Recently, along with the growing needs of life, a variety of network-based applications are emerging. 3D TV, high-definition TV, 4K TV and even 8K television, virtual reality, and high-quality video services bring unparalleled audio-visual experience, and are becoming more common. Additionally, mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers enable a large increase in network access devices and connections. In order to cope with such strong demand, PON technology providing high-bandwidth is widely used.
10G PON: the Mainstream Applied Technology of FTTx
1G PON technology including EPON and GPON provides about 20-50 Mbps bandwidth for the end users. However, such bandwidth cannot fully meet the large bandwidth demand of 4K TV. Thus, ITU-T put forward XG-PON1 technology which can provide 10 Gbps (four times as GPON’s) downstream bandwidth and 2.5 Gbps (two times as GPON’s) upstream bandwidth. IEEE also proposed 10G EPON standard lifting the downstream speed up to 10Gbps. It is significant to have the equivalent bandwidth in some application fields. Nowadays, the research for 10G PON technology has been completed, a series of industry standard has been set, and the specification has been released, like the 802.3av of 10 G EPON, and ITU-T G.987 and G.988 of 10G GPON. In support of these standards, 10G PON devices can be mass-produced.
Thanks to the mature industry chain and excellent performance, 10G PON has become the mainstream technology. It is suitable for a variety of deployment scenarios, such as buildings, residential renovation, high-end home, small and medium company broadband access, and mobile backhaul. The very key is that 10G PON and 1G PON can perfectly co-exist by reusing ODN and appropriate deployment of wavelength, which means that carriers can more easily achieve the smooth evolution of network construction. For traditional carriers, it helps improve user experience, enhance user stickiness, and maintain competitive position; for new carriers, it offers an idea to boost competitiveness in differentiation and competition.
10G PON Application: Building and Residential Renovation
This application makes full use of the bandwidth of 10G PON technology, and provides large user covering and access bandwidth up to 100M even to 1G. Moreover, by fully using the existing resources UTP cable, twisted pair, network, etc., it can achieve rapid deployment and service fulfillment, thereby reducing capital expenditures.
10G PON Application: High-end Home, Enterprise and Campus Broadband Access
10G PON is the best selection for the brand new allocation serving the high-end users. It provides 1G to 10G bandwidth access sufficient to support high-end home and business users that demand high-bandwidth applications such as high-speed internet access, cloud storage, ultra-high-definition video, and 3D / VR online gaming service. In such situation, 10G PON access helps to improve user satisfaction thus consolidate, and even increase revenue.
10G PON Application: Mobile Backhaul
In the era of mobile Internet, mobile communication occupies an important share of the communications market. Therefore, it is very necessary to offer carriers with a flexible-access and low-cost mobile traffic bearer solutions that can support massive business. And the 10G PON that can be deployed in various indoor and outdoor scenes is exactly in line with this demand. Not only 10G PON and small cell are perfect match, but also the existing FTTX resources give great convenience to LTE small cell that requires high-density deployments.
NG-PON2: 10G PON in The Future
The existing mainstream 10G PON can ensure most communication services, yet the demand for bandwidth will be increasing. Ultra high-definition video services including VR and 8K TV, and the new generation mobile communication technology including Pre5G and 5G requires a lot of communication bandwidth, and is likely to bring greater data traffic in the future. Early in 2009, FSAN began researching NG-PON2, the next generation PON networking technology. In 2012, FSAN chose TWDM-PON as the mainstream NG-PON2 technology while PtP WDM PON as supplement. And it is regarded as the milestone in the history of NG-PON2 technology development. By the end of 2015, FSAN has finalized G.989.1、G.989.1 Amd1, G.989.1 Amd2, and a number of technical recommendations. At the same time, IEEE is in full swing researching and developing NG-EPON technology as a next-generation evolution direction for 10G EPON technology.
At present, NG-PON2 corresponding standard G.989 series is in the research stage. And numerous details involving technical indicators and management methods await further discussion and confirmation. What’s more, the immature chain also greatly limits the commercialization of NG-PON2. Manufacturer’s NG-PON2 product is still in the prototype stage. Some of the key components like standard package optical modules are still very lacking, resulting in much higher cost of NG-PON2 than XG-PON1. Therefore, it is expected that NG-PON2 will be put into scale applications possibly after 2020.
