Transparent fiber-optic system to extend digital subscriber lines

A transparent optical feeder has been developed to enlarge the service area of digital subscriber line (DSL) systems and provide higher data rates to customers. In this fiber/copper distribution system, the optical feeder constitutes a "lossless cable" that connects to the relatively short copper distribution pairs that service individual customers. PCM encoding and digital transmission on the optical fiber enable the transport of DSL signal waveforms. The system architecture, features, and measured performance are described in this paper.