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ONT, OLT and MDU in GPON Technology
ONT, OLT and MDU in GPON Technology
What is GPON?
PON is a point to multi-point (P2MP) passive optical network, GPON stands for
Gigabit Passive Optical Networks. GPON is defined by ITU-T Recommendation
G.984.x. GPON can transport not only Ethernet, but also ATM and TDM (PSTN,
ISDN, E1 and E3) traffic. GPON network consists of mainly two active transmission
equipments, namely- Optical Line Termination (OLT) and Optical Network Unit
(ONU) or Optical Network Termination (ONT). GPON supports triple-play services,
high-bandwidth, long reach (up to 20km), etc.
Figure 1 shows a GPON network.
GPON History
Starting in 1995, work on fiber to the home architectures was done by the Full Service
Access Network (FSAN) working group, formed by major telecommunications
service providers and system vendors. The International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) did further work, and standardized on two generations of PON. The older ITU-
T G.983 standard was based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and has
therefore been referred to as APON (ATM PON). Further improvements to the
original APON standard–as well as the gradual falling out of favor of ATM as a
protocol–led to the full, final version of ITU-T G.983 being referred to more often as
broadband PON, or BPON. A typical APON/BPON provides 622 megabits per second
(Mbit/s) (OC-12) of downstream bandwidth and 155 Mbit/s (OC-3) of upstream
traffic, although the standard accommodates higher rates.
The ITU-T G.984 Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON) standard
represented an increase, compared to BPON, in both the total bandwidth and
bandwidth efficiency through the use of larger, variable-length packets. Again, the
standards permit several choices of bit rate, but the industry has converged on 2.488
gigabits per second (Gbit/s) of downstream bandwidth, and 1.244 Gbit/s of upstream
bandwidth. GPON Encapsulation Method (GEM) allows very efficient packaging of
user traffic with frame segmentation.
By mid-2008, Verizon had installed over 800,000 lines. British Telecom, BSNL, Saudi
Telecom Company, Etisalat, and AT&T were in advanced trials in Britain, India,
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the USA, respectively. GPON networks have now been
deployed in numerous networks across the globe, and the trends indicate higher
growth in GPON than other PON technologies like EPON. According to Huanetwork
estimation, 2014 global OLT ports shipment is 5.8 million, 2014 global ONT unit
shipment is 48.5 million.
Why is GPON Required?
As the wide use of broadband services and fiber-in and copper-out development, ISP
(Internet Service Provider) requires a longer transmission reach, higher bandwidth,
reliability, and lower operating expense (OPEX) on services. GPON supports the
following functions to meet these requirements:
Longer transmission distance: The transmission media of optical fibers covers up to
60 km coverage radius on the access layer, resolving transmission distance and
bandwidth issues in twisted pair transmission.
Higher bandwidth: Each GPON port can support a maximum transmission rate of
2.5 Gbit/s in the downstream direction and 1.25 Gbit/s in the upstream direction,
meeting the usage requirements of high-bandwidth services, such as high definition
television (HDTV) and outside broadcast (OB).
Better user experience on full services: Flexible QoS measures support traffic
control based on users and user services, implementing differentiated service
provisioning for different users.
Higher resource usage with lower costs: GPON supports a split ratio up to 1:128. A
feeder fiber from the CO equipment room can be split to up to 128 drop fibers. This
economizes on fiber resources and O&M costs.
In the GPON network, the OLT is connected to the optical splitter through a
single optical fiber, and the optical splitter is then connected to ONUs. Different
wavelengths are adopted in the upstream and downstream directions for
transmitting data. Specifically, wavelengths range from 1260 nm to 1360 nm in
the upstream direction and from 1480 nm to 1500 nm in the downstream
direction.
The GPON adopts WDM to transmit data of different upstream/downstream
wavelengths over the same ODN. Data is broadcast in the downstream direction
and transmitted in the TDMA mode (based on timeslots) in the upstream
direction.
A GEM header consists of PLI, Port ID, PTI, and header error check (HEC) and is
used for differentiating data of different GEM ports.
PLI: indicates the length of data payload.
Port ID: uniquely identifies a GEM port.
PTI: indicates the payload type. It is used for identifying the status and type of
data that is being transmitted, for example, whether the operation, administration
and maintenance (OAM) message is being transmitted and whether data
transmission is complete.
HEC: ensures the forward error correction (FEC) function and transmission
quality.
Fragment payload: indicates the frame fragment.
The following section describes the GEM frame structure based on the mapping of the
Ethernet service in GPON mode, as shown in Figure 3.
T-CONT
Transmission container (T-CONT) is a service carrier in the upstream direction in the
GPON system. All GEM ports are mapped to T-CONTs. Then service streams are
transmitted upstream by means of OLT's dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA)
scheduling. T-CONT is the basic control unit of the upstream service stream in the
GPON system. Each T-CONT is identified by Alloc-ID. The Alloc-ID is allocated by
the GPON port of the OLT, and the T-CONTs used by ONUs connected to the same
GPON port of OLT cannot have the same Alloc-IDs.
There are five types of T-CONT. T-CONT selection varies during the scheduling of
different types of upstream service streams. Each T-CONT bandwidth type has its
own quality of service (QoS) feature. QoS is mainly represented by the bandwidth
guarantee, which can be classified into fixed, assured, non-assured, best-effort, and
hybrid modes (corresponding to type 1 to type 5 listed in Table 1).
NOTE:
In Table 1, X indicates the fixed bandwidth value, Y indicates the assured bandwidth
value, Z indicates the maximum bandwidth value, and No indicates not involved.
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.