A multi-service access node (MSAN), also known as a multi-service access gateway (MSAG), is a device typically installed in a

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

(although sometimes in a roadside

serving area interface The serving area interface or service area interface (SAI) is an outdoor enclosure or metal box that allows access to telecommunications wiring. Alternate names *Access point (AP) *Cabinet (cab) *B-box (breakout box) *Cross box *Cross-connect b ...

cabinet) which connects customers' telephone lines to the

core network A backbone or core network is a part of a computer network which interconnects networks, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks. A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same buildi ...

, to provide

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...

, and

broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...

such as

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

all from a single platform. Prior to the deployment of MSANs, telecom providers typically had a multitude of separate equipment including

DSLAM A digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM, often pronounced ''DEE-slam'') is a network device, often located in telephone exchanges, that connects multiple customer digital subscriber line (DSL) interfaces to a high-speed digital co ...

s to provide the various types of services to customers. Integrating all services on a single node, which typically backhauls all data streams over IP or

Asynchronous Transfer Mode Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a telecommunications standard defined by the American National Standards Institute and International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T, formerly CCITT) for digital trans ...

can be more cost effective and may provide new services to customers more quickly than previously possible. A typical outdoor MSAN cabinet consists of narrowband ( POTS), broadband ( xDSL) services, batteries with rectifiers, optical transmission unit and copper

distribution frame In telecommunications, a distribution frame is a passive device which terminates cables, allowing arbitrary interconnections to be made. For example, the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) located at a telephone exchange, telephone central office te ...

References

Telephony equipment Digital subscriber line {{telephony-stub

See also

References