Method and system for determining data transfer margins for network connections

1. A method for determining data transfer margins for network connections, a physical length of a network connection to be determined between a transmitter and a receiver being known, comprising:

measuring a power spectrum by a power measuring device in dependence upon a transfer frequency for possible modem types, and transmitting the measured power spectrum onto a data carrier of a calculating unit;

determining, with the calculating unit, attenuation for different physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, and storing actual signal strengths at the receiver, based on the attenuation and the measured power spectrum, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses, into a first list on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

storing, in a second list, noise level, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit, the noise level being determined by the calculating unit based on the power spectrum, depending upon at least crosstalk parameters and number of interference sources;

determining, by a Gaussian transformation module, in the calculating unit, data transfer margins for a predefined bit rate based on the actual signal strengths of the first list and corresponding noise level of the second list for different data transmission modulations and/or modulation codings, and storing the data transfer margins, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

determining, in the calculating unit, based on the stored data transfer margins, the actual data transfer margins by at least one correction factor and storing the actual data transfer margins, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit, the correction factor comprising an average deviation of the stored data transfer margins with respect to the actual data transfer margins and/or an equalizer factor for correction of equalizer adjustment; and

determining, based on the stored actual data transfer margins, with reference to the known physical length of the network connection to be determined between the transmitter and the receiver, in the calculating unit, the data transfer margin for the respective network connection.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the correction factor reflects a non-linear dependency with respect to the physical lengths and/or cable wire thicknesses.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the power spectrum is measured in dependence upon transmission frequency for ADSL, and/or SDSL, and/or HDSL, and/or VDSL modem types.

4. A method according to claim 3 , wherein the SDSL modem types comprise at least one G.991.2 modem type, and/or the ADSL modem types comprise at least one G.992.2 modem type.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein by the Gaussian transformation module the data transfer margins are calculated for at least the data transmission modulations 2B1Q, and/or CAP, and/or DMT, and/or PAM.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the data transfer margins are determined for at least trellis modulation coding by the Gaussian transformation module.

7. A computer program product, configured to be loaded directly into an internal memory of a digital computer and comprising software code sections with which operations according to claim 1 are able to be executed when the product runs on a computer.

8. A method for determining bit rates for network connections, a physical length of a network connection between a transmitter and a receiver being known, comprising:

measuring a power spectrum by a power measuring device in dependence upon transfer frequency for possible modem types and transmitting the measured power spectrum onto a data carrier of a calculating unit;

determining, with the calculating unit, attenuation for different physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, and storing actual signal strengths at the receiver, based on the attenuation and the measured power spectrum, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses, in a first list on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

storing, in a second list, noise level, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit, the noise level being determined based on the measured power spectrum by the calculating unit depending upon at least crosstalk parameters and number of interference sources;

determining, by a Gaussian transformation module, based on the actual signal strengths of the first list and corresponding noise level of the second list for different data transmission modulations and/or modulation codings, in the calculating unit, bit rates for a predefined data transfer margin, and storing the bit rates, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

determining, in the calculating unit, based on the stored bit rates, the actual bit rates by a correction factor, and storing the actual bit rates, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit, the correction factor comprising an average deviation of the stored bit rates with respect to the actual bit rates and/or an equalizer factor for correction of equalizer adjustment; and

determining, based on the stored actual bit rates, with reference to the known physical length of the network connection to be determined between the transmitter and the receiver, in the calculating unit, the bit rate for the respective network connection.

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein by the Gaussian transformation module the bit rates are determined for a data transfer margin between 3 and 9 dB.

10. A method according to claim 8 , wherein by the Gaussian transformation module the bit rates are determined for a 6 dB data transfer margin.

11. A method according to claim 8 , wherein the correction factor reflects a non-linear dependency with respect to the physical lengths and/or cable wire thicknesses.

12. A method according to claim 8 , wherein the power spectrum is measured in dependence upon transmission frequency for ADSL, and/or SDSL, and/or HDSL, and/or VDSL modem types.

13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the SDSL modem types comprise at least one G.991.2 modem type, and/or the ADSL modem types comprise at least one G.992.2 modem type.

14. A method according to claim 8 , wherein by the Gaussian transformation module the bit rates are determined for at least the data transmission modulations 2B1Q, and/or CAP, and/or DMT, and/or PAM.

15. A method according to claim 8 , wherein by the Gaussian transformation module the bit rates are determined for at least trellis modulation coding.

16. A computer program product, configured to be loaded directly into an internal memory of a digital computer and comprising software code sections with which the operating according to claim 8 are executed when the product runs on a computer.

17. A system for determining data transfer margins for network connections, a physical length of a network connection to be determined between a transmitter and a receiver being known, comprising:

a measuring device configured to measure a power spectrum in dependence upon transmission frequency for possible modem types;

a data carrier of a calculating unit, on which the power spectrum is storable;

wherein the calculating unit comprises means for determining attenuation for different physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, the actual signal strengths at the receiver, based on the attenuation as well as the power spectrum, being stored, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses, in a first list on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

wherein the calculating unit comprises means for determining noise level, based on the measured power spectrum, depending upon at least crosstalk parameters and number of interference sources, the noise level being stored, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, in a second list on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

wherein the calculating unit comprises a Gaussian transformation module configured to determine data transfer margins for a predefined bit rate based on the actual signal strengths of the first list and corresponding noise levels of the second list for different data transmission modulations and/or modulation codings, the data transfer margins being stored, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit;

wherein the calculating unit comprises a correction module configured to determine, based on the stored data transfer margins, the actual data transfer margins by at least one correction factor, and to store the actual data transfer margins, assigned to the respective physical lengths and cable wire thicknesses of the network connection, on the data carrier of the calculating unit, the correction factor comprising an average deviation of the stored data transfer margins with respect to the actual data transfer margins and/or an equalizer factor for correction of equalizer adjustment.