Ericsson Review No.

2, 2008
64
Introduction to passive
optical networks
Video components in the service bundle
call for higher bandwidth, forcing most
telecommunications operators to contem-
plate upgrading or completely renewing
their copper-centric legacy access networks.
1

Gigabit-capable passive optical networks
(GPON) and Ethernet passive optical net-
works (EPON) are two standards that open
the door to new opportunities both for ven-
dors and operators.
Major vendors, including Ericsson, have
added PON technology to their broadband
access portfolios, and operators around the
world have shown considerable interest in de-
ploying this technology in combination with
VDSL2 (fber to the cabinet, FTTC) or as res-
idential access (fber to the home, FTTH).
1
The three major PON standards are BPON
(broadband PON, currently only of historical
interest), GPON, and EPON.
4-6
BPON and its successor GPON are
ITU-T recommendations sponsored by
FSAN, a vendor and operator committee.
7

EPON is an IEEE option developed by the
IEEE Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) initia-
tive. Given that operators are driving GPON
standardization via FSAN, the GPON stan-
dard refects operator needs more directly
than does EPON.
Although all three systems work on the
same principle, there are several differences
between them (see Table 1).
GPON evolution
After some minor initial deployments of
BPON, the industry realized too late that a
BPON-based optical distribution network
(ODN) could not be incrementally upgraded
to any next-generation technologies. In short,
the logistics of upgrading an entire PON
simultaneously were daunting, and the cost
of installing a parallel upgrade PON was
prohibitive. Out of this experience grew the
requirement that it must be possible to make
incremental next-generation upgrades on the
same ODN.
There were, and still are, many candi-
dates for next-generation PON systems.
The ITU community thus drafted G.984.5,
which reserved wavelengths for use by next-
generation applications without constraining
them. By contrast, the EPON community
saw bandwidth limitations as the most seri-
ous problem and immediately began work
on 10Gbps EPON (802.3av) as the successor
to 1Gbps EPON.
The economics of real deployments also
led ITU-T, encouraged by FSAN, to start
working on a reach-extension standard for
GPON, provisionally designated G.984.re.
8
This specifcation allows optical amplifers
or signal regenerators to be used
to extend reach to 60km;
to increase the split ratio; or
to achieve a combination of both.
The next-generation architecture (NGA)
defnes two stages of evolution (Figure 1):
NGA1 and NGA2. NGA1 is compatible
with GPON deployments in accordance with
G.984.5. Compatibility with a GPON reach
extender is also expected, but has not yet
been explored in detail. It is anticipated that
NGA1 systems will be commercially avail-
able around 2010. Some NGA1 candidates
are:
XGPON1, which supports data rates of
10Gbps downstream and 2.5Gbps up-
stream;
symmetric XGPON2, which supports
10Gbps downstream and upstream; and
WDM option to overlay PONs and point-
to-point connections on the same fber
infrastructure in G.984.5 enhancement
bands.
Recognizing that G.984 defnitions will not
be suitable forever and new developments
will obviate the need for backward compat-
ibility, ITU-T has not constrained NGA2
by the GPON ODN. It is anticipated that
NGA2 products will be available around
2015. NGA2 may use a new fber network,
introducing in particular the ability to use
dense wavelength-division multiplexing
(WDM) splitters instead of power splitters
to separate users via different wavelengths on
the same ODN.
Long-reach PON
Basic GPON systems support a maximum
physical reach of 20km on a 32-way split
or 10km on a 64-way split. Although this
seems suffcient for most deployment cases,
the industry seeks an extended link budget
for two reasons:
Longer reach: Reach-extended PONs sup-
porting 100km would allow thousands of
todays central offces to be consolidated to
a handful of huge metro nodes, thereby
simplifying the network architecture and
Current and next-generation PONs:
A technical overview of present and
future PON technology
Elmar Trojer, Stefan Dahlfort, David Hood and Hans Mickelsson
The authors describe the evolution of GPON and associated trends in the
industry. They briefy introduce and compare current PON technologies
and describe options for reach-extended GPON and next-generation ac-
cess systems.
TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
BPON Broadband PON
CDR Clock detection and recovery
DSL Digital subscriber line
EFM Ethernet in the frst mile
EPON Ethernet PON
FEC Forward-error correction
FSAN Full-service access network
FTTC Fiber to the cabinet
FTTH Fiber to the home
GPON Gigabit-capable PON
IEEE Institute of Electrical & Electronics
Engineers
ITU-T International Telecommunication
Union Telecommunication
Standardization Sector
NGA Next-generation architecture
OA Optical amplifer
OAM Operation, maintenance and
administration
ODN Optical distribution network
OLT Optical line termination
OMCI ONT management control
interface
ONT Optical network termination
ONU Optical network unit
PDFA Praseodymium-doped fber
amplifer
PON Passive optical network
QD-SOA Quantum-dot SOA
RE Reach extender
RPT Remote protocol terminator
SDH Synchronous digital hierarchy
SOA Semiconductor optical amplifer
TDFA Thulium-doped fber amplifer
TDM Time-division mulitplexing
VDSL2 Very high-speed DSL 2
WDM Wavelength-division
multiplexing
Ericsson Review No. 2, 2008
65
reducing operating expenses.
9
A modest
increase in budget would make it possible
to reach remote customers.
Increased split ratio: A split ratio of 64 or
even 128 would reduce the cost per sub-
scriber of a PON system.
10
PON technol-
ogy is being driven by the need for higher
bandwidth, but low take rates also mean
that the business case for high-rate services
is a future promise rather than a current
fact. As a consequence, operators want to
serve a large number of basic users from
each PON by sharing common equip-
ment.
There are two basic ways of extending reach
(Figure 2). A single-sided extender enhancing
the optical transceiver function of the optical
line termination (OLT) keeps the ODN pas-
sive and allows for a limited budget increase
(Figure 2, top).
An active mid-span extender (reach ex-
tender, sometimes designated RE), as cur-
rently drafted in G.984.re, would allow the
optical trunk line to be extended to achieve
a total reach of 60km. This represents the
maximum logical reach of the GPON proto-
col layer (Figure 2, bottom).
To succeed, a reach extender must comply
with the following fundamental require-
ments:
It must be cost-effective that is, there 1.
must be a business case that supports the
deployment of reach extenders (cost ben-
efts over keeping exchange buildings).
It must be transparent to existing GPON 2.
OLTs situated on the network side and op-
tical network terminations (ONT) on the
the user side.
It must be available for early GPON de- 3.
ployment.
Figure 3 compares different approaches to en-
hancing the performance of reach extenders.
Forward-error correction (FEC) techniques
can extend reach by typically 5km. Likewise,
optical amplifers (fber, semiconductor or
distributed) can increase the link budget to
60km or more.
Optically amplifed PONs
Optical amplifers (OA) can be used in
GPON either to boost transmit power and
receiver sensitivity on the OLT side or to
work as an in-line amplifer in mid-span
reach extenders.
A typical GPON RE based on amplifca-
tion comprises
wavelength flters to separate upstream
and downstream signals;
Figure 2
Reach-extension topologies.
ONU
ONU
ODN OLT
Single
sided
extender
Possible
extended OLT
aj Single-sided extension
bj Mid-span extension
ODN Optical distribution network
OTL Optical trunk line
lFD lnterface fiber drop
lFT lnterface fiber trunk
40 km
Class C+
40-60 km
Class B 0-20 km Class B+ 0-40 km
UNl
R/S
S/R SNl
R/S
lFD
UNl
ONU
ONU
ODN OTL OLT
Mid-span
extender
UNl
R/S
lFT S/R SNl
R/S
lFD
UNl
Figure 1
Coexistence and upgrade tracks as discussed in FSAN.
GPON
C
o
e
x
is
te
n
c
e
WDM option to
enable stacked G/XGPON ,
P-to-P overlay, or both
Splitter for NGA2
(power splitter or
something newj
Power splitter deployed for Giga PON
(no replacement / no additionj
U
s
e
o
f
c
o
m
m
o
n
e
q
u
ip
m
e
n
t
XG-PON
Up: 2.5G, 5G, 10G
Down: 10G
NGA1 including
long-reach option
NGA2
E.g. higher-rate TDM
DWDM,
CDM,
OFDM, etc.
Now
1j
2
j
3j
Capacity
~2010 ~2015
Ericsson Review No. 2, 2008
66
amplifer for each direction; and
optical bandpass flters in the upstream
and possibly downstream directions for
noise limitation.
Fiber and optical amplifers can be used
to extend the reach of a GPON system
with a 64-way split to 60km. Thulium-
doped fber amplifers (TDFA), quan-
tum-dot semiconductor optical amplifers
(QD-SOA) and Raman amplifers are em-
ployed in the downstream band (S-band), and
praseodymium-doped fber amplifers
(PDFA) and QD-SOAs are employed in the
upstream band (O-band).
Table 2 gives a high-level summary of the
pros and cons of different amplifer tech-
nologies in an ODN. Note: he numbers in
parenthesis indicate the relative performance
of the different amplifer characteristics.
As can be seen, semiconductor optical am-
plifers (SOA) are the most promising breed
of amplifers. Nevertheless, SOA-based reach
extenders exhibit high noise fgures (espe-
cially in the O-band) and are comparatively
expensive. On the other hand, REs based on
optical amplifcation are technically achiev-
able but practically questionable due to
transparency and cost:
Transparency: OAs for GPON bands are
not transparent. Even when equipped with
flters, noise results in a reduced-extinction
ratio, which is incompatible with standard
OLT receivers. To achieve carrier-class
performance, new OLT blades would have
to be designed, which violates rules 2 and
3 for REs.
Cost: Optical components (SOAs and fb-
er amplifers) are prohibitively expensive
(rule 1).
Regenerated PONs
In a regenerated PON, the signal is refreshed
by means of optical-electrical-optical conver-
sion. Figure 4 illustrates a typical 3R RE
(3R: reamplify, re-shape and re-time the
signal). The 3R RE contains OLT and ONT
transceivers as well as clock detection and re-
covery (CDR) units for upstream and down-
stream directions (a burst CDR is needed for
the upstream).
For management and alarms, the RE may
contain an optical network unit (ONU)
that terminates physical layer OAM and the
OMCI (ONT management control interface)
management channel. The embedded ONU
is part of the management model currently
under discussion in G.984.re.
REs based on signal regeneration also ex-
hibit some problems:
Burst recognition from ONT: For the RE to
decode upstream bursts correctly, basic
GPON framing parameters, such as the
preamble and inter-burst gap, must be ex-
tended, which results in a loss of protocol
effciency and transparency (rule 2).
Software incompatibilities: Delay and optical
layer measurements lose their standard-
ized meaning. Likewise, troubleshooting
becomes more complicated, because new
alarm correlations and suppression must
be added, which increases complexity and
cost.
Issues with standard OLT: A 3R RE renders
some OLT burst receiver functionality and
OLT dynamic range capabilities worthless.
This further motivates the need for special
OLT blades (rule 2).
Remote protocol termination
Purpose-built for a TDM-shared optical tree,
the G.984 protocol was never intended to
compete with robust protocols such as syn-
chronous digital hierarchy (SDH) or 802.3
Ethernet on point-to-point links.
Reach extension is nothing more than
adding a long point-to-point trunk line
to the point-to-multipoint GPON ODN.
On the trunk line, however, the point-to-
multipoint specialization of the GPON
protocol is a disadvantage in terms of receiver
TABLE 1: MAJOR PON TECHNOLOGIES AND PROPERTIES
Characteristics EPON BPON GPON
Standard IEEE 802.3ah ITU-T G.983 ITU-T G.984
Protocol Ethernet ATM Ethernet, TDM
Rates (Mbps) 1250 down / 1250 up,
8b10b-encoded
622 down, 155 up 2488 down, 1244 up
Span (km) 10 20 20
Split-ratio 16 32 64
Characteristic
xDFA
(fber amplifers)
QD-SOA
(optical amplifers)
Raman
(non-linear
amplifer)
Band Upstream
(O-band)
Downstream
(S-band)
Upstream
(O-band)
Downstream
(S-band)
Maturity
Size
(2~3) (2~3) (0.5~1) (0.5~1) (1)
Cost
(4~10) (3~8) (3) (2.5) (0.5~1)
Power
consumption
(2~4) (2~4) (0.5~1) (0.5~1) (0.5)
Gain
Optical
bandwidth
Noise
Overall
TABLE 2: OPTICAL AMPLIFIER SUMMARY
( NOT SUITED, SUITED, VERY WELL SUITED)
Ericsson Review No. 2, 2008
67
synchronization, dynamic range, burst mode
power management, noise margins and jit-
ter budget. Moreover, the benefts of proto-
cols designed for point-to-point transmission
links are not available. Hence, the remote
protocol terminator (RPT), which circum-
vents these problems.
In terms of delay, budget, split ratio,
maintenance, existing silicon, existing opti-
cal components, and software, an RPT looks
exactly like a GPON OLT to the shared part
of the ODN (the TDM tree). But instead of
the PON protocol, the RPT uses the right
tool for each exchange. For best results,
10Gbps Ethernet uplinks are recommended,
although one may use SDH depending on
market interest. Standard Ethernet protec-
tion schemes, such as link aggregation group
(802.3ad) and rapid spanning tree protocol
(802.1w), exist for a redundant system.
The RTP has been designed to host next-
generation access technology options, such
as higher speed TDM-based PONs, WDM-
based PONs, or both.
Estimates show that the cost, size and
power consumption of a protected remote
site RPT are the same as for a regenerator but
considerably less than for an optical amplifer
(rule 1). In contrast to other RE approaches,
an RPT is based on existing technology,
standards, and components (rule 2) and can
be delivered within the normal product
development time frame (rule 3). Table 3
compares G.984.re REs and the RPT.
Figure 3
Reach-extension options for PONs.
10 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Remote protocol
termination
Burst 3R regenerator
Optical amplifier
C|ass C+ oot|cs
C|ass B+
C|ass D
FEC
ONU DFB
ONU FP
Applicable technology
Total reach (kmj
Figure 4
RE block diagram of a 3R regenerator.
Control and diagnostics
Control
and data
Control
and data
Data Data
Control
and data
Control
and
diagnostics
Control
and diagnostics
GPON ONU
SoC
ONU
transceiver
OLT
transceiver
BCDR
CDR
Clock
TX
RX
RX
TX
lFT lFD
Ericsson Review No. 2, 2008
68
Next-generation access
Now that GPON has been standardized and
is in production, the optical access commu-
nity has begun discussing candidate technol-
ogies for next-generation access. The high-
level requirements for an NGA1 system are
already clear, as follows:
Fiber-lean scenario that is, coexistence 1.
with working GPON on the same ODN.
NGA1 must support upgradeability, one
subscriber at a time.
Major improvement in performance over 2.
GPON in terms of rate and reach or split.
Shared capacity of at least 10Gbps in the
downstream and 2.5 or 5Gbps in the up-
stream direction.
NGA1 must be highly fexibility in terms 3.
of coexistence (GPON and G.984.re reach
extenders), upgradeability to higher split
ratios, and support of special-purpose
overlays (for instance, business services).
Volume cost comparable to GPON. 4.
Service overlay a la G.984.5
G.984.5 defnes wavelength ranges reserved
for additional service signals overlaid via
WDM. In particular, it includes
wavelength ranges to be reserved for future
use (Figure 5) G.984.5 specifes three op-
tional enhancement bands with option 1
in the E band (water-peak band), option 2
in the C- and L-bands, and the RF band,
as option 3, for future services provided
video overlay is not deployed;
wavelength-blocking characteristics for fl-
ters that protect the GPON downstream
signal in the ONT/ONU from interference
from the new bands; and
GPON upstream wavelength-reduction
options, to free spectrum in the O-band
for future services. In all likelihood the
distributed feedback (DFB) laser option
will be most widely deployed.
XGPON and overlaid PONs
There are basically two ways of increasing
the capacity of a TDM-based PON system
for NGA1 in compliance with the main re-
quirements.
Figure 6 shows that one can speed up a
regular 2.5Gbps GPON system to 10Gbps
(XGPON) and overlay it on a separate
G.984.5 wavelength. One might also over-
lay four colored 2.5Gbps GPON systems via
WDM multiplexers on four different wave-
lengths on the same ODN to obtain 10Gbps
overall system capacity.
The complexity and cost of an XGPON
system is in the high-power, high-speed opti-
cal transceivers, which use electro-absorption
modulated lasers. The ODN itself remains
unchanged. The cost of an overlaid PON
is dominated by the multiplication of OLT
equipment and the interim upgrade of the
G984.re RPT
Ready for early GPON de-
ployment
No Can be developed expedi-
tiously no unknowns
Interoperability with existing
OLT/ONTs
No ONT OK. OLT OK with
some modifcation
Can be used for 20/40/60km
extension and 64- or 128-way
split
In theory. Any number of
issues must be resolved
OK
40 km trunk OK OK
100 km trunk Not without change to delay
time defnitions
OK
Compatible with existing
G984 series
No OK
Hardened for outside plant
deployment
TBD TBD
Eye-safe Depends on choice of
technology
OK
TABLE 3: COMPARISON OF G.984.re REs AND RPT
Figure 5
Wavelength allocation for GPON (inclu-
ding G.984.5) and NGA on the CWDM grid
(G.694.2).
CWDM option
G.984.5
10G GPON
DFB option
G.984.5
GPON/EB
FP option
BPON US
O-band E-band S-band C-band L-band U-band
Reserved DS
US
US
US
US US DS
Option 1-2
Option 3
Option 1-1
Option 2
DS
(EB videoj
(EB digitalj
EB
EB
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1271
1300
1320
1290
1260
1500
1480
1539
1550
1560
1565
1360
1360
1260
1260
1360 1460 1565 1675 1530 1625
1580
1480
1330
1415
1450
1450
1530
1625 1580
1400
1560
1550
1291 1311 1351 1331 1371 1391 1411 1431 1451 1471 1491 1511 1531 1551 1571 1591 1611 1631 1651 1671
Ericsson Review No. 2, 2008
69
ODN with wavelength-selective splitters
(hybrid splitters, which comprise low-ratio
power splitters and four-channel WDM
multiplexers).
Ericsson has put considerable effort into
pursuing the XGPON track and is currently
demonstrating an experimental high-speed
GPON system that, following the principles
of coexistence and low-cost design, supports
10Gbps downstream and 2.5Gbps upstream.
In light of an RPT, the key parameters for
a next-generation system are high port den-
sity, small footprint, and reduced power con-
sumption.
Conclusion
Current GPON technology is a powerful op-
tion for deep-fber broadband access. Serious
efforts to standardize and develop this tech-
nology have steadily extended the feature
set of GPON to make the technology more
fexible in terms of deployment and services
and to make the fber infrastructure future-
proof.
The long-reach option, as currently speci-
fed in FSAN, will make it possible to use
active reach extenders to increase the span
of the system to 60km. This approach can
be employed to reach remote customers or to
host more users on a PON.
In terms of coexistence, GPON is fully
prepared for the future. Next-generation sys-
tems for instance, XGPON, overlaid PON,
or some other technology, will work on the
GPON fber infrastructure, allowing opera-
tors to capitalize on their investments for de-
cades to come.
Ericssons upgrade strategy is very clear in
terms of long-reach and next-generation op-
tical access using remote protocol termina-
tion and XGPON.
Figure 6
Upgrade potential of NGA1 downstream
capacity.
40 Gbps
1
TDM serial rate
WDM channel count ( j
40 Gbps
4
40 Gbps
16
System
capacity
2.5 Gbps 10 Gbps
bj
aj
40 Gbps
160 Gbps
640 Gbps
10 Gbps
1
10 Gbps
4
10 Gbps
16
2.5 Gbps
1
2.5 Gbps
4
2.5 Gbps
16
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