PON

Passive Optical Networking

Objective
At the end of the course, youll be able to

understand how fibers work, and explain which components are used in an
optical relay system

internal reflection, transmitter, amplifier, receiver, splitter,

explain the basic properties of a passive optical network

describe the functions of the components present in a PON based network

correctly use basic PON terminology

Table of Contents

1. Optical fiber fundamentals

2. GPON fundamentals
3. PON standardisation

1
4

Optical Fiber Fundamentals

Advantages of fiber

Extremely high bandwidth

Smaller-diameter, lighter-weight cables

Lack of crosstalk between parallel fibers

Immunity to inductive interference

High-quality transmission

Low installation and operating costs

No Interference
Large capacity
5

Optical fiber structure

Core
thin glass center of the fiber where the light travels

Cladding
outer optical material surrounding the core that reflects the light back into
the core

Coating
plastic coating that protects the fiber from damage and moisture

Optical fiber classification

glass
glass core glass cladding
lowest attenuation
most widely used

plastic
plastic core plastic cladding
highest attenuation
pioneered for use in automotive industry

plastic-clad silica
glass core plastic cladding
intermediate attenuation

Optical fiber types

G.651 MMF Multi-mode fiber
large(r) core: 50-62.5 microns in diameter
transmit infrared light (wavelength = 850 to 1,300 nm)
light-emitting diodes

G.652 SMF Single mode fiber

small core: 8-10 microns in diameter
transmit laser light (wavelength = 1,200 to 1,600 nm)
laser diodes

245 um

125 um

8 62.5 um

Cladding
Core

Coating

Total internal reflection

Concept
light travels through the core constantly bouncing from the cladding

Distance
a light wave can travel great distances because the cladding does not
absorb light from the core

Signal degradation
mostly due to impurities in the glass

cladding
acceptance
cone
core

Hit me baby one more time

Atoms have a core with circling electrons
o What happens when a light photon bumps into an electron ?

Electron is disturbed but falls back onto

its original level : energy is released
into a certain direction
= scattering
ray of light

Electron is disturbed and reaches a

higher energy level : energy is lost
= absorption

10

The world of wavelengths

Light is transported as a wave.
o The length of the wave determines the type of light (infrared, ultraviolet, )

11

Attenuation as function of wavelength

2.0

0,85
band

1,30
band

1,55
band

Attenuation (dB/Km)

1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

Wavelength (microns)

12

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

Fiber optic relay system

Optical transmitter
produces and encodes the light signal

Optical amplifier
may be necessary to boost the light signal (for long distances)

Optical receiver
receives and decodes the light signal

Optical fiber
conducts the light signals over a distance

Tx
Electrical

13

Amplifier
Optical

Rx
Optical

Electrical

Transceiver

Definition:
a transmitter and a receiver
in a single housing

Practical implementation:
transceivers typically come as SFP
Small-Form-factor Pluggable unit

Tx

Rx

14

Lightwave modulation

Digital
light intensity does change in an on/off fashion
NRZ - non return to zero
0 - weak optical signal
1 - strong optical signal

Analog
light intensity changes continuously

15

Fiber interconnections

permanent joint

SPLICE

0.3 dB

0.3 dB
0.1 dB

0.1 dB

0.1 dB

0.1 dB

0.1 dB

Terminal A

Terminal B

CONNECTOR
demountable joint

Interconnect fibers in a low-loss manner

is a permanent bond needed ? splice !
is an easily demountable connection desired ? connector !

16

Joining fibers Fiber alignment

bad alignment

17

good alignment

cores are not centered

cores are centered

big power loss

small power loss

Joining fibers Fiber orientation

straight physical contact

angular physical contact

lots of back reflection

some back reflection

(big) return loss

(small) return loss

18

Joining fibers Connectors

Properties
good alignment/correct orientation
present at the termination point of the fiber
always introduce some loss

Connector types
amount of mating cycles
LC, FC, SC,

Color code
APC green
PC blue

Shouldnt be mixed
19

Theoretical loss:
0.3 dB

Connectors - Couplers

SC/UPC

SC/APC

Couplers

20

ST/APC

Joining fibers Splices

Fusion splicer

Mechanical splicing
aligning and orienting the fibers,
then clamp the fibers in place

Fusion splicing
aligning and orienting the fibers,
then fuse (melt) the fibers

Theoretical loss:

using an electric arc

0.1 dB

typical case used to enclose

fiber optic splices in an
outside plant environment
21

Optical power splitters

Optical splitters
typically divide an optical signal
from a single input
into multiple (e.g. two) identical output signals

and generally provide

a small optical loss
to the signal passed through it
1
2
3

1
2
1
3

3.5 dB
insertion loss
22

Optical wavelength splitters

Wavelength Division Multiplexing

enables the combining of
o multiple wavelengths
o into one single fiber

Depending on the design, an optical wavelength splitter

typically provides
o a small to medium loss
o to the signals passed through it
1

0.3 dB loss
insertion loss
23

PON benefits

purely passive fiber plant

low maintenance costs and high reliability

shares feeder fiber over multiple users

less fibers needed, less ports needed at CO

fiber is virtually not limiting the bandwidth

much higher bandwidth x distance than copper networks

fibers bandwidth can be further exploited by WDM or equipment

upgrade
installed fiber infrastructure is future-proof

PON offers bundled services over a single fiber

triple play voice / data / video

24

PON deployment scenarios FTTx

FTTEx

FTTCab

FTTH/B

FTTC

ONU
ADSL ( < 6 KM )

Central Office
OLT

XNT

< 8 Mbit/s

ONU
ADSL/VDSL ( < 1 KM )

XNT

< 26 Mbit/s

Network

ONU

VDSL ( < 300 M )

< 52 Mbit/s

XNT

ONT

25

2
26

GPON fundamentals

Two Basic FTTH technologies

Point-to-Point

Customer Premises
Equipment (CPE)

Receive

(P2P)
Aggregation

x4

Transmit

1:1
Point-to-Multi-Point used in GPON
Upstream

Optical Network
Terminal (ONT)

Splitter

1310
(P2MP)
Optical Line
Terminal (OLT)

1490
Downstream

LESS SPACE, LESS FIBRES, LESS DUCT SIZE

27

1:64 to 1:128

Subscribers

Definition - Feeders, Distribution, Drops

POP

Feeders
(primary)

Distribution
(secondary)

Drops

Access Point

Active
28

Passive

Active

PON properties

PON Passive Optical Network

passive components
o splitters + WDM-device

star topology
o p2mp point to multipoint

No Equipment

Ranging distance
60 km maximum logical reach
20 km differential distance

Split-ratio
Minimum 64 subscribers (or more)

29

PON

No Power

PON lambdas

Voice and data over a single fiber

two wavelengths in opposite directions

Video
one wavelength in downstream direction

P-OLT

Data path
1490 nm
1310 nm

Splitters

2500 Mb/s
1250 Mb/s
Video path

V-OLT

1550 nm

Line rate flexibility

30

Splitter - Types

Type 1: FBT

FBT Fused Biconic Taper

-Two fibers fused to create a split
- Typical fusion of 2, 3 or 4 fibres
- Splits in cascade

31

Type 2: PLC

PLC Planar Lightwave Circuit

- Built into glass waveguides
- Solid state
- No mechanical parts
- Compact
-Splits: 1x4, 1x8, 1x16, 1x32
-Splits: 2x4, 2x8, etc

Splitters Example

SPLICED

CONNECTORISED

-- Cheap
-- Maintenance free
-- Skilled technician

-- Flexible
-- Patch cords included
-- Easy to replace

3M

Available in various splice

trays and terminals

32

3M

Available with factory

terminated pigtails

Optical power budget

Distance depends on loss in different components:

loss in splitters
cascaded splitter can be used
e.g. 1:4 splitter followed by 1:8 splitter or vice versa
so a one-step 1:32 splitter can be used

loss in WDM coupler

loss per km fiber

loss in connectors

loss in splices

33

PON

Splitter Optical Budget

Example:

Splitter 1 x 8
3.5dB
3.5dB
3.5dB

Input
Fiber

34

Output
Fiber

Optical Splitters

Loss [dB]

Splitter 1 x 64

20.1

Splitter 1 x 32

17.4

Splitter 1 x 16

13.8

Splitter 1 x 8

10.5

Splitter 1 x 4

7.0

Data transceiver specifications (class B+)

P (dBm)

P (dBm)

+5.0

+1.5 (-27) (0.5) = 28 dB

path penalty: 0.5 dB

-8.0

0.30 dB/km

Tx level

Downstream budget:

1490 nm

+1.5

-27.0

Rx level

P (dBm)

P (dBm)

Tx level
Rx level

0.42 dB/km

+0.5

path penalty: 0.5 dB

-8.0
-28.0

35

+5.0
Upstream budget:
+0.5 (-28) (0.5) = 28 dB

1310 nm

Optical power budget Data

Example:
budget: 28 dB
16 way splitter loss: 13.8 dB (theoretical. 12dB)
connector+splicing loss: 3 dB (24*0.1 dB + 2*0.3 dB)
aging: 1 dB
attenuation:
o 0.30 dB/km downstream
o 0.42 dB/km upstream

Distance:
(28 13.8 3 1) / 0.42 = 10.2 / 0.42 = 24.28 km

Interpretation:
for a 1:16 split, the max distance of an ONT is 24 km
36

Data transceiver specifications (class C+)

P (dBm)

P (dBm)

+7.0

+3 (-30) (1) = 32 dB

path penalty: 1 dB (*)

-8.0

0.30 dB/km

Tx level

Downstream budget:

1490 nm

+3.0

-30.0

Rx level

(**)

P (dBm)

P (dBm)

Tx level
Rx level

0.42 dB/km

+0.5

path penalty: 0.5 dB

-12.0

+5.0
Upstream budget:
+0.5 (-32) (0.5) = 32 dB

1310 nm

-32.0
(*) Accounts for DS dispersion effects up
to 60km reach
(**) ONT sensitivity in C+ mode with FEC
37

Video transceiver specifications

P (dBm)

P (dBm)
+18.5

Downstream budget:

1550 nm

+18.5 (-4.9) = 23.4 dB

Tx level

38

-4.9

Rx level

Optical power budget Video

Example:

budget: 23.4 dB
16 way splitter loss: 13.8 dB (theoretical. 12dB)
connector+splicing loss: 3 dB (24*0.1 dB + 2*0.3 dB)
aging: 1 dB
attenuation:
o 0.25 dB/km - downstream

Distance:
(23.4 13.8 3 1)/0.25 = 22.4 km

Interpretation:
for a 1:16 split, the max distance of an ONT is 22.4 km

39

Maximum range per splitter - configuration

splitting
ITU-T G.984
Standard
B+ Laser

worst

case

case

1 : 64

14 km

10 km

1 : 32

21 km

15 km

1 : 16

30 km

23 km

1:8

38 km

30 km

21 km
14 km

1:64

1:32

1:16

Eric
1:2

1:8

1:4

30 km
38 km
40

best

GPON protocol layers and formats

GEM GPON Encapsulation Method

Ethernet + TDM

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode

[AAL2] + Ethernet + TDM

POTS/VF

VG

ONT
OLT

BAS

41

optical (TDM/TDMA)

[AAL5] + Ethernet

Ethernet

Data Transmission : DOWNSTREAM

Standardized by ITU-T in G.984.x recommendation

Communication between P-OLT and ONT

?
Downstream : broadcast traffic use encryption for security (AES)

42

Data Transmission : UPSTREAM

ONTs are located at different distances from Central Office

Upstream : same wavelength + same fiber
Use Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

How ?
Distance OLT ONT has to be measured
Timeslots are allocated according to distance
ONTs only send upstream according to granted timeslot

43

Distance ranging Why?

20 km

20 km

15 km

deliberately putting equalization delay in

for the purpose of avoiding collisions
44

Distance ranging explained

t1

distance

?
Ot

= (t2 t1-Ot)/2

Assume this is 75 s

Cfiber = 200.000 km/s

t2


time

45

?=

15km

GPON frame format

ATM-segment (option)

GEM-segment

downstream frame 125 us

ONU1

ONU2

ONU3

ONU4

ONU5

upstream frame 125 us

PCB

46

ATM-cell

GEM-packet

DOWNSTREAM : Continuous mode operation

downstream frame

Tx

continuous mode Tx

Rx

continuous mode Rx

Downstream theres always a signal

even when theres no user data to pass through
except when the laser is administratively turned of

47

GPON frame format Downstream

ATM-segment (option)

GEM-segment

Physical Control Block

Psynch

Ident

PLOAMd

4 bytes

4 bytes

13 bytes

BIP

1 byte

48

PLend

PLend

US BW Map

4 bytes

4 bytes

N*8 bytes

GPON frame format Downstream (cont.)

Physical Control Block

N*8 bytes
Psynch

Ident

PLOAMd

BIP

PLend

AllocID

Flag

SStart

SStop

CRC

12 bits

12 bits

2 bytes

2 bytes

1 byte

Entry for ONT#1

49

PLend

US BW Map

AllocID

CRC

Entry for ONT#N

GPON frame format Downstream (cont.)

3 entries
US BW Map

ONT1

slot 75

slot 240

ONT2

slot 280

slot 400

ONT3

slot 430

slot 550

AllocID

Start

Stop

AllocID

Start

Stop

AllocID

Start

Stop

550

time

upstream packet timing

slot times: 75

50

guard time

guard time

240 280

400 430

UPSTREAM : Burst mode operation

upstream frame

Rx

burst mode Rx

Tx

burst mode Tx

Upstream theres only a signal when an ONT needs to send

when no ONT has info to send, theres no light on the fiber at all
between 2 consecutive bursts, a guard time is needed: 26 ns

51

GPON frame format Upstream

ONU1

ONU2

ONU3

Header

52

ONU4

Payload

PLOu

PLOAMu

DBRu

Physical
layer
overhead

Physical
layer
OAM

Dynamic
bandwidth
report

ONU5

GEM encapsulation

GEM = GPON Encapsulation Method

TDM

GEM header

PLI

PortID

PTI

CRC

payload
payload
L bytes

12 bits

12 bits

3 bits

13 bits

L bytes

GEM allows for

MACDA

MACSA

point-to-point emulation
payload fragmentation (efficiency)

GEM allows native TDM transport

E1/T1, E3/T3 raw format

53

Type/
Length

Ethernet Payload

FCS

3
54

PON standardization

ITU-T standards for GPON

G.984.1 GPON service requirements

specifies line rate configurations and service capabilities

G.984.2 GPON physical medium

specifies transceiver characteristics
per line rate and per ODN class
including burst overhead for each upstream line rate

G.984.3 GPON transmission convergence

specifies transmission convergence protocol, physical layer OAM, ranging
mechanism

G.984.4 GPON ONT management control interface

based on OMCI for BPON, taking GPONs packet mode into account
phased approach to achieve interop (FSAN)
Alcatel-Lucent was the first GPON supplier to disclose its OMCI implementation details
55

OMCI ONT Management Control Interface

a method to manage ONTs from the OLT

this includes configuration, fault and performance management

each ONT and the OLT has its own OMCI channel
bandwidth is allocated at PON creation time

protocol?
the OMCI protocol

PON

56

ITU-T G.984.x framework

Voice/Data/Video

C/M application

Ethernet

G.984.4 OMCI

OMCI

PLOAM

G.984.3 GTC

TC adaptation sublayer

Embedded OAM

Framing sublayer
G.984.2 PMD

PON-PHY
G.984.1 General characteristics
57

Redundancy

ITU-T G.984.1 specifies 3 types of redundancy between OLT and ONT

Type A : spare fiber, no additional LTs or ONTs

Type B : redundancy to the splitter : redundant LTs and feeder fibers to the
first splitter

Type C: redundancy through the entire path: redundant LTs, fibers,

splitters, ONTs

** Separate geographical paths required for two feeders to avoid simultaneous fiber cuts **

58

PON Feeder Redundancy

Alcatel-Lucent currently implements partial Type B redundancy (Type B-)

1+1 redundant feeder fibers from the LT PON to the optical splitter
Fiber-only protection: redundant fiber can be used in case the other one
fails
** Separate geographical paths required for two feeders to avoid simultaneous fiber cuts **

No redundant LTs - no protection against HW & SW failures on the LT

Reduces LT capacity by 50%

2:N splitter

PON 1

LT

PON 2

protection
59

www.alcatel-lucent.com
www.alcatel-lucent.com

60

A
61

Considerations

Trends towards next generation PON

today

near future

far future

(5 years from now ?)

(10 years from now ??)

time

GPON enhancements
- wavelength blocking filter
- optical parameter monitoring
- midspan extender box
- Class C++ optics
- OTDR integration

WDM-PON
- TDM PON per wavelength
- wavelength per customer
- dynamic wavelength switching
- low cost WDM optics

Migration GPON  NG-PON on same ODN

- capacity increase by wavelength stacking
- coexistence via electrical modulation multiplexing
- 10G coexistence via WDM overlay

62

Status of ongoing standards activities on NG-PON : FSAN / ITU-T

GPON enhancements
amendments on wavelength spces : G.984.5 (new)
optical parameter monitoring : G.984.2 Amnd. 2 (new)
midspan extender box : G.984.re (draft)
OTDR integration : input from ALU planned for 2H2008

White Paper on NG-PON migration: due mid 2009

NGN1: coexistence scenarios
NGN2: disruptive approaches

Physical layer specs of pure 10G solution are expected to be similar

to 10G-EPON PHY specs (wavelength, ODN loss budget, Tx power, Rx sensitivity)
63

B
64

PON Evolution

Pushing the envelope of PON now

Moving up Capacity, Reach & Split

Capacity
NGA 2
DWDM
OFDM, CDM

2011-2012
Demo Oct 09

NGA 1
XG-PON 1,2
DS: 10G
US: 2.5, 5, 10G

2010

WDM overlay in
enhancement band

GPON
C+
GPON
B+

Will likely require

change in OSP

GPON
mid-span
extender

GPON
>2010
Lab today

65

Coexistence

Preservation of OSP
(power splitters)

Readiness for Next Generation PON:

It is all about Capacity, Reach & Split

Extended 10 Gb/s PON

10 Gb/s PON
2010-2011

More
bandwidth
for FTTB
and
backhaul

Gb/s

RE

Increased
split ratio

2.5

RE

More
bandwidth
and
symmetry
per
subscriber

10

Gb/s

GPON B+
Today

Reach
Split

GPON C+
2009

Extended GPON
2009

20km

30 km

60 km

32

64

128

Less dense areas addressed and central office consolidation

66

Upgrade for 10G GPON

WDM to split
GPON from
10 Gb/s GPON

GPON

10 Gb/s
GPON

Wavelength overlay in both uplink and downlink

No changes to
OSP, including
fiber and splitter

GPON

10 Gb/s
GPON

10 Gb/s on
different wavelengths
(up and down)
XGPON up

GPON up

GPON down

CATV

1260
-1280

1290
-1330

1480
-1500

1550
-1560

67 | Presentation Title | Month 2008

XGPON down

1575
-1580

(in nm)

C
68

G.984.5 overview

ITU-T G.984.5 for co-existence of future PON technologies

Purpose: define wavelength ranges for additional service signal to be

overlaid via WDM

 Reserved bands are referred to as the enhancement band (EB)

 Applications for the EB include video and NGA services
 Wavelengths in the EB may be used for downstream as well as upstream
services
Guard band for US

UP
1260

1280

1300

Guard band for DS

Reserved
1320

1340

1360

1380

1400

1420

Guard band for DS

DOWN
1440

1460

1480

1500

1520

1540

1560

1580
(1625)

Basic band
Enhancement band
(option 1-1: 1415-1450 nm
non-low-waterpeak fibers)
(option 1-2: 1400-1450 nm
low-waterpeak fibers)
69

Enhancement band
(option 2: 1530-1580 or 1625 nm
(option 3: 1550-1560 nm
video distribution)

ITU-T G.984.5 for co-existence of future PON technologies

Wavelength Blocking Filter (WBF) for ONT to minimize effect of interference

signals from NGA wavelengths

 WBF is used to obtain the required isolation outside of the guard band
 G.984.5 specifies the X/S tolerance mask, where X= optical power of interference signal at ONT
I/f and S= optical power of Basic Band signal

Guard band for DS

Guard band for DS

Basic Band
1440

1460

1480

1500

1520

1540

X/S (dB)
3

y2

y1

Basic Band
1440
70

1460

1480

1500

1520

1540

ITU-T G.984.5: reference diagram

GPON OLT

NGA ONT

Splitter

NGA OLT

WDM1 GPON/NGA
GPON/(Video) coupler
(could be replaced by 3:N splitter)

GPON ONT

Video-OLT

RX
TX

71

WDM
(NGA)

TX = Optical Transmitter
RX = Optical Receiver
V-RX Video Receiver
WBF-V = WBF for blocking the interference to V-RX
WDM (NGA) = WDM filter in ONT/OLT to
combine/isolate wavelengths of (NGA)
GPON upstream/downstream (and
isolate video signal)
WDM1 = WDM filter (in CO) to
combine/isolate the wavelengths of
(NGA) GPON (and combine the video
signals)

WDM
(NGA)

WBF

(NGA) ONT

TX

WBF
WDM
(NGA)

RX

RX

WBF-V RX-V

TX

(NGA) ONT
+ RF video