Catena says DSL is only a card shuffle away

Catena Networks, a Redwood Shores, Calif., DSL equipment manufacturer, is resorting to a simple card trick to ease the rollout of DSL to remote terminals.

Catena's CNX-5 asymmetric DSL (ADSL) system, unveiled at ComNet last month, is essentially a line card replacement that lets service providers upgrade plain old telephone service (POTS)-only Lucent SLC Series 5 digital loop carrier (DLC) systems to deliver POTS and DSL on a copper pair.

By using existing DLCs instead of adding DSL access multiplexers in remote cabinets, service providers can save a bundle of money, says Bob Machlin, Catena's president and CEO.

"If you believe people want DSL and POTS, you have to be able to deploy both at an economical POTS-type cost, and this allows you to do that," he says.

The CNX-5 system consists of two card replacements. The Catena Enhanced Channel Test Unit is an ATM multiplexer card that replaces existing channel test unit cards in the SLC 5. One Enhanced Channel Test Unit card is required for each remote terminal. There are three backhaul options available for the enhanced test unit cards -- T-1, T-3 and inverse multiplexing over ATM, bonding up to four T-1 links.

Once the enhanced test unit card has been installed, providers can begin replacing SLC 5 line cards with the second piece of the CNX-5 system -- the Catena Enhanced Channel Unit. Each channel unit has two POTS and two DSL ports. Catena cards are distinguishable from regular SLC 5 line cards by a red lever on the front of the Catena cards.

Each Enhanced Channel Unit lists at about $1,000, while the Enhanced Channel Test Unit costs about $4,000. Discounts are available for service providers placing large orders.

Catena also provides a management system with the cards. The CatenaView Element Management System provides APIs to link the CNX-5 to carriers' back-office and billing systems.

Machlin estimates that up to 20 million users could be served ADSL through SLC 5s. Catena could manufacture a product for the SLC 5 because Lucent made it an open platform in the 1980s, Machlin notes.

Catena is currently in trials with about 10 incumbent local exchange carriers, he says.

Later this spring, Catena plans to unveil a new product called a broadband loop carrier for central offices and remote terminals, which will support POTS and DSL on every port.

"Assuming consumers want both DSL and POTS, it makes sense to build something that integrates both from the ground up," Machlin says.

Matthew Davis, an analyst with The Yankee Group, says DLCs have been a big barrier to the rollout of DSL.

"A lot of incumbents said that the DLCs couldn't be upgraded, and you needed a new device to provide DSL," he says. "If Catena can bring this to market, it's a fabulous product." But the accolades will have to wait until the CNX-5 is fully tested, Davis says.