Dual-Fiber-Ring Architecture Supporting Discretionary Peer-to-Peer Intra-Communication and Bidirectional Inter-communication in Metro-Access Network

Direct communication among optical network units (ONUs) is very significant for next-generation optical networks. In this paper, a metro-access optical network architecture supporting intra-communication and inter-communication is proposed based on dual-fiber ring topology. By adopting two tunable fiber Bragg gratings and one arrayed waveguide grating in the remote node, direct peer-to-peer communication of ONUs can be achieved. By designing the architecture to provide inter-communication in two opposite transmission directions, not only the efficiency and flexibility of inter-communication can be guaranteed depending on the shortest transmission path, but also the inter-communication can be supported even if a dual-fiber fault occurs. By allocating three wavelengths to one ONU, not only the intra-communication and inter-communication for one ONU can be carried out simultaneously, but also the inter-communication for different ONUs can be realized simultaneously. By using a dual-fiber ring structure, both the scale and the reliability can be improved. Because the network capacity and scale are relatively large, the relative construction-and-maintenance cost of the network is low. The availability of the proposal can be verified via the performance analyses and the simulations.