Service provisioning in an ATM-over-ADSL access network

Asymmetric digital subscriber loop technology is a new platform for delivering broadband services to homes and small businesses, thus bringing the information highway to the mass market. Successful deployment of an ADSL-based access network is not only a matter of delivering faster rates, but also offering solutions that are cost-effective and easy to use and manage. As deregulation and competition spread globally, an ADSL-based access network should also enable end users to choose their service providers dynamically, and to switch from one provider to another easily and rapidly, even on a real-time basis. In light of these requirements, this article addresses the issue of service provisioning in an ATM-over-ADSL access network. It concentrates on the provisioning of services using the PPP protocol. PPP is the common protocol for service provisioning in circuit-switched telephone networks. However, it is also considered a good choice for the delivery of broadband services since it has built-in mechanisms for IP address assignment, layer-2 security, and AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting). This article presents the problem of initiating a PPP connection at an Ethernet-based host. It presents several solutions for this problem and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each solution