Tag Archives: GPON

EPON vs. GPON—Which Will Be More Popular?

With the development of passive optical networking (PON) technology, two PON standards are striking in FTTH solution area and they are Ethernet passive optical networking (EPON) and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)-based Gigabit passive optical networking (GPON). During these years, it has become a hot topic that which will be more popular in broadband access and optical telecom applications, EPON or GPON? This article will compare these two technologies from the differences of architecture, bandwidth, efficiency, cost, etc.

Architecture

The biggest difference between the two technologies shows in architecture. EPON employs a single Layers 2 network that uses IP to carry data, voice, and video. While GPON provides three Layer 2 networks: ATM for voice, Ethernet for data, and proprietary encapsulation for voice.

EPON-and-GPON

EPON provides seamless connectivity for any type of IP-based or other “packetised” “communications”. Since Ethernet devices are so popular and easy to get, implementation of EPONs can be highly cost-effective.

In GPON, virtual circuits are provisioned for different kinds of services sent from a central office primarily to business end users. This kind of transport provides high-quality service, but includes significant overhead because virtual circuits should be provisioned for each type of service. GPON equipment requires multiple protocol conversions, segmentation and reassembly (SAR), virtual channel (VC) termination and point-to-point protocol (PPP).

Bandwidth

EPON delivers symmetrical bandwidth of 1 Gbit/s. EPON’s Gigabit Ethernet service actually constitutes 1 Gbit/s of bandwidth for data and 250 Mbit/s of bandwidth for encoding. GPON promises 1.25-Gbit/s or 2.5-Gbit/s downstream, and upstream bandwidths scalable from 155 Mbit/s to 2.5 Gbit/s. GPON’s 1.25-Gbit service specifies a usable bandwidth of 1.25 Gbit/s, with no requirement for encoding. Gigabit Ethernet interfaces to the aggregation switch, central office, and metro are currently cost-effective to aggregate 1-Gbit ports for transport. But for 1.25 Gbit, there is no way.

Efficiency

Efficiency has to be considered in both directions of a PON. Each PON protocol introduces its own overhead in either direction. In the downstream direction, protocol overhead could be negligible. In the upstream direction, the total scheduling overhead within EPON is from 90.33 percent to 97.08 percent compared to a GbE point-to-point link. In the downstream direction, EPON efficiency reaches from 97.13 percent to 98.92 percent of the efficiency of a point-to-point 1GbE link, while GPON in GTC Encapsulation Method (GEM) mode can achieve ~ 95 percent efficiency of its usable bandwidth. The downstream EPON data rate can be doubled to 2.5Gbps comparable to GPON.

Cost

EPON simplifies the networks and needs no complex and expensive ATM and Sonet elements. Thus it helps lower the costs to subscribers. Now the cost of EPON equipment is about 10 percent of the costs of GPON equipment.

Encryption

Encryption is part of the ITU standard. EPON uses an AES-based mechanism, which is supported by multiple silicon vendors and deployed in the field. And EPON encryption is both downstream and upstream. However, GPON encryption is downstream only.

Ethernet Features

EPON is an IEEE Ethernet standard and uses Ethernet switches within its silicon, it can natively support all of the 802.1 and 802.3 Ethernet, including VLAN tags, prioritisation, OAM, etc. All Ethernet services can be natively delivered in a manner identical to what is done with switched Ethernet today. As to GPON, it only defines the transport of Ethernet frames. So it has no native Ethernet functionality. Ethernet switches must be placed either in front of or within GPON OLTs and ONTs to provide any additional Ethernet capabilities.

EPON and GPON technologies have been introduced into the market because of service quality and price point. By comparing the differences of the two technologies, it shows EPON is a superior technology for delivering residential and small-to-medium enterprise Ethernet services in terms of its advantages in bandwidth, efficiency, cost, encryption and Ethernet features. So EPON will be employed in FTTH solution area in a large scale earlier and faster than GPON.

Originally published at http://www.streetarticles.com/internet-and-businesses-online/epon-vs-gponwhich-will-be-more-popular

The Latest Generation of PON – NG-PON2

To meet the large demand for high capacity transmission in optical access systems, 10G-PON (10G Passive Optical Network) has already been standardized by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union). To enable the development of future optical access systems, the most recent version of PON known as NG-PON2 (Next-Generation Passive Optical Network 2) was approved recently, which provides a total throughput of 40 Gbps downstream and 10 Gbps upstream over a single fibre distributed to connected premises. The migration from GPON to 10G-PON and NG-PON2 is the maturity of technology and the need for higher bandwidth. This article will introduce the NG-PON2 technology to you.

GPON 10G-PON NG-PON2

What Is NG-PON2?
NG-PON2 is a 2015 telecommunications network standard for PON which was developed by ITU. NG-PON2 offers a fibre capacity of 40 Gbps by exploiting multiple wavelengths at dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) channel spacing and tunable transceiver technology in the subscriber terminals (ONUs). Wavelength allocations include 1524 nm to 1544 nm in the upstream direction and 1596 nm to 1602 nm in the downstream direction. NG-PON2 was designed to coexist with previous architectures to ease deployment into existing optical distribution networks. Wavelengths were specifically chosen to avoid interference with GPON, 10G-PON, RF Video, and OTDR measurements, and thus NG-PON2 provides spectral flexibility to occupy reserved wavelengths in deployments devoid of legacy architectures.

How Does NG-PON2 Work?
If 24 premises are connected to a PON and the available throughput is equally shared then for GPON each connection receives 100 Mbps downstream and 40 Mbps upstream over a maximum of 20 km of fibre. For 10G-PON, which was the second PON revision, each of the 24 connections would receive about 400 Mbps downstream and 100 Mbps upstream. The recently approved NG-PON2 will provide a total throughput of 40 Gbps downstream and 10 Gbps upstream over a maximum of 40 km of fibre so each of the 24 connections would receive about 1.6 Gbps downstream and 410 Mbps upstream. NG-PON2 provides a greater range of connection speed options including 10/2.5 Gbps, 10/10 Gbps and 2.5/2.5 Gbps. NG-PON2 also includes backwards compatibility with GPON and 10G-PON to ensure that customers can upgrade when they’re ready.

NG-PON2 Work Principle

NG-PON2 Advantages
The NG-PON2 technology is expected to be about 60 to 80 percent cheaper to operate than a copper based access network and provides a clear undeniable performance, capacity and price advantage over any of the copper based access networks such as Fibre to the Node (FTTN) or Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC). At present, three clear benefits of NG-PON2 have been proved. They are a 30 to 40 percent reduction in equipment and operating costs, improved connection speeds and symmetrical upstream and downstream capacity.

Reduced Costs
NG-PON2 can coexist with existing GPON and 10G-PON systems and is able to use existing PON-capable outside plant. Since the cost of PON FTTH (Fibre to the Home) roll out is 70 percent accounted for by the optical distribution network (ODN), this is significant. Operators have a clear upgrade path from where they are now, until well into the future.

Improved Connection Speeds
Initially NG-PON2 will provide a minimum of 40 Gbps downstream capacity, produced by four 10 Gbps signals on different wavelengths in the O-band multiplexed together in the central office with a 10 Gbps total upstream capacity. This capability can be doubled to provide 80 Gbps downstream and 20 Gbps upstream in the “extended” NG-PON2.

Symmetrical Upstream and Downstream Capacity
Both the basic and extended implementations are designed to appeal to domestic consumers where gigabit downstream speeds may be needed but more modest upstream needs prevail. For business users with data mirroring and similar requirements, a symmetric implementation will be provided giving 40/40 and 80/80 Gbps capacity respectively.

With the introduction of NG-PON2, there is now an obvious difference between optical access network and copper access network capabilities. Investment in NG-PON2 provides a far cheaper network to operate, significantly faster downstream and upstream speeds and a future-proof upgrade path all of which copper access networks do not provide, thus making them obsolete technologies. Telephone companies around the world have been carrying out trials of NG-PON2 and key telecommunication vendors have rushed NG-PON2 products to market.

Original article source: 
http://www.cables-solutions.com/the-latest-generation-of-pon-ng-pon2.html

 

A Guide for PON

Nowadays, there is a growing popularity of Video-on-Demand (VoD), VoIP and increased IPTV deployment. Providers aim to offering fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), (fibre-to-the-building) FTTB and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) solutions through advancing passive optical network (PON) technology. The term “PON” may confuse you for its complexity and extensiveness. Details are as followed.

PON is a single, shared optical fibre that uses inexpensive optical splitters to divide the single fibre into separate strands. It can build up a point-to-point topology supporting 1Gbps transmission to home and business typically within 20km. PON system is called “passive” because that there are no active electronics within the access network. It uses optical splitters to separate and collect signals rather than electrically powered switching equipment.

PON consists of an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) connected to multiple Optical Network Units (ONUs) via an Optical Distribution Network (ODN).

OLT: it is a device at the service provider’s central office, performing conversion between the electrical signals used by the service provider’s equipment and the fibre optic signals used by the passive optical network and coordinating the multiplexing between the conversion devices on the other end of that network.

ODN: it is used for distributing signals to users in a telecommunications network by optical fibre. ODN has been made up entirely of passive optical components particularly singlemode optical fibres and optical splitters.

ONUs: they are devices near end users, delivering traffic-load information provided by OLTs to each end user.PON System

PON system has achieved significant deployment in today’s FTTx networks especially in FTTH networks as the development of Gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). Nowadays, GPON and EPON are the mostly widely used types of PON for their low cost, high bandwidth, great flexibility and easy management, etc.

GPON: it is defined by ITU-T recommendation series G.984.1 through G.984.6. It can transport not only Ethernet, but also ATM and TDM (PSTN, ISDN, E1 and E3) traffic. It supports services like carrying video and delivering video on single fibre distribution, allowing low-consuming transmission, more efficient maintenance, cabling and overall performance.

EPON: it is defined by the Ethernet standard rather than by the ATM standard, making you utilise the economies-of-scale of Ethernet. It can provide simple and easy-to-manage connectivity to Ethernet-based, IP equipment both at the customer premises and at the central office. It is perfect for voice and video traffic solution as with other Gigabit Ethernet media.GPON and EPON

 For more information about OLTs, Optical Splitters and ONUs, please visit FS.COM.