management model.

During the Broadband Forum's quarterly meeting in Mexico, members agreed it was the right time to release the FTTdp YANG management model to members for testing in network equipment. This is the Forum's first software project written in the YANG modelling language.

Having a management construct for FTTdp will be an important tool service providers can use to manage fiber-based nodes in the access network to not only roll out faster broadband services, but also create a foundation to leverage new technologies such as G.fast -- which achieves fiber-like speeds over shorter distances for customers over existing copper wiring.

The Broadband Forum has been increasing their activities around the G.fast technology. It will continue to stage G.fast plug-fests at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Labs (UNH-IOL).

Network management is the latest of various activities the Broadband Forum has conducted around G.fast and FTTdp.

In September, it devised a new FTTdp specification architecture and a set of associated requirements under the Technical Report 301 (TR-301) specification. By developing the TR-301 specificatoin, the Forum said it is providing a new set of architectural and technical requirements with a new node type, the distribution point unit (DPU). Among the various benefits of the DPU is that it can reverse power fed from the customer premises via one or more existing copper pairs.

For more:
- see the release

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