GPON Networking Application

GPON is a passive optical transmission technology that applies in FTTx solutions, including fiber to the building (FTTB), fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the door (FTTD), fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the mobile base station (FTTM), fiber to the office (FTTO), and fiber to the WLAN (FTTW), for voice, data, video, private line access, and base station access services. Figure 7 shows FTTx networking applications.

FTTx networking applications

The FTTx network applications in GPON access have the following in common: The data, voice, and video signals of terminal users are sent to ONUs, where the signals are converted into Ethernet packets and then transmitted over optical fibers to the OLT using the GPON uplink ports on the ONUs. Then, the Ethernet packets are forwarded to the upper-layer IP network using the uplink port on the OLT.

FTTB/FTTC: The OLT is connected to ONUs in corridors (FTTB) or by the curb (FTTC) using an optical distribution network (ODN). The ONUs are then connected to user terminals using xDSL. FTTB/FTTC is applicable to densely-populated residential communities or office buildings. In this scenario, FTTB/FTTC provides services of certain bandwidth for common users.

FTTH: The OLT connects to ONTs at user homes using an ODN network. FTTH is applicable to new apartments or villas in loose distribution. In this scenario, FTTH provides services of higher bandwidth for high-end users.

FTTO: The OLT is connected to enterprise ONUs using an ODN network. The ONUs are connected to user terminals using FE, POTS, or Wi-Fi. QinQ VLAN encapsulation is implemented on the ONUs and the OLT. In this way, transparent and secure data channels can be set up between the enterprise private networks located at different places, and therefore the service data and BPDUs between the enterprise private networks can be transparently transmitted over the public network. FTTO is applicable to enterprise networks. In this scenario, FTTO implements TDM PBX, IP PBX, and private line service in the enterprise intranets.

FTTD: uses existing access media at user homes to resolve drop fiber issues in FTTH scenarios.

FTTM: The OLT is connected to ONUs using an ODN network. The ONUs are then connected to wireless base stations using E1. The OLT connects wireless base stations to the core IP bearer network using optical access technologies. This implementation mode is not only simpler than traditional SDH/ATM private line technologies, but also drives down the costs of base station backhaul. FTTM is applicable to reconstruction and capacity expansion of mobile bearer networks. In this scenario, FTTM converges the fixed network and the mobile network on the bearer plane.

FTTW: The OLT connects to ONUs using an ODN network, the ONUs connect to access points (APs) using GE for WLAN traffic backhaul. FTTW is the trend in Wi-Fi construction.