Centralized Management PON: How FS Tackles OLT and ONU Interconnectivity

PON is a popular internet access technology used worldwide to connect multiple users to a single network. Omdia predicts that the global PON access equipment market will grow at a rate of 12.3% annually from 2020 to 2027. This growth is expected to reach $16.3 billion in revenue by 2027.

The Fiber Broadband Association predicts that by 2023, over 78 million households worldwide will have fiber broadband access. In the U.S., more than half of households will be able to access fiber internet.

Fiber access relies on the connection between OLT and ONU. As the demand for fiber access increases, the need for OLT equipment among operators is also rising. Similarly, users are beginning to choose various types of ONU terminal devices to achieve more convenient fiber networks.

Challenges in Interconnectivity of OLT and ONUs

As fiber penetration increases, more suppliers are entering the vast PON market. The PON equipment market is specialized and has high technical barriers. It requires a lot of capital and has slow return cycles. This situation forces OLT suppliers to lock in customers through exclusive technical protocols, only supporting specific ONU online to enhance profitability.

As more people use PON, the use of FTTH/FTTB/FTTO/FTTR also increases, making upgrading PON important. EPON and GPON are evolving towards 10G-PON and even higher transmission efficiencies. This continuous iteration of network protocols spurs the development of new, compatible network equipment.

This change makes user groups attach importance to OLT and ONU interoperability issues to avoid frequent equipment replacements and deployment issues.

The same situation for service providers, the interoperability barriers between PON devices lead to substantial costs and resource wastage. If OLT and ONU connections are not aligned, users may have a bad experience. Service providers then incur additional work and costs for adjustments and applications.

How to Solve the Difficulty of OLT and ONUs Interoperability

Fortunately, some operators are gradually breaking down the longstanding barriers to PON interoperability, exploring technologies that better meet future demands.

Technical Route 1: Standard OMCI

The challenge of OLT and ONU interconnection essentially stems from differing OMCI protocol interpretation standards among manufacturers, requiring OLT management to follow varied approaches. The Broadband Forum and CableLabs are striving to reconcile these early disparate requirements and create multiple open OMCI standards.

The open OMCI protocol creates a standard management interface to prevent issues from different manufacturers' interpretations of OMCI. This ensures smooth interoperability testing and management of ONUs from different suppliers on one OLT. This approach simplifies network operations, enhances interoperability, and ensures proper functionality in real-world deployments.

Technical Route 2: Open ONU

Open ONU provides a technical pathway for achieving interoperability between different vendors in fiber network deployments. These devices typically use standardized protocols and open interfaces, thereby enhancing network flexibility and scalability.

The main goal of the Open ONU strategy is to encourage OLT suppliers to test compatibility with ONUs from different vendors. This is done to ensure that they can work together seamlessly. This open market competition incentivizes suppliers to continually innovate and drive industry growth. By placing the responsibility of interoperability on OLT suppliers, this strategy effectively reduces the burden on operators.

For example, Nokia has proposed a virtual ONU management solution similar to Open ONU. By moving ONU management to the cloud to address interconnection issues.

Complete Optical Network Management Solutions Provided by FS

FS is a global leader in PON solutions, which provides users with a unified standard PON equipment network. This network addresses the need for device interoperability in PON networks. FS provides a comprehensive range of fully autonomous OLT, splitter, ODN, and ONU equipment.

Optical Line Terminal

FS provides OLTs in both single-board and multi-board configurations to suit different scenarios. The single-board OLTs are suitable for long-distance fiber access up to 20km, while the multi-board OLTs support mixed boards, simplifying network architecture and reducing OPEX, all while ensuring long-distance transmission.

Additionally, both GPON OLTs can flexibly connect to OMCI-compliant ONUs, enabling seamless ONU activation, configuration, and management.

OLT3610-08GP4S	OLT6810-06
• Compact 1U Lightweight Design, High Density • GPON Offers Asymmetric 1.25G Upstream/2.5G Downstream • DBA, SLA, QoS, QinQ, LACP, etc. Deliver Differentiated Services • CLI/TELNET/WEB/SNMP/SSH Enables Flexible Operation • ACL, RADIUS, TACACS+, and DHCP Snooping for Network Security • Abnormal Luminous ONU Detection, Such As Long Light, etc.	• Support Mixed Insertion of Service Boards, Not Limited by Slots • AC/DC Dual Power Supply (1+1 Backup) • Dual-redundant Control Card, Supports Packet Forwarding at the Line Speed of 120 Gbit/s • Support CLI/TELNET/WEB/SNMP/SSH for Flexible Operation • Smart Fan Supports Speed Regulation, Independent Zone Control • Support Alarm Query and Performance Monitoring

 

Optical Network Unit

To enable diverse and convenient centralized PON network management, FS offers a range of ONU devices suitable for various application scenarios, including but not limited to single-port ONUs, multi-port ONUs, and rack-mounted ONUs. FS's ONU devices support multiple management protocols and can seamlessly interconnect with FS OLTs.

Notably, FS can provide customized services for customers. Before purchase, customers can share your specific use scenarios and required protocols with FS. FS will then configure the devices in bulk before shipping, offering users an efficient plug-and-play experience.

There are some ONU examples:

ONU1910-1GF-W	TA1910-4GVC-W	ONU1710-4G-P
• Support GPON/EPON Dual-mode Automatic Switching • Support 300Mbps 2.4GHz Wi-Fi • Support VLAN, QoS, Storm Suppression, and Port Isolation for Service Quality Guarantee • Support DBA and Rate-Limit to Ensure Advanced Dynamic Bandwidth Distribution • Support WEB/SNMP/OMCI for Flexible Operation	• Support GPON/EPON Dual-mode Automatic Switching • Support Multiple Types of Services, such as POTS, CATV, and ETH • Support 1200Mbps Dual Band 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi • Support VLAN, QoS, Storm Suppression, and Port Isolation for Service Quality Guarantee • Support DBA and Rate-Limit to Ensure Advanced Dynamic Bandwidth Distribution • Support WEB/SNMP/OMCI for Flexible Operation	• Support GPON/EPON Dual-mode Automatic Switching • Up to 4 PoE+ Ports, 56W Total Budget • Support VLAN, QoS, Storm Suppression, and Port Isolation for Service Quality Guarantee • Support DBA and Rate-Limit to Ensure Advanced Dynamic Bandwidth Distribution • Support WEB/SNMP/OMCI for Flexible Operation

Other Network Accessories

As a global provider of communication solutions, FS has prepared a comprehensive PON network access solution. In addition to OLT and ONU, FS offers splitters and matching ODN accessories. FS provides single-mode splitters in various forms, such as 1x4, 1x8, 1x16, and 1x32, ensuring low insertion loss and low polarization-dependent loss. At the same time, FS offers indoor and outdoor ODNs with 8, 16, or 24 fibers, meeting diverse deployment needs.

ODN		Splitter

Summary

As the demand for interconnectivity among PON FS is a global leader in providing solutions. They are developing a PON network access solution to meet the growing demand for interconnectivity among PON devices. These devices include OLT, ONU, and splitter.

Leveraging unified standards, FS facilitates seamless device deployment and management. With a variety of packaging options and performance capabilities, FS offers customers solutions tailored to multiple application scenarios, enabling efficient fiber optic data transmission. In the future, FS will also explore more convenient and efficient centralized network management systems for PON equipment at the software level.