Access network evolution and residential gateways

Recent advances in access technologies are creating several new network elements that enable the delivery of multiple services over high bandwidth access streams. However these advances are often slowed by the substantial amount of legacy networks and systems, as well as by the lack of a unifying end-to-end architectural vision. This paper presents our view of the evolution of the network to an "interconnection network" supporting connectivity to diverse end-to-end services using varied access methods. We emphasize the importance of-a Residential Gateway to support emerging access technologies, legacy home networks, and new home network technologies in a seamless, modular way. An architecture for an interconnection network, including a low cost modular Residential Gateway, is presented. The architecture provides a framework for supporting self-configuring "plug and play" network elements that provide dynamic access to multiple services.