Marek Hajduczenia

Performance of 10G-EPON

10G-EPON system specifications have reached the end of the development cycle, with the release of the final standard version. Recent announcements of first practical 10G-EPON demonstrations [1, 2] indicate rapid adoption of these specifications by system vendors. Given the growing interest in 10G-EPON, it is useful to examine the worst-case scenario performance of this new first-mile access network in both downstream and upstream channels. Due to the number of technical changes introduced to 10G-EPON when compared with 1G-EPON, the obtained performance figures are substantially different from those of its predecessor. The results presented in this article have been obtained through an analytical model and confirmed by detailed simulation.

Resilience and service protection for ethernet passive optical networks in SIEPON

IEEE Ethernet passive optical networks support the SIEPON-defined data link protection for mission-critical services in a flexible, costeffective, and reliable manner, addressing the need for guaranteed link availability for mobile backhaul applications, business customers, institutions, data centers, campuses, and so on, serving hundreds or even thousands of subscribers. In this article, we look at the motivation behind the EPON protection schemes from a network operator perspective, as well as ways of delivering increased data service availability while minimizing the impact on the network cost and complexity. We also examine mechanisms used in EPON for link fault detection, spanning from physical through logical to link layers.

Next generation PON systems - Current status

Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (PON) systems, such as GPON (standardized in ITU-T Rec. G.984 series) and 1G-EPON (IEEE 802.3ah, now part of IEEE 802.3-2008) have been standardized and are now being mass-deployed in various markets around the world. With the continuous increase in bandwidth demand generated by consumer and business applications, the need for a new, higher capacity access architecture is more than obvious. Therefore, one of the principal requirements for next-generation PON (ngPON) is to provide a substantial increase of the bandwidth available to end-subscribers, when compared with GPON and 1G-EPON. Additionally, considering the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) investment made for deploying gigabit-capable PON systems, ngPON must be able to protect the investment of the legacy networks by ensuring a subscriber seamless migration from GPON/1G-EPON to ngPON. ngPON systems are currently under standardization in two Standard Development Organizations (SDOs), i.e. 10G-EPON in IEEE, as part of P802.3av, and NG-PON in FSAN/ITU-T. The IEEE P802.3av standard focuses only on extensions to the existing 1G-EPON specifications in order to support 10Gbit/s operation, including symmetric and asymmetric data-rates. On the other hand, NG-PON recommendations cover the complete system, starting from Physical Medium Dependent (PMD), followed by framing and medium access, and ending with security and service provisioning mechanisms. NG-PON systems are divided into two major groups, i.e. NG-PON1 and NG-PON2, based on their characteristics of co-existence with legacy GPON systems. Other SDOs focus on operational, architectural, and management aspects of the existing and future PON systems, e.g. BroadBand Forum (BBF, former DSL Forum).

Discovery process for emerging 10 Gb/s EPONs

Analysis of the techno-economic conditions warranting currently existing deployments of 1 Gb/s (1G) Ethernet passive optical networks indicates clearly the requirement for a support of legacy equipment, allowing carriers to take advantage of already deployed 1G ONUs while increasing the channel capacity for some customers. This calls for a complete coexistence of 1G and 10 Gb/s (10G) equipment, sharing the same physical PON plant. In order to achieve this, a number of technical issues must be resolved in a satisfactory manner, including the required extensions of the discovery process, currently specified in Clause 64 of IEEE 802.3-2008. In this article we present the existing discovery process for 1G-EPON systems and propose a series of extensions required to support the extended discovery process, which include detection of the upstream and downstream data rates, as well as an extension of the existing registration handshake.

Comparison of collision avoidance mechanisms for the discovery process in xPON

Operation of all time division multiple access passive optical networks (PONs), regardless of the layer 2 protocol in use, requires the utilization of the so-called discovery process allowing for identification and registration of newly activated optical network units (ONUs). For the duration of the discovery process, all transmissions from already registered ONUs are halted, decreasing the available upstream bandwidth. The number of discovery windows required to successfully register all contending ONUs depends on the collision probability for their registration requests. To decrease such a collision probability for registration requests, several types of collision avoidance mechanisms (CAMs) can be used in various flavors of passive optical network (xPON), as we examine in more detail. A random delay mechanism (RDM) is typically exploited in 1 Gbit/s Ethernet PON (1G-EPON) and gigabit PON (GPON), though other CAMs are also available. It is our goal therefore to examine the efficiency of all known CAMs, compare them in quantitative and qualitative manner, and recommend the best mechanism for the next generation of xPON systems, minimizing the average number of discovery cycles required to register contending ONUs (maximizing thus the registration success probability). The results indicate that RDM is indeed the best of simple, single-stage CAMs available, thus confirming the choice of both the P802.3ah Task Force (TF) and Full Service Access Network (FSAN)/ITU-T at the time when their respective 1G-EPON and GPON specifications were written.

DOCSIS provisioning of EPON (DPoE): architecture and services

DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for cable operators looking for a cost-effective way to deploy high-data-rate Metro Ethernet Forum services in FTTx architecture. This unique combination of Ethernet passive optical network for data transport and field-proven DOCSIS provisioning systems opens a new chapter for business services. Support for mobile backhauling, metro Ethernet point-to-point, voice, and data service is available today, with metro Ethernet point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint services support expected to be added in the future.

10G-EPON efficiency

After the success 1G-EPON in broadband access network, both industry and academia have shown great interest in the standardization of next-generation 10G-EPON. As the specification is in the final stage, it is imperative to examine the performance of this new first-mile access technology.

EPON over Coax (EPoC)

In November 2011, the IEEE 802.3 Working Group approved the formation of a new Study Group chartered with examination of EPON over Coax (EPoC) technology. This article provides an overview of the market drivers, technical challenges, as well as deployment goals for this new technology.

IEEE 802.3av™-2009 10G-EPON and support for loss budgets beyond 29dB

The recently approved 10 G-EPON support the maximum loss budget of 29 dB. Through straightforward reconfiguration of existing PMD components, 32 dB loss budget can be supported (providing 1:512 split at approx. 6.4 km), exceeding G.987.2 XG-PON Nominal2 class

Automating provisioning of demarcation devices in DOCSIS provisioning of EPON

Various types of business services represent one of the most rapidly growing segment of offerings of MSOs and have long been one of the major drivers for new technology and automation in network configuration and service provisioning. The mechanism described in this article takes the provisioning automation one step further, addressing the need for incremental upgrades to already deployed demarcation devices, to be prepared for operation within the DPoE Network.