6/29/2019 Overview of GPON Technology | FS Singapore

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Know-How ber optics1

Overview of GPON Technology

Passive optical networks (PON) technology was available in the middle of 90s. Since the huge
development of network, various standards have been established and matured. PON developed
from the rst ATM PON (APON) and then evolved in Broadband PON (BPON) which is compatible
with APON. Later, arisen Ethernet PON (EPON) and Gigabit PON (GPON) bring great improvement in
data transmission distance and bandwidth. This tutorial will introduce about GPON technology.

GPON Components

GPON is de ned by ITU-T recommendation series G.984. GPON represents an increase in bandwidth compared
with APON and BPON. GPON can be applied in many areas. In ber to the desktop (FTTD) application, GPON is
distributed via single-mode, simplex optical ber connectors, and passive optical splitter typically using angled
polish connectors (APC) to provide precision terminations. There are four main components in this GPON
system: the optical line terminal (OLT), the transmitting media (cabling and components), the ber optical
splitter, and the optical network terminal (ONT).

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OLT

OLT is a device which serves as the service provider endpoint of a passive optical network. It is an active Ethernet
aggregation device that is usually located in a data center or the main equipment room. An OLT converts the
optical signals transmitting over ber to the electrical signals and presents them to a core Ethernet switch. The
OLT replaces multiple layer 2 switches at distribution points. OLT distributing signal is connected with backbone
cabling or horizontal cabling through optical splitters, which are connected to the optical network terminal at
each work area outlet.

Transmitting Media

GPON transmits signals through the passive, physical cabling infrastructure. The transmitting media include
copper, ber optic patch cords, enclosures, adapter panels, connectors, splitters and other materials. All these
transmitting media components should be factored in the channel loss budget to get a better system
performance.

Fiber Optic Splitter

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Fiber optic splitter, also known as beam splitter, is an integrated waveguide optical power distribution device.
With this ber optic splitter, multiple devices can be served from a single ber. It’s one of the most important
passive devices in the optical ber network. It’s especially useful in GPON, EPON and FTTx, etc. PON typically
connects a single ber from an OLT to multiple ONUs. The connectivity between OLT and ONUs is achieved by
using ber optical splitters. The number of the outputs in the splitter determines the number of the splits. The
split ratios often contain 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32 and 1:64. The insertion loss of a typical 1x32 optical splitter ranges
from17 dB to 18 dB. Fiber optic splitter includes fused biconical taper (FBT) splitter and planar lightwave circuit
(PLC) splitters.

ONT

ONT, also called the modem, connects to the termination point (TP) with an optical ber cable, and connects to
your router via an LAN / Ethernet cable. It converts the optical signals to electrical signals to deliver to the end
device. ONT always has multiple Ethernet ports for connection to IP services such as CPUs, phones, wireless
access points, and other video components.

GPON Loss Budget

PON is typically composed of OLT and ONUs and other optical transmission media such as ber cables and
connectors which have been pointed out before. Link loss can be caused by these components (cable,
connectors, patch cords, splices, couplers, and splitters). Link loss is very important in designing optical access
network. The link budget is shown as the following table. This budget covers all optical components between OLT
and ONU.

Table1. Loss budget for GPON system

Bandwidth (nm) Items Path Loss (d

Minimum optical loss 13

1310
Maximum optical loss 28

Minimum optical loss 13

1490
Maximum optical loss 28

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GPON Power Budget

The transmitter’s power and receiver’s sensitivity are two parameters that in uence the reach of the access
network. How to calculate the power budget? The formula is “P=FCA*L+SL+Penalties”. P represents power
budget. FCA is ber cable attenuation in dB/m. L is the distance and SL is a splitter loss. Penalties stands for
additional loss such as the splice and connectors. The following table shows the required power budget for
di erent GPON con gurations.

Table2. The minimum power budget for di erent GPON con gurations

ONUs L (km ) Wavelength (nm) FCA (dB/m) SL (dB) Penalties (dB) Required

16 10 1310 0.4 14.5 2.5

16 20 1550 0.3 14.5 2.5

32 10 1310 0.4 17 2.5

32 20 1550 0.3 17 2.5

Now let’s calculate the reach of a network system. Suppose that the power budget is about 23 dB. A single-mode
ber cable operating at the wavelength of 1550 nm is used. SL is 14 dB and there are two mechanical splices (0.5
dB/per splice) and two connectors (0.5 dB/per connector). So the maximum reach of the network can be
calculated as (23-14-2*0.5-2*0.5)/0.3≈23km.

Conclusion

GPON is the most complex of all PONs. But it’s the best one of all PONs. GPON has the bene ts of saving costs
for moves and adds or other changes, low price per port on passive components, easy installation and low
installation costs. So GPON gains the popularity in today’s diverse and ever-changing technology applications.

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