Next Generation PON Technologies: 50G PON and Beyond (Invited)

In recent years, network operators worldwide have been upgrading their fiber-to-the-home networks from Gigabit-class PON systems to 10G-class. Naturally, the industry has also been working on the next evolution step for PON systems beyond 10G. At the ITU-T, this next step is defined by the Higher-Speed PON systems operating at 50 Gbps line rate. This paper reviews the standardized 50G-PON system and related technologies and what might come next for optical access.