Method and system for estimating the ability of a subscriber loop to

Abstract

A method and system use voiceband transmission characteristics to estimate the viability of deploying broadband services over a subscriber loop in the public switched telephone network. The system gives network service providers the ability to predict the performance of broadband transmission channels, such as ADSL, on a subscriber loop from a central location and without reliance on outdated loop records maintained by a carrier. Based on this predicted performance a network service provider is able to efficiently determine the viability of deploying ADSL to a subscriber and, in turn, determine the viability of deploying ADSL in entire areas by creating an ADSL--ready consumer-lead list. The method comprises establishing an end to end voiceband modem connection from a logic device to a remote computer over a facility wherein the only analog elements reside in the subscriber loop. The system then uses the initial voiceband negotiation information collected by the modems to estimate the performance of the subscriber loop in the ADSL band. A list of ADSL ready subscribers may then be created for those subscribers whose estimated ADSL band performance is above a threshold level.