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Passive Optical Network (PON) Standards
Passave co-founder Ariel Maislos played a key role in developing the IEEE 802.3ah standard serving as editor of the EPON clause and Passave Chief Technical Officer Onn Haran and Passave Chief System Architect Lior Khermosh were significant contributors to the development and ratification of the standard. PMC-Sierra offers both GE-PON and GPON semiconductors for OLT and ONU/ONT applications, and is well positioned to support whatever local standard may be adopted by system OEMs and local telecommunications carriers. IEEE 802.3ah GE-PON or EPON - Gigabit Ethernet PONGE-PON, also called EPON, is deployed widely in Japan and provides for a symmetrical 1.0 Gbps data rate in both directions, upstream and downstream. It is the first gigabit PON technology to achieve high volume deployment. One of the most important advantages of GE-PON is the use of native Ethernet transport protocols. Low-cost asynchronous Ethernet has been deployed in the extended data network for years and there are significant economies of scale associated with gigabit Ethernet components such as optical interfaces. The asynchronous nature of Ethernet enables Ethernet-based network equipment to be much lower cost than comparable clock-synchronous ATM or SONET-based equipment. IEEE 802.3ah - Key Facts
PMC-Sierra and the IEEE 802.3ah GE-PON StandardPMC-Sierra through its acquisition of Passave has played an important role in developing the IEEE 802.3ah standard. PMC-Sierra technologists have contributed as editors of the standard as well as producing some key foundation work. Below are some of the materials prepared by Passave engineers as part of their standards work.
ITU-T G.984 GPON - Gigabit PONGPON has received a lot of attention since the ITU introduced the ITU-T G.984 recommendation in 2003. But the recommendations are still in flux with details still being updated. As a result, GPON is not yet widely deployed. GPON is based on the previous ITU BPON standard but has many similarities to GE-PON. Introduced in 2003 as ITU-T G.984, GPON uses a new native Generic Encapsulation Method (GEM) transport layer that supports multiple "non-native" transport protocols including ATM, Ethernet, and TDM. The original intention was to broaden support and market acceptance by supporting multiple protocols, but the effect has been to add complexity to those systems not requiring additional protocol support. A key characteristic is the 2.5 Gbps downstream data rate and the 1.25 Gbps upstream data rate. GPON operates in a very similar fashion to GE-PON when supporting Ethernet as its primary transport protocol. But since Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet and 10Gb Ethernet do not support a 2.5 GHz clock rate, unlike GE-PON, GPON does not benefit from the availability of low-cost Ethernet optical components. ITU-T G.984 - Key Facts
GE-PON and GPON In the MarketLacking the economies of scale and with the specifications still being updated, GPON deployment has lagged behind that of GE-PON. Nonetheless, with the backing of FSAN, the Full Service Access Networks organization, a group of worldwide carriers who play an important role in the ITU standards body, and the prospect simplifying protocol support to focus on Ethernet, GPON has garnered a great deal of interest in North America and other geographic regions seeking to adopt a gigabit PON standard for FTTH deployment. More Standards InformationMore information on these standards may be obtained from the standards bodies:
The GE-PON IEEE EFM and GPON ITU standards may be downloaded here: |
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