been developed to facilitate next-generation networking. Chapter 12 covers these options, which include the twisted-pair DSL family; hybrid fiber coax (HFC) alter- natives that make use of cable modems; fiber-to-the-node and fiber-to-the-home/ fiber-to-the-premises; broadband wireless, including direct broadcast satellite, Wi-Fi, and WiMax; Free-Space Optics; and innovative new uses of powerlines to support high-speed communications. As discussed later in this chapter, multiser- vice core, edge, and access platforms-including the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), multiservice provisioning platforms (MSPPs), and the MPLS architecture- are being developed. Next-Generation Networks and Convergence A next-generation network is a high-speed packet- or cell-based network capable of transporting and routing a multitude of services, including voice, data, video, Chapter 10 Next-Generation Networks and multimedia, and it is a common platform for applications and services that is accessible to the customer across the entire network as well as outside the network. The main physical components of the next-generation network are fiber and wire- less media, routers, switches, gateways, servers, and edge devices that reside at the customer premises. A next-generation network is designed for multimedia com- munications, which implies that it has broadband capacities, multichannel trans- port with high data rates, low latencies (80 milliseconds or less is the target), low packet loss (less than 5%, with the target being less than 1%), and QoS guarantees. A next-generation network has a worldwide infrastructure that consists of fast packet-switching techniques, which make maximum use of transport and provide great transmission efficiencies. A next-generation network involves optical net- working. Today's electronic systems are going to be the bottlenecks to delivering tomorrow's applications, SO we will see a replacement of the electronic infrastruc- ture with optical elements that will provide end-to-end optical networking. A next-g