Welcome to the course TAC60049W – Passive Optical LAN Fiber Concepts and Principles

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Before we start the course, let us first take a moment to get familiar with the navigation items of
this e-learning tool.
The top navigation bar has resource links, where you can find additional information on the topics
covered in this course.
The left navigation displays the course outline and narration tabs. Click the narration tab to follow
along with the audio.
The slide toolbar is used for volume control, play/pause of the current screen, go to previous or
next screen and is accessible anytime during the course.
From this point forward, you are in control click play to advance. Now, let us get started.

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At the end of this course, you should be able to:
• Describe the general Fiber Concepts
• Identify how the Fiber Concepts are used in GPON

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Let us look at what we will be covering during this course.

We start with our introduction, briefly giving an overview for this e-learning.
Next, we explain the general Fiber Concepts, and continue on how Fiber principles are used in
GPON.

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

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The Passive Optical LAN Network is based on the Gigabit Passive Optical Network or GPON.
Such an Optical Network exists out of three main sections:
• A central access node, the OLT; this is the 7360 FX ISAM.
• A passive fiber network
• End-user equipment, the ONTs of the 7368 ONT family

In this course, we will first explain some fiber technology and concepts and then describe how
these are used in GPON.

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Chapter 2 – Fiber Concepts

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Let us begin with the advantages of a fiber.
Fiber has an extremely high bandwidth. Fiber today has a theoretical bandwidth capability higher
than 10 GHz and attenuations less than 0.3 dB per kilometer. The limits on transmission speed and
distance today lie largely with the laser, receiver, and multiplexing electronics.
Fiber has a smaller diameter with lighter weight cables compared to a copper cable. Even when fibers
are covered with protective coatings, they still are much smaller and lighter than equivalent copper
cables.
Fiber also has negligible crosstalk even when numerous fibers are cabled together.
Fiber optic cables are immune to interference caused by lightning, nearby electric motors, relays, and
dozens of other electrical noise generators that induce problems on copper cables, unless shielded
and filtered.
Fiber is a high-quality transmission media with a Bit Error Rate of 10 to the -9 up to 10 to the -11
compared to copper or microwave, which is 10 to the -5 up to 10 to the -7.
Fiber has low installation and operating costs.

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These are the different parts of a fiber.
If you look closely at a single optical fiber, you will see that it has the core that is the thin glass center
of the fiber, where the light travels transmitting the corresponding data.
Cladding is the outer optical material surrounding the core that reflects the light back into the core.
The plastic coating protects the fiber from damage, such as abrasion, crushing, chemicals, and
moisture.
Hundreds or thousands of these optical fibers are arranged in bundles in optical cables. The bundles
are protected by the cable's outer covering, called a jacket.
There is a fiber ending in a special connector (in this case, the SC type) to connect to the equipment.

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Fibers can be classified by the material used in the core and the cladding. There are glass, plastic, and
plastic-clad silica fibers.
The glass fiber has the lowest attenuation and is the one used in telecommunications. The core and
cladding are made of silica glass.

The plastic fiber has the highest attenuation, with the core and cladding made up of plastic. This is the
cheapest fiber. Since it does not have to go long distances, the high attenuation is not a problem. The
plastic fiber is used in the automotive industry.

The plastic-clad fiber has a glass core and plastic cladding. It has intermediate attenuation compared
to the other two. This fiber can be used, for example, in connecting the network within a building.
The glass used in a fiber-optic cable is ultra-pure, ultra-transparent silicon dioxide or fused quartz.
During the glass fiber-optic cable fabrication process, impurities are purposely added to the pure
glass to obtain the desired indices of refraction needed to guide the light.

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Here, we see that there are two types of fibers according to the mode.
The Multi Mode Fiber, or MMF, described in the ITU recommendation G.651 was the first fiber mode
created, having a core of a diameter ranging from 50 to 62.5 microns, operating at wavelengths
between 850 and 1300 nanometers. It uses low-cost electronics such as Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
This wider core in the multi mode produces various reflections. These rays will be kept inside the core
by the cladding, reflecting each ray within the core. Due to these multi modes, the transmission in
this type of fiber can only go short distances, such as within a building to connect LANs.
The other fiber type is the Single Mode Fiber, or SMF, described in the ITU recommendation G.652,
with a core diameter between 8 and 10 microns. The diameter of a hair is around 100 microns.
The Single Mode Fiber uses wavelengths between 1200 and 1600 nanometers, created by Laser. Such
a narrow core will have one incident angle. This type of fiber acts as a waveguide. With these types of
characteristics (that is only one ray acting as a waveguide), the SMF is used for long distances. It is the
most prominent type used in the telecommunication sector. There is a new SMF fiber, usually used
indoors, which complies with the ITU 657, defining a minimum bending radius of 7.5 mm and 10 mm.
For data center premise cables, the jacket color depends on the fiber type in the cable. For cables
containing SMFs, the jacket color is typically yellow, whereas for cables containing MMFs, the jacket
color is typically orange. For outside plant cables, the standard jacket color is black.

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This is the light spectrum. The transmission of light in fiber is between 800 and 1700 nanometers.
Within this range, certain wavelengths are chosen due to the low attenuation in the wavelength per
kilometer of fiber. We will see this on the next slide. This range comes right after the visible light
range, which is 400 to 750 nanometers and lies in the infrared range, more precisely in the near
infrared range of 750 nanometers to 1 millimeter.

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The graph shown here is for a specific fiber of a specific manufacture. The extreme attenuation on the left of the graph is caused by
scattering (short wavelengths) and the extreme attenuation on the right is caused by absorption (long wavelengths). An example of
scattering is sunset, the red sky. This is also the reason why the sky is blue.
The attenuation of light through glass depends on the wavelength of the light. For the kind of glass used in fibers, the attenuation is
shown in decibels per linear kilometer of the fiber. The graph shows the near infrared part of the spectrum, which is used in practice.
Visible light has slightly shorter wavelengths, from 0.4 to 0.7 microns (1 micron is one-millionth of a meter).

When attenuation for a fiber-optic cable is dealt quantitatively, it is referenced for operation at a particular optical wavelength, a
window, where it is minimized. The most common peak wavelengths are 780, 850, 1310, 1550, and 1625 nanometers. The 850 region is
referred to as the first window (as it was used initially because it supported the original LED and detector technology). The 1310 region
is referred to as the second window, and the 1550 region is referred to as the third window.

These three wavelength bands are used for communication. They are centered at 0.85, 1.30, and 1.55 microns, respectively. The latter
two have good attenuation properties (less than 5 percent loss per kilometer).
The 0.85 micron band has higher attenuation. At that wavelength, the lasers and electronics can be made from the same material
(gallium arsenide), which is helpful. All three bands are 25,000–30,000GHz wide.
Typical low loss fibers have attenuations of between 0.3 and 3dB/km. Contrast this attenuation with the ones for coaxial cable. For
fibers and coaxial cables alike, the losses are a function of the frequency of the signal carrier. Coax attenuation varies as the square of
frequency with signal carriers in the DC to hundreds of megahertz range.
With fiber, the usable carrier frequency (band of low attenuation) is in the terahertz range. Therefore, we designate optical carrier
frequency in terms of its wavelength. Attenuation is, therefore, specified at certain wavelengths, rather than at certain frequencies.
The most common impurity is the hydroxyl (OH) molecule, which remains as a residue despite stringent manufacturing techniques.
These radicals result from the presence of water remnants that enter the fiber-optic cable material through either a chemical reaction
in the manufacturing process or humidity in the environment.
Recent advances in manufacturing have overcome the 1380 nanometer water peak and have resulted in Zero-Water-Peak Fiber
(ZWPF). This type of fiber will eliminate the attenuation peak illustrated in this graph at the 1.4micron wavelength mark.
All telecommunication equipment will transmit within one of these three windows. If you have to go a long distance, it will be the two
windows with the lowest attenuation (the 1.30 and 1.55 micro band).

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The transceiver is one of the connectors mostly used in connecting the equipment to the network
through a fiber. It converts the electrical signal to light and vice versa. The transceiver is of the type
Small Form factor pluggable, or SFP.
An SFP can have two-fiber connections or one-fiber connection. In the case of two connections, one
is for transmission and the other is for reception. For GPON, transmit and receive, however, will use
the same fiber, but upstream and downstream will use a different wavelength. This is implemented in
the SFP where only one fiber can be connected.

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Two types of light wave modulations are possible, analog or digital.

In analog modulation, the intensity of the light beam from the laser or LED is varied continuously.
That is, the light source emits a continuous beam of varying intensity. This will typically be used for
the video overlay service.

In digital modulation, conversely, the intensity is changed impulsively, in an on/off fashion. The light
flashes on and off at an extremely fast rate. In the most typical system – Pulse-Code Modulation PCM
– the analog input signals are sampled for wave height. For voice signals, this is usually at a rate of
8000 times a second. Each wave height is then assigned an 8-bit binary number that is transmitted in
a series of individual time slots or slices to the light source. In transmitting this binary number, “1”
can be represented as a pulse of light and a “0” as the absence of light in a specific time slice.

Digital modulation is far more popular, as it allows greater transmission distances, with the same
power, than analog modulation.
Noise (attenuation) has a bigger impact on analog transmission. Therefore, the components that
transmit using analog modulation will typically have a bigger power budget to compensate.

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A significant factor in any fiber-optic system installation is the requirement to interconnect fibers in a
low-loss manner. These interconnections occur at the optical source, at the photo detector, at
intermediate points within a cable where two fibers join, and at intermediate points in a link where
two cables are connected. The technique selected for joining the fibers depends on whether a
permanent bond or an easily demountable connection is desired. A permanent bond (usually within a
cable) is referred to as a splice, whereas a demountable joint at the end of a cable is known as a
connector.

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In fiber, there must be good alignment in the connectors and in the fiber joining or splices. A bad
alignment will have high attenuation. Today, with modern equipment, the alignment in the splices is
done automatically. Earlier, this was done by the operator using a special microscope, which could
have less perfection compared to the automatic one, resulting in high attenuation.

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Optical Return Loss (ORL) is caused by the imperfect alignment of the connection. The PC has greater
Optical Return Loss, or ORL, than the APC, in other words, more back reflection.
The fiber connectors also have ORL.
ORL is caused by several factors. It can be caused due to collisions of photons with impurities in the
fiber; some are reflected back. Physical contact splices also cause huge optical return losses.
ORL can even damage the transmitter when the signal is powerful, for example, video in overlay.

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Let us discuss the properties of a connector and its different types. The connectors have a loss of
around 0.3dB.
The connectors are classified by the housing type and the polishing type. The slide displays various
polishing types and the return loss of each with the corresponding housing colors.
APC is the Angle-Polished Contact with an ORL of -65dB and has a green connector.
SPC is the Straight-Polished Contact with an ORL of -35 to -40dB and has a blue connector.
PC or Physical Contact has an ORL of -30dB, and UPC or Ultra-Polished Contact has an ORL of -55dB.
Both are also blue.

Which one to use will depend on the ORL desired.

Here, you will see the different housing types, such as FC, LC, SC, MT, and so on. Which one to use will
depend on the size and mating cycles, which is the number of times connect and disconnect occurs
before it introduces a higher loss greater than 0.3 dB.
The connector type will be defined by indicating the housing type and the polishing type. The first two
letters indicate the housing type and the letters after a forward slash indicate the polishing type.

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Now let us discuss the different types of connectors used in GPON.

On the OLT network side, depending on the physical connection to the network, this can be electrical
or optical.
In the case of an optical connection, the SFP that will be used has separate transmit and receive, and
the fiber connector will be of the LC type.

On the OLT user side: SC/UPC

On the splitters: SC/APC
On the ONTs: SC/APC is always used.

We also see on the slide that fibers can be interconnected by using couplers. They exist for each type
of connector.

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Mechanical splices just lay the two carefully cut ends next to each other on a special sleeve and
clamp them in place. The alignment can be improved by passing light through the junction and then
making small adjustments to maximize the signal. Mechanical splices take trained personnel about 5
minutes, and result in a 10 percent light loss.
Two pieces of fiber can be fused or melted to form a solid connection. A fusion splice is almost as
good as a single drawn fiber, but even here, a small amount of attenuation occurs. For both kinds of
splices, reflections can occur at the point of the splice, and the reflected energy can interfere with the
signal.

Connecting two fiber-optic cables requires precise alignment of the mated fiber cores or spots in a
single-mode fiber-optic cable. This is required so that nearly all the light is coupled from one fiber-
optic cable across a junction to the other fiber-optic cable. Actual contact between the fiber-optic
cables is not mandatory.

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This is the inside view of a Splice tray. This could be in the basement of a building. As you can see, the
Fiber tube is coming from the network and the patch cords are going to each individual subscriber.

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An optical splitter divides an optical signal from a single input into multiple identical output signals.

Typical loss is 3.5 dB per split.

In the pictures, we see two types of splitters, the spliced one and the one with connectors.
The spliced is cheaper, maintenance free but needs a skilled technician;
the connectorized is flexible and easy to replace but introduces extra loss due to the connectors.

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The Fiber Zone Box is actually the splitter that is generally used in Passive Optical LAN.
It can be easily mounted into the ceiling, so that it does not use extra floor space.

It is a connectorized splitter using the green SC/APC connectors.

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This a closer picture of the inside of this Fiber Zone Box.

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Here, we see all the components that will introduce losses inside a Passive Optical Network. The sum
of these losses will determine the distance between the GPON node and Optical Network
Termination (ONT).

Loss in the fiber is caused by the fiber quality and the wavelength that is used. Roughly, loss in the
fiber is 0.4 dB/km.

The connectors that connect the fiber to the equipment and the ONT will have a 0.3 dB loss per
connector. There could be more, for example, in the optical distribution frame, both at the Central
Office and the Customer Premises.
Any splices which join different fiber sections will introduce a 0.1 dB loss per splice.

The biggest loss in this network is the splitter. It will depend on the split ratio. With a split of 64, there
is a loss of 18dB (10 log 64). Since it is not a perfect split, there is an extra loss of 1 to 3dBs.

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Here, we see the calculation of the 28dB power budget for class B+ laser.

Looking at the downstream, there is a minimum power transmission of +1.5dB with a -27dB
sensitivity on the reception side and a 0.5dB path penalty. This will give a power budget of 28dB.

In the upstream, there is a minimum of +0.5dB as power transmission, a -28dB sensitivity on the
reception side, and a 0.5dB path penalty. This will also give a power budget of 28dB.

The path penalty is caused by dispersion over certain distances.

Now, what does this 28dB mean? It means that we have 28dB to use as budget, for the whole optical
path between the Node and the end user. We cannot introduce more than 28dB of losses due to
splitters, connectors, and distance of the fibers. This has to be kept in mind when the optical network
is designed.

For a class C+, the optical budget is 32dB.

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Chapter 3 – Fiber Principles in GPON

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GPON stands for Gigabit Passive Optical Network.
The GPON technology provides high-performance asynchronous speeds of up to 2.5 Gigabits per
second for downstream and 1.25 Gigabits per second for upstream. The actual speed depends on the
splitting ratio.
The word Passive in GPON refers to a point to multipoint technology. Splitting is based on passive
components in the distribution network. It allows reaching multiple users without a need to deploy
amplifiers.
GPON benefits from optical technologies; these benefits include high bandwidth, low transmit loses,
electromagnetic immunity, and safe and high reliability on data transmission. It supports multiple
communications on the same fiber using light.
GPON is not a single element, but network. It is a wireline access network with start topology that
connects end users to the central office.
We will analyze the main elements on this network later in the training.

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Where exactly is the GPON technology located?
The GPON spans from the GPON node, or OLT, to the Optical Network Termination, or ONT, in the
subscriber’s home. More specifically, it spans from the GPON part of the Line Termination Card, or LT,
to the GPON part of the ONT. Therefore, both these units have to comply with the GPON standard.
As the name implies, GPON is a passive network. In other words, there are no power devices or no
electronics within the network. This is a reduction in the OPEX or operating and maintenance costs.
The only elements which are active are the Equipment side (the OLT) and the subscriber side (the
ONT).
The GPON has a Point to Multipoint layout. One port of the GPON node is divided among multiple
users. This reduces the electronics. There is one transceiver for a number of ONTs.

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In the Passive Optical LAN, as in any other Fiber Optic network, the infrastructure needs to be in place
in order to carry the signals to the end user.
It is not much different from a country road map.
We need highways, secondary roads, and driveways to the desks, camera‘s, PA systems. In this case,
we have the feeders, the distribution, and the drops.
We start with the Point of Presence (POP), where the OLT is located.
The Feeder section is a stretch from the OLT to the first splitting point.
The Distribution section is where the fiber is split in a ratio of 1:4, 1:8, or 1:16.
Finally, the Drop is where the fiber is again split, in a ratio of 1:4, 1:8, or 1:16, and connected to the
ONTs.
The combination of the two splits will give a total of 16, 32, 64, or 128 subscribers for one fiber in the
Feeder section.
This architecture could change by omiting the Secondary Flexibility point, if only one splitter is used.

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The FSAN group started standardizing PON networks that operate at bit rates of above 1 Gigabits per
second. Apart from the need to support higher bit rates, the overall protocol was opened to
reconsider the solution. It would be most optimal and efficient to support multiple services and
operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning or OAM&P functionality and scalability. As a
result of FSAN efforts, a new solution emerged in the optical access market place – Gigabit PON
(GPON). GPON offers an unprecedented high bit rate support of up to 2.488 Gigabits per second while
enabling the transport of multiple services, specifically data and TDM, in native formats with
extremely high efficiency. In January 2003, the GPON standards were ratified by ITU-T and are known
as ITU-T Recommendations G.984.x. The protocol stack for the overall GPON architecture is shown in
blue. Let us discuss the main standards:
• G984.1 provides the GPON framework and is known as the GPON Service Requirements (GSR).
• G984.2 provides the GPON physical medium dependant specifications (GPS).
• G984.3 provides the GPON Transmission Convergence (GTC) specifications.
• G984.4 defines the ONT Management and Control Interface (OMCI) for a GPON.
XGPON standardization was completed in 2004. The G984.4 OMCI was superseded by G.988, covering
combined ONT Management for GPON and XGPON. A new set of standards defined the Physical and
Transmission Convergence Layer for XGPON, highlighted here in green:
• G987.1 provides the XGPON service requirements.
• G987.2 provides the XGPON physical medium dependant specifications.
• G987.3 provides the XGPON transmission convergence specifications.
The Ethernet and IP layers are mounted on top of the GPON and XGPON protocol stack. We will
discuss the scope of these standards on the next few slides.

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The network topology (as per ITU G.984.1) is a PON network that provides full service support, including voice, data,
video, surveillance, and more.
In this scenario, the OLT is located in a central location, while the ONTs are near the end users, inside the enterprise or
hospital, for example.

The maximum line rates defined for GPON in G.984.1 are 2.488 Gigabits per second downstream and 1.244 Gigabits
per second upstream, while the maximum line rates defined for XGPON in G.987.1 are 10 Gigabits per second
downstream and 2.5 Gigabits per second upstream.

Two wavelengths are used, since only one fiber per OLT port is used for both transmission and reception. In the
downstream, the 1490 nanometer wavelength is used with a speed of 2.5Gb/s. The 1310 nanometer wavelength is
used in the upstream, with a speed of 1.2Gb/s. These two wavelengths will carry the triple play service; High Speed
Internet, Video, and voice.
There is an optional wavelength in the downstream direction, the 1550 nanometer, which is used for analog or digital
video, also known as overlay video or outband video. Another equipment is needed for this service, called the Video
Optical Line Termination (V-OLT). This equipment will transmit the analog or digital television channels in this
wavelength. Since there are two wavelength in the downstream (1490 and 1550), a Wave Division Multiplexing
(WDM) device is needed to insert them.

There could be up to 128 subscribers per fiber coming out of the GPON, but the normal split is usually 64, 32, or 16
subscribers. The distances vary according to the split number and other attenuating factors, such as connectors,
splices, and fiber quality.

Depending on the capabilities of the optical transmitters and receivers, the GPON recommendation specifies
maximum transmission distances of 10 or 20 kilometers, which is a lot more than the typical POL deployments needs.

The differential distance is the distance between the nearest and the farthest ONT. It could be 20, 32, or 40
Kilometers, also much more than needed in POL.
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This is a rough estimation on maximum range per splitter configuration using a B+ laser. Better results
are achieved using a C+ laser.
Splitters are the main part of the loss in the link between OLT and ONT. We have to consider that a
split of 1:2 will have a 3dB loss, or we can calculate the loss by the formula 10 log the split number.
For example, a split of 64 will have a loss of 18dB.
Also, we have to take into account the attenuation of fiber per km (around 0.3, 0.4dB/km), the
number of splices in the fiber (each splice has a 0.1dB loss), and the number of connectors (a 0.3dB
loss per connector). We will have two connectors minimum, one in the OLT and another one in the
ONT, but can have more, like in the distribution frame inside the CO and others inside the building of
the subscriber. Considering all this, a table is shown to indicate roughly the distance between OLT and
ONT in function of the splitters used.
A splitter configuration can be one splitter or several splitters in cascade.
The splitter configuration 1:8 can be one splitter of 1:8 or can be one splitter of 1:4 and one splitter of
1:2.

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According to the GPON Service Requirements (G.984.1), a GPON must be a full-service network,
which means that it should be able to carry all service types.

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is used downstream, and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is
used upstream.
Depending on whom you are talking to, people may say that GEM stands for Generic Encapsulation
Method or GPON Encapsulation Method.

The Voice Gateway (VGW) is used for the voice service.

The Broad Band Access Server (BRAS) is used for the Internet connection.

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GPON has a lot of benefits, but the shared medium also presents us with some difficulties. Since we
are using a point-to-multipoint topology, a specific transmission mechanism has to be implemented in
order to benefit fully from this architecture.

In the downstream direction, the transmission is defined as being broadcast. In other words, the
same information is sent to all connected ONTs. For security reasons, this information can be
encrypted. On top of that, the information contains a specific destination to allow each ONT to decide
whether to accept or reject the packet.

The broadcast traffic is continuous, that is, there is always a signal on the fiber. We need to do this in
order to allow the ONT to synchronize with the central office. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is
activated per service. OLT requests the encryption key from the ONT. The ONT generates the key and
sends it to the OLT. The OLT will indicate to the ONT to activate the encryption. This encryption key
automatically changes every x-time (called churning).

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In the upstream direction, the situation is a bit more complex. We only have one fiber between OLT
and splitter, and all ONTs use the same wavelength (1310 nanometer for upstream). Imagine, a street
with 64 houses. Each family uses a car to go shopping on Saturday morning. Imagine, they all leave
whenever they want without looking left or right. It is obvious that eventually there will be accidents
(collisions). The same scenario is true for the GPON network in the upstream direction.

How do we solve this problem? We install a policeman, and he decides when each family has access
to the street. Telecom-wise, the policeman will be the central office. The OLT decides when each ONT
can send traffic in the upstream direction. An important parameter in this decision process is the
distance between the ONT and the central office. We know the speed of light, so if we know the
distance, we can generate time windows in which the ONTs can send information.

The process of determining the distance between ONT and OLT is called distance ranging. During this
time, the PON light on the ONT will be blinking. There is another problem, each ONT is at a different
distance. This results in transmission phase differences, and the OLT may receive overlapping
transmissions from the different ONTs since each ONT has a different zero frame reference. So, for
each ONT to be at the same zero reference, the OLT gives each ONT an equalization delay, which puts
each ONT virtually at the same distance.

The process of determining timeslots for each ONT is called access granting. That is the concept
behind TDMA or Time Division Multiple Access, using different timeslots on the same medium.

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This slide shows how distance ranging is done.
The OLT sends out Discovery Gate message on the PON.
The newly connected ONT listens to this message and processes it (takes some time) and adds a
random delay.
The ONT sends an acknowledgment to the OLT, including the time needed to process the message.
The OLT calculates the time it took for the ranging grant to reach the ONT (roundtrip delay minus the
process time (Δt)) divided by 2.
Let us assume the result is 75 micro seconds.

Based on the speed of light in fiber, which is 200,000 kilometers per second, the distance of the ONT
can be calculated with the formula:

Speed of light in fiber “times” round trip delay “divided by” two “equals” distance

If we fill in what we know:

200,000 kilometers per second “times” 75 micro seconds “equals” 15 kilometers.

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Since the ONT is part of the GPON equipment, or better said, it is an extension of the GPON
equipment, this must be configured, but it is kilometers away. A dedicated timeslot in the fiber is
dedicated to each ONT for this purpose so as to manage the ONT remotely from the Central Office
(CO), where the GPON node is located.
This dedicated timeslot is called the ONT Management Channel Interface (OMCI).

OMCI includes configuration, fault, and performance management, as well as software download to
the ONT.
The capacity of this OMCI is around 424 kbps per ONT.

Actually, the OMCI channel is a bidirectional channel on the PON for the purpose of managing a single
ONT. On a particular PON, there are as many OMCI channels as there are provisioned ONTs. In other
words, each ONT gets its own OMCI channel.
The standard defines this OMCI, specifying the functions that OMCI should have, but it does not
indicate how to implement these functions. The OMCI is a proprietary function. Since each vendor
implements these functions differently, the ONTs of each vendor are not compatible between each
other.
To make the ONTs compatible between vendors, the OMCI interoperability between vendors was
defined by ITU starting around 2009. It defines how each function should be implemented and is
continuously being updated to adapt new operational needs. So far, there have been OMCI
implementers guide version 1 and 2, each one adding new operations. This interoperability will also
allow the ONT vendors (not only the GPON node vendors) to come into the market.

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Now that you have completed this course, you should be able to:

• Describe the general Fiber Concepts and Principles.

• Identify how the Fiber Concepts are used in GPON and in your Passive Optical LAN.

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Let us now summarize the key learning points from this module.

• Materials and structure of optical fiber

• Why we use wavelengths of 850, 1310, and 155 nanometers
• SFPs, splices, connector types
• Optical Return Loss, losses due to connectors, splitters, lengths
• Optical Budget
• GPON building blocks
• GPON standards
• Downstream and upstream use a different wavelength, and how packets are sent in both
directions
• Distance Ranging
• Protocol between OLT and ONT is called the OMCI protocol.

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This completes the course TAC60049W – Passive Optical LAN Fiber Concepts and Principles.

You can now close this window.

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Please take a moment and read the legal information on this screen.

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