The frontiers of optical access networks

We report on the state-of-the-art and future prospects and challenges of optical access networks. These networks can be used for various different applications such as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) but also for backhauling data communications as well as for mobile back- and fronthauling purposes. While currently different, physically separated networks are used for these applications, in the future convergence to a unified network is envisioned. We will describe the challenges associated with such a network. We will also give a short overview on current standardization activities and an outlook to next-generation optical access networks.