iiNet trials PhyR for fetchtv improvements

Benefits may be broader.

ISP iiNet is set to begin trials of a firmware upgrade for its DSL network that could increase the coverage area for its IPTV service fetchtv.

The firmware, called PhyR (pronounced 'fire'), stands for physical layer retransmission and is designed to improve residual bit error rate (BERs) and resistance against impulsive noise in copper loop environments.

According to Broadcom, video services provisioned over these loops "are susceptible to noise sources in the ambient environment that limit the coverage area over which services can be made available, or may even reduce video quality."

"IPTV deployments require carriers to provide a certain acceptable level of impulse noise protection and margin settings, which in turn, determine an achievable data rate and the loop length over which voice, video and data or IPTV services will be delivered," the vendor said.

"Broadcom's PhyR technology significantly improves noise protection without inducing limitations of reach, rate, margin or latency, providing operators with a valuable tool that significantly reduces errors and improves the service coverage area, reliability and achievable revenue for IPTV investments."

If iiNet's trial is successful, the technology "will likely become available to all iiNet customers later in the year", the ISP said.

“Put simply, if the technology delivers what it promises, it will mean more customers will qualify for iiNet’s fetchtv 2 service," iiNet's chief technology officer Greg Bader said.

"As an added bonus, using BoB [modem hardware] means our customers won't have to do a thing to take advantage of these performance improvements."

Both iiNet's DSLAMs and the BoB modems contain Broadcom chipsets, which iiNet said made it "possible for iiNet to activate PhyR at any stage".

Bader said the benefits of PhyR could extend beyond fetchtv.

“Although we’re still in early stages, we’re confident that the technology will improve all services running over ADSL, surpassing our competitor’s offerings,” Bader said.