Openreach to conduct large-scale SRA trial on FTTC broadband lines

Openreach to vary the speed of broadband lines using SRA technology.

Seamless Rate Adaptation (SRA) technology prevents dropped connections by allowing modems to make seamless data transfer rate changes. An interference of the connection can cause a modem to retrain on another connection and in doing so, drop the existing connection. SRA makes these dynamic rate changes in order to accommodate temporary noise conditions on the line and therefore prevent these dropped connections from occurring.

This SRA trial on Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) superfast broadband lines could help improve stability by varying the speed more effectively. If the noise condition (interference) improves then SRA can be used to gradually increase the data rate again.

SRA technology is already an integral part of the latest G.fast standard on the Openreach hybrid fibre network.

Openreach has already testing SRA alongside VDSL2 Vectoring technology and more recently unsuccessfully attempting to incorporate it as part of their Long Reach VDSL tests which were shelved.

A decision was made earlier this to try implementing SRA on its own.

Openreach said in a statement:

We’ve published a briefing for CPs relating to SRA, which will vary the speed of a line as noise margin changes reducing the propensity to retrain, whereas today on NGA1, if the noise margin drops beyond a certain threshold, the line will retrain. Openreach will be running a large-scale trial to prove the benefits of this change.

For more information, please contact us or call 01892 514687 and speak to one of our UK Business Managers.