Current and next-generation passive optical networks monitoring solution

In order to enable new services that require high data rates over longer distances, the optical fiber substitutes the copper cable step by step in the access network area. Time division multiplexed Passive optical network (TDM-PON) is a fast emerging architecture that uses passive components only between the customer and the central office. PON operators need a monitoring system for the physical layer to guarantee high service quality. This monitoring system is necessary during the fiber installation, final testing, regular operation of the network, and for fault localization. In this paper, we present our monitoring system based on optical coding for PON maintenance. This system has almost all the monitoring features required by a network operator. We explained the design and the principle operation of the technique. Moreover, we presents a management and protection solution for long-reach PON networks. Our system design achieves high reliability performance with almost half the cost if full network protection is used.