DSC Communications Corp, Richardson, Texas claims that its Litespan-2000 system has become the first Synchronous Optical Network digital loop carrier system to achieve transmission rates of 155 megabits per second. The Litespan-2000 is designed to support broadband ISDN applications and is conformant with Bell Communications Resaerch’s TR-057 digital loop carrier and TR-008 digital switch interface. The 155Mbps speed enables the system to connect 2,016 subscribers to a phone company’s telephone exchange over a single pair or two redundant pairs of optical fibres. The increased capacity could encourage phone companies to provide services such as wideband private line data, local net-to-local net interconnection and electronic Yellow Pages. DSC has also added to the product, enabling it to be connected to the exchange or to be distributed down a telephone company’s feeder route in either one or two directions. This enables greater flexibility of use and permits telephone companies to extend the reach of their fibre optic networks to individual homes and businesses.
