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ECE 6543 - Fiber Optic Networks
Final Project

How to upgrade currently deployed TDM-based networks to next generation WDM-based access networks?

I - Challenges of next-generation optical access networks

Optical access has long been considered as the best solution to the problem of upgrading current congested access networks to ones capable of delivering future broadband integrated services such as triple-play and HDTV. These types of services require bandwidths and QoS that are currently not available with traditional xDSL copper-based systems. Optical conversion of networks has already been performed in backbone networks, WANs, MANs, and even some LANs successfully. Thus, revamping access networks would be the last step to the future all-optical network revolution. The problem we are raising is about how to move from the existing technology and structure to a new one which would be cost-effective, practically feasible and improve performance in order to tackle the upcoming subscriber’s demands.
Since the beginning of the 21th century, TDM-based Passive Optical Networks (TDM-PONs) have been deployed and are considered as an economically feasible solution for Fiber-To-The Home access (FTTH) [1]. TDM-PONs work with one optical channel for multiple users and use Time Division Multiplexing to share the resources between them. This technology is therefore bandwidth limited. So, the next-generation of optical networks relies on integrating Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) in the access networks. This active field of research has introduced several architectures in recent years which show the technical feasibility of the WDM-PON [2]. In these kinds of architectures, each ONU works on a dedicated wavelength and can therefore take advantage of the huge bandwidth provided by fiber-optic links. We will focus on one of these architectures: the SUCCESS-HPON. It is novel because it provides an