Design, implementation, and demonstration of a scalable three-stage, linear add-drop wavelength-division multiplexing passive optical network experimental test bed

"http://www.osa-jon.org/features/OAN_2005.html". Feature Issue on Optical Access Networks (OAN). Passive optical networks (PONs) have the potential to be high-speed access networks. However, PONs have higher installation and maintenance costs. One way to overcome these costs is to maximize the sharing, i.e., connect as many subscribers as possible onto one PON serving area. We propose a novel multistage linear add-drop (LAD) architecture for high-capacity PONs that is flexible, scalable, and provides bidirectional and symmetric wavelength-division multiplexing data services. As a result, we can provide real triple play services (video, data, and voice) at higher rates and lower cost. We also demonstrate a three-stage LAD PON experimental test bed that employs 40 downstream wavelengths, 40 upstream wavelengths, and a 20 nm broadcast band for video and other broadcast services. This access network design can support symmetric data services up to 10 Gbits/s along with 2.5 Gbits/s of video data for each of as many as 1280 users that would be in a 20 km range.