Long-reach passive optical networks

Committee in Charge 2009 ii Acknowledgements My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor and committee chair Professor Biswanath Mukherjee. He not only guided me throughout the course of my graduate study, but also guided my attitude towards career and life. His extensive knowledge, experience and exceptional ability to find new approaches for difficult problems were pivotal in this work and my development as a researcher. This work would not have been completed without his encouragement and patience. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to study under his guidance. for their superb teaching and guidance. I thank the office staff and systems support for all their assistance. for their contribution to our group and my research, technical expertise and general camaraderie. Finally, and most importantly, I cordially thank my parents for their education and support, and I am grateful to my wife for her love and understanding, all through my life. iv To my family, for the endless love, support and encouragement. Abstract With the advances in optical technology, the span of a broadband access network using Passive Optical Network (PON) technology can be increased from today's standard of 20 km to 100 km or higher. Such an extended-reach PON is known as Long-Reach PON (LR-PON). This technology can enable broadband access for a large number of customers in the access/metro area, while decreasing capital and operational expenditures for the network operator. Therefore, it is very desirable to comprehensively investigate this technology for future broadband access. This dissertation is dedicated to the research of architecture, management, and reliability of LR-PON. This dissertation first reviews the evolutionary path of access networks and shows the drivers from technology and business perspectives for high bandwidth and low cost. A variety of research challenges in this field is reviewed, from optical components in the physical layer to the control and management issues in the upper layers. We discuss the requisites for optical sources, optical amplifiers, and optical receivers in optical access networks with high transmission rate (10 Gbps) and large power attenuation (due to large split, transmission over 100 km and beyond, and propagation). We analyze the key topological structures to guarantee physical protection (e.g., tree-and-branch, ring-and-spur). Then, some relevant demonstrations of Long-Reach optical access networks developed worldwide by different research institutes are presented. A major challenge in LR-PON is that the propagation delay (for data as well as control signals) between the …