Leading experts in the field have come together to share their insights in a single volume, explaining the past, present, and future of all the DSL technologies. Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology covers the entire DSL family, from ISDN at 144 kb/s to VDSL at 52 Mb/s; details DSL at all layers of protocol, with special emphasis on the physical layer; discusses applications from both provider and end-user points of view; and gives an insider's view of the telecommunications standards process. Key standards are explained, including transmission line characteristics, data rates, modulation and coding methods, operations procedures, transconvergence layers, protocols, and network architectures. With its inside track and extensive level of detail, Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology will be indispensable to telecom and datacom engineers at every level. It also offers a comprehensible explanation of issues in this growing field to managers, marketing experts, and consumers of DSL technology.