Broadband Forum
Encyclopedia
The Broadband Forum is a non-profit industry consortium
dedicated to developing broadband network specifications. Members include telecommunications networking and service provider companies, broadband device and equipment vendors, consultants and independent testing labs (ITLs). Service provider members are primarily wire-line service providers (non-mobile) telephone companies
.
and information technology
sector. It is used as a platform for companies that operate in the broadband market. Its initial main purpose was the establishment of new standards around Digital Subscriber Line
communication products such as provisioning
. This cooperation has brought different standardizations for ADSL, SHDSL, VDSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2.
The group was established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum, but became the DSL Forum in 1999, named after the digital subscriber line
(DSL) family of technology.
Starting in 2004, the Forum expanded its work into other last mile
technologies including optical fiber
. On 17 June 2008 it changed its name to "Broadband Forum". DSL-related specifications, while still a key part of the forum's work, are no longer its only work. For instance, the forum produced work specific to passive optical network
ing (PON). Its Auto-Configuration Server specification TR-069
, originally published in 2004, was adapted for use with set-top box
and Network Attached Storage units.
In May 2009, IP/MPLS Forum merged with the Broadband Forum. It had promoted the frame relay
and Multiprotocol Label Switching
technologies.
Technical work of IP/MPLS Forum continued in a newly created "IP/MPLS and Core" Working Group of the Broadband Forum. The historical specifications from the IP/MPLS Forum's predecessors, ATM Forum
, Frame Relay Forum, MFA Forum, and MPLS Forum, are archived on the Broadband Forum's website, under IP/MPLS Forum specifications.
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
dedicated to developing broadband network specifications. Members include telecommunications networking and service provider companies, broadband device and equipment vendors, consultants and independent testing labs (ITLs). Service provider members are primarily wire-line service providers (non-mobile) telephone companies
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
.
History
The DSL Forum was founded in 1994 with about 200 member companies in different divisions of the telecommunicationTelecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
and information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
sector. It is used as a platform for companies that operate in the broadband market. Its initial main purpose was the establishment of new standards around Digital Subscriber Line
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
communication products such as provisioning
Provisioning
In telecommunication, provisioning is the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide services to its users. In NS/EP telecommunications services, "provisioning" equates to "initiation" and includes altering the state of an existing priority service or capability.In a...
. This cooperation has brought different standardizations for ADSL, SHDSL, VDSL, ADSL2+ and VDSL2.
The group was established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum, but became the DSL Forum in 1999, named after the digital subscriber line
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
(DSL) family of technology.
Starting in 2004, the Forum expanded its work into other last mile
Last mile
The "last mile" or "last kilometer" is the final leg of delivering connectivity from a communications provider to a customer. The phrase is therefore often used by the telecommunications and cable television industries. The actual distance of this leg may be considerably more than a mile,...
technologies including optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
. On 17 June 2008 it changed its name to "Broadband Forum". DSL-related specifications, while still a key part of the forum's work, are no longer its only work. For instance, the forum produced work specific to passive optical network
Passive optical network
A passive optical network is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 16-128. A PON consists of an optical line terminal at the service provider's central...
ing (PON). Its Auto-Configuration Server specification TR-069
TR-069
TR-069 is a DSL Forum technical specification entitled CPE WAN Management Protocol...
, originally published in 2004, was adapted for use with set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
and Network Attached Storage units.
In May 2009, IP/MPLS Forum merged with the Broadband Forum. It had promoted the frame relay
Frame relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology...
and Multiprotocol Label Switching
Multiprotocol Label Switching
Multiprotocol Label Switching is a mechanism in high-performance telecommunications networks that directs data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links between...
technologies.
Technical work of IP/MPLS Forum continued in a newly created "IP/MPLS and Core" Working Group of the Broadband Forum. The historical specifications from the IP/MPLS Forum's predecessors, ATM Forum
ATM Forum
The ATM Forum was founded in 1991 to be the industry consortium to promote Asynchronous Transfer Mode technology used in telecommunication networks. It was a non-profit international organization. The ATM Forum created over 200 implementation agreements....
, Frame Relay Forum, MFA Forum, and MPLS Forum, are archived on the Broadband Forum's website, under IP/MPLS Forum specifications.