HARMONICS, an IP based service network over hybrid fibre-access network supporting QoS

HARMONICS is a hybrid access network, combining an optical feeder network with multiple access technologies. The acronym, HARMONICS, refers to 'Hybrid Access Re-configurable Multi-wavelength Optical Networks for IP-based Communication Services'. HARMONICS is a dynamic and flexible system. The major innovation of the HARMONICS system is the wavelength division multiplex passive optical network (WDM PON), which facilitates multi-Gigabit capacity to a large number of optical network units (ONUs) by means of a real passive network. Preliminary results prove that the system can technically cope with the service demand and also cope with the flexibility expectations. This paper also describes the approach chosen by the different HARMONICS project partners on handling quality of service in an IP network. QoS issues are addressed using DiffServ and IntServ techniques.