On the Effectiveness of Dynamic Spectrum Management Algorithms in xDSL Networks

This work proposes a method for the evaluation of the effectiveness of adopting dynamic spectral management (DSM) algorithms in different DSL scenarios. In the last years several DSM algorithms emerged in the literature but their comparison has been typically conducted within few scenarios and considering specific operating points. This work proposes the adoption of the DSM effectiveness factor (DEF) as a figure of merit capable of comparing the volumes of the whole rate regions, which expresses the set of operating points in the Pareto front. A random scenario generator was used to obtain four hundred DSL scenarios and compared flat power backoff (PBO) and DSM algorithms of levels 1 and 2. Besides confirming well-known facts, such that the effectiveness of DSM is significant in near-far scenarios, the results based on the proposed DEF allow to quantify the gains in bit rate that DSM can bring. Keywords— Dynamic spectral management, digital subscriber line, discrete multitone modulation.