Networking

With the increasing demands for bandwidth, FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is considered as a next-generation technology for delivering more bandwidth, reliability, flexibility and security to end-users. PON (Passive Optical Network) is the main structure of FTTH network which can provide optical fiber bandwidth advantages at a lower cost than P2P (Point to Point) architecture affords. However, PON presents unique test challenges when installing and maintaining the FTTH network. Furthermore, optical testing is typically performed at various points in a network’s lifetime. Thus, it is very necessary to know which tests should be done and when and where to do it. In general, optical testing in FTTH can be divided into two part—installation verification testing and maintenance troubleshooting. This is a very general classification according to the state of the network. Installation verification testing occurs as the network is being constructed or after network installation is complete, b...

Compared with copper wire, optical fiber’s dominant advantage is the overwhelming information carrying capability, and its high bandwidth and low attenuation easily offset its higher cost. FTTx (fiber to the x) architecture is a typical example of substituting copper by fiber in high data rate traffic. FTTx is a generic term for any broadband network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for the last mile telecommunications. The x can be substituted by another letter determined by the delivery topologies that are categorized according to where the fiber terminates. What are the termination places and which letter can be used to substitute x? This article will introduce some FTTx terms. Different FTTx Architectures Usually the FTTx items that we are going to introduce are used loosely, as some relate to each other, or just acronyms. Generally the FTTx configurations may fall into two groups: fiber laid all the way to the prem...

FTTH (Fiber To The Home) has been proven to be the shining star of the NGA (next generation access) family, and provides an excellent platform for high or ultra-high speed access technologies. Not only do fixed access networks benefit from FTTH solutions, but advanced wireless networks do as well especially in regard to increased backhaul capacity. This tutorial details FTTH deployment options available for the operators. FTTH Architectures There are two commonly used FTTH architectures for FTTH deployment—active and passive. Active architecture is also called as Point 2 Point (P2P), and passive optical network (PON) architecture is called Point to Multi Point (P2M). Choice of active or passive architectures for deployment depends on the type of services to be delivered, cost of the infrastructure, current infrastructure and future plans for migrating to the new technologies. Active Technology Active Ethernet also called Ethernet Switched Optical Network (ESON) or Point to Poi...

PON (Passive optical network) based FTTH access network is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve 32-128 premises. FTTH network exploits the low attenuation and high bandwidth of single-mode fiber to provide many times more bandwidth than currently available with existing broadband technologies. The components and architecture of GPON FTTH access network will be explained in this paper. Components of GPON FTTH Access Network Optical line terminal, optical splitters and optical network terminal are the three components of GPON FTTH access network. OLT (Optical Line Terminal) The optical line terminal is the main element of the network and it is usually placed in the local exchange. It is the engine that drives FTTH system. Traffic scheduling, buffer control and bandwidth allocation are the most important functions of optical line terminal. Typically, OLT operat...

Thanks to the optical fiber communication, we have been brought to a new internet society. Optical fibers reach more and more families. Optically that is called FTTH (fiber to the home), namely optical fibers installed directly into users’ homes. Besides optical fiber, passive components are also important to optical fiber communication. Many passive optical components are used in FTTH applications. Passive Optical Components In fiber optics, “passive” means the device does not require electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion during its operation. Passive components include fiber optical connectors, adapters, attenuators, couplers & splitters, WDM filters & Mux/DeMux, optical switches, etc. First we will talk about optical splitters and filters. Optical Splitters An optical splitter is a device dividing optical power from an optical fiber into several optical fibers. A PLC (Planar Lightwave Circuit) splitter is usually used for fiber branches more ...