Integrated Services Digital Network - Basic Rate Interface

Basic Rate Interface

The entry level interface to ISDN is the Basic(s) Rate Interface (BRI), a 128 kbit/s service delivered over a pair of standard telephone copper wires. The 144 kbit/s payload rate is broken down into two 64 kbit/s bearer channels ('B' channels) and one 16 kbit/s signaling channel ('D' channel or delta channel). This is sometimes referred to as 2B+D.

The interface specifies the following network interfaces:

• The U interface is a two-wire interface between the exchange and a network terminating unit, which is usually the demarcation point in non-North American networks.
• The T interface is a serial interface between a computing device and a terminal adapter, which is the digital equivalent of a modem.
• The S interface is a four-wire bus that ISDN consumer devices plug into; the S & T reference points are commonly implemented as a single interface labeled 'S/T' on an Network termination 1 (NT1).
• The R interface defines the point between a non-ISDN device and a terminal adapter (TA) which provides translation to and from such a device.

BRI-ISDN is very popular in Europe but is much less common in North America. It is also common in Japan - where it is known as INS64.