Broadband DSLAM and Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS) vendors need to provide Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based networks as an alternative to an ATM access network, with a DSLAM bridging the ATM-DSL local loop to the Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based broadband access network and allowing Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based connectivity to the BRAS. There is no unique mapping between the subscriber Line-ID tag and the interface in an Fast or Gigabit Ethernet broadband access network, as there is in an ATM-based broadband network, where the ATM VC is associated to a subscriber line. During the authentication phase that initiates the PPP access and AAA accounting requests, the BRAS includes a NAS-Port-ID attribute in RADIUS authentication packets that identifies the DSL for the subscriber

DSL Forum 2004-71 defines a method whereby the DSLAM sends the DSL Remote-ID tag in the PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) discovery phase to apply the same subscriber mapping capability to Fast or Gigabit Ethernet interfaces that is possible on ATM interfaces. This method adds support for the PPPoE server acting as a BRAS to report the Remote-ID tag as a new vendor specific attribute (VSA) (AAA_AT_REMOTE_ID) in AAA authentication and accounting requests. If the radius-server attribute 31 remote-id command is configured on the BRAS, the Remote-ID tag will be sent to a RADIUS server as the Calling Station-ID tag (attribute 31).

Traditional ATM-based DSL broadband access networks have the topology shown in The figure below.

In terms of logical connectivity, there is a one-to-one mapping of the DSL subscriber line to the end user and the ATM virtual circuit (VC) used to carry the PPP session through the DSLAM and to the BRAS, where this VC information is converted into a NAS-Port-ID tag for use in RADIUS packets.

The simple mapping available from an ATM-based broadband network between the physical line in the DSL local loop to the end user and a virtual circuit (from DSLAM to BRAS) is not available for a Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based network. To solve this problem, the PPPoE Remote-ID Tag Processing feature uses a PPPoE intermediate agent function on the DSLAM to attach a tag to the PPPoE discovery packets. The BRAS then receives the tagged packet, decodes the tag, and inserts the line identifier into RADIUS packets destined for the RADIUS server.

The DSLAM intercepts PPPoE discovery frames from the client or initiates a discovery frame if the PPPoE Active Discovery (PAD) client is a legacy PPP over ATM (PPPoA) device. The DSLAM inserts a unique Remote-ID tag and DSL sync rate tag using the PPPoE vendor-specific tag (0x0105) to PPPoE Active Discovery Initiation (PADI) and PPPoE Active Discovery Request (PADR) packets; see the figure below. The DSLAM forwards these packets upstream to the BRAS after the insertion. The tag contains the identification of the DSL line on which the PADI or PADR packet was received, in the access node where the intermediate agent resides.

When the vendor-tag remote-id service command is configured in broadband access (BBA) group configuration mode, the BRAS processes the received PPPoE vendor-specific tag in the PADR frame and extracts the Remote-ID tag, which is sent to the remote AAA server as a VSA in all AAA access and accounting requests. When the radius-server attribute 31 remote-id global configuration command is also configured on the BRAS, the Remote-ID value is inserted into attribute 31.

Outgoing PAD Offer (PADO) and PAD Session-Confirmation (PADS) packets from the BRAS have the DSLAM-inserted Remote-ID tag. The DSLAM should strip the tag out of PADO and PADS frames. If the DSLAM cannot strip off the tag, the BRAS must remove the tag before sending the frames out. This is accomplished using the vendor-tag strip BBA group configuration mode command. If this command is configured under the BBA group, the BRAS strips the incoming Remote-ID tag (and any other vendor tag) off of the outgoing PADO and PADS frames. This action complies with DSL Forum Technical Report 101 .

The shift toward Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based DSLAMs offers the following benefits:

• Ability to use simpler and lower-cost provisioning options for DSL subscribers over a Fast or Gigabit Ethernet-based backhaul network rather than on an ATM-based network.

• Ability to use higher bandwidth connectivity options available from Fast or Gigabit Ethernet that are not possible on ATM.

• Ability to upgrade to next-generation DSLAMs with quality of service (QoS), and support for higher bandwidth, asymmetric dual latency modems such as the ADSL2.

Ability to inject high-bandwidth content such as video in a Fast or Gigabit Ethernet network.

In the following example, outgoing PADO and PADS packets will retain the incoming Vendor-Specific Circuit-ID tag:

Router(config)# radius-server attribute 31 remote-id
!
Router(config)# bba-group pppoe rmt-id-tag
Router(config-bba-group)# vendor-tag remote-id service
Router(config-bba-group)# vendor-tag dsl-sync-rate service
Router(config-bba-group)# nas-port-id format c
!
Router(config)# interface FastEthernet0/0/0.1
Router(config-subif)# encapsulation dot1Q 120
Router(config-subif)# pppoe enable group rmt-id-tag

In the following example, the BRAS will strip off incoming Vendor-Specific Circuit-ID tags from outgoing PADO and PADS packets:

Router(config)# bba-group pppoe rmt-id-tag
Router(config-bba-group)# vendor-tag strip 
Router(config)#interface FastEthernet0/0/0.1
Router(config-subif)# encapsulation dot1Q 120
Router(config-subif)# pppoe enable group rmt-id-tag