25G WDM-PON for 5G Fronthaul Transmission

With the rapid development of mobile Internet, mobile data traffic and connected devices grow explosively. In response to the challenges brought by the network growth, 5G is under construction. 25G WDM-PON, combines the WDM technology and the PON topology, effectively bring high bandwidth, low latency, plug-and-play ONU (Optical Network Unit), simple OAM (Operation Administration and Maintenance) and low-cost advantages to 5G fronthaul transmission. Therefore, it has attracted widespread attention in the industry. This article describes 25G WDM-PON for 5G fronthaul transmission.

Technical Requirements for 5G Fronthaul Transmission

Compared to 4G architecture, the 5G RAN (Radio Access Network) architecture will evolve from the formal BBU (Base Band Unit) and RRU (Radio Remote Unit) two-level architecture of LTE to the three-level structure of CU (Centralization Unit), DU (Distribution Unit) and AAU (Active Antenna Unit). Therefore, the bearer network is also divided into front haul, middle haul, and backhaul. 5G base station fronthaul requires a bandwidth up to 25Gbps. However, as the number of base station increases, the cost of the base station to the fiber infrastructure networks and deployment will be higher. In this case, employing a Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture for 5G fronthaul holds great appeal for operators, but the current dark fiber solution for the C-RAN architecture requires a large number of mobile backhaul fibers. Most operators are still seeking an optimal solution to meet the needs of 5G fronthaul.

altTechnical Requirements for 5G Fronthaul Transmission

25G WDM-PON Solution for 5G Fronthaul Transmission

In the C-RAN architecture of 5G network fronthaul, the functionality of the 5G BBU will be reconstructed into two functional entities — CU and DU. The CU primarily includes the non-real-time part of wireless upper-layer protocol stacks and supports the distribution of some core network functions and the deployment of applications at the network edge. The DU mainly handles physical-layer functions and real-time transmission-layer functions. In order to save the transmission cost and reduce the transmission bandwidth between the RRU and the DU, some functions of the physical layer are moved down to the RRU implementation. 25G WDM-PON is a solution for transmission between DU and RRU. In the network architecture of WDM-PON 5G fronthaul, WDM-PON OLT and ONU are connected with DU and RRU respectively. The transparent business transmission between DU and RRU is realized by the adoption of the wavelength position multiplexing technology and AMCC (Auxiliary Management and Control Channel) technology. The OLT devices carry the midhaul service between DU and RRU at the same time that the OLT devices realize the fronthaul service between DU and RRU.

alt 25G WDM-PON Solution for 5G Fronthaul Transmission

Advantages of 25G WDM-PON for 5G Fronthaul

25G WDM-PON has advantages like high bandwidth, low latency, and low-cost. These all make 25G WDM-PON a better choice to satisfy 5G fronthaul requirements.

Reduce Capex

In the 5G construction, operators are faced with the pressure to reduce the number of sites and leased equipment rooms. In this case, employing a centralized radio access network (C-RAN) architecture can significantly reduce capital expenditure (Capex) on sites and equipment rooms. The 25G WDM-PON OLT can utilize an Access Office (AO) to deploy a centralized distributed unit (DU) pool. Thus, wireline and wireless AOs can be co-located if the condition permits.

Reduce Deployment Cost

The 25G WDM-PON 5G fronthaul solution allows for sharing of the existing fiber infrastructure, making it suitable for densely populated urban residential areas. The 5G network requires a large number of fiber resources. A network architecture based on the point-to-multipoint tree topology of a 25G WDM-PON can save a lot of fibers. The existing FTTx networks have rich lines and port resources in a wide range of deployments. 25G WDM-PON can completely reuse these resources to reduce 5G network deployment costs, avoid overlapping investments and improve 5G network coverage.

Conclusion

The 25G WDM-PON optoelectronic devices belong to the world’s leading edge, which requires high technology, chips, research and development capabilities. Overall, the 25G WDM-PON industry chain is basically mature, but it still needs continuous investment from all aspects of chips, transceiver modules (SFP, SFP+, SFP28), equipment and systems, to develop key technologies, reduce core device costs, establish a unified standard, and accelerate the productization process.

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TWDM-PON: Taking Fiber to New Wavelengths

Time and Wavelength Division Multiplexed Passive Optical Network (TWDM-PON) technology is the telecommunications industry’s chosen solution for implementing NG-PON2, the next-generation fiber access technology. For network operators, TWDM-PON opens up new avenues toward increased revenue, reduced cost and lower risk.

From Bandwidth Booster to Value Generator: Fiber’s Changing Role

Operators are using Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology to extend fiber access to consumers. GPON will satisfy the bandwidth needs of residential customers for years to come. But to get the most from their fiber networks, operators need to go beyond the capabilities of GPON and find new ways to monetize and maximize their fiber infrastructure investments.

Many operators want to have one flexible network that can support many revenue-generating services, make efficient use of existing assets, and decrease the cost involved in deploying ultra-broadband on a large scale.

TWDM focuses on all facets of this goal. Currently being standardized by the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), TWDM offers an efficient upgrade path for operators that currently invest in GPON infrastructure.

Fiber Evolution Roadmap

FSAN and ITU envisage two phases for fiber network evolution: NG-PON1 (medium term) and NG-PON2 (long term). NG-PON1 is based on XG-PON1 technology. It offers 10Gbps in downstream and 2.5Gbps in upstream. While available for some time, the XG-PON1 technology has generated little traction in the market. There is limited near-or medium-term demand for 10Gbps residential service that will justify investment in new technology. Meanwhile, emerging technologies offer capabilities beyond higher speeds, so the market focus is shifting to NG-PON2.

For NG-PON2, FSAN evaluated several solutions. Three main contenders emerged:

  • TDM evolution is conceptually similar to current PON systems, using much faster electronics and optics. It supports very efficient bandwidth sharing between users. But it requires every ONT to operate at the full 40Gbps line rate, a rate that far exceeds the foreseeable needs of individual users. FSAN dropped TDM-PON from consideration because of high costs and uncertainly associated with some challenges, such as resolving the problem of chromatic dispersion for very high line rates.
  • Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing PON (DWDM-PON) supports many wavelengths on one fiber. It offers each user on the PON a dedicated wavelength with 1Gbps symmetrical bandwidth per user (10Gbps in the future). Ultimately, FSAN discounted DWDM-PON for residential market use because of its high cost, its inability to support bandwidth sharing between users, and because of the operational complexity involved in terminating and managing one wavelength per user. However, DWDM-PON has potential for niche applications: a DWDM wavelength can be overlaid on GPON to support applications like mobile fronthaul with a fixed constant bandwidth. The annex to the proposed ITU standard describes this special DWDM use case, which is also called point-to-point WDM.
  • Time Wavelength Division Multiplexing PON (TWDM-PON) provides four or more wavelengths per fiber, each of which is capable of delivering symmetrical or asymmetrical bit rates of 2.5 Gbps or 10 Gbps. In 2012, FSAN named TWDM-PON technology as its solution of choice for implementing the NG-PON2 architecture.
TWDM-PON: the Right Evolution Path

Each of the NG-PON2 candidate technologies delivers more capacity or flexibility than current GPON technology. But these improvements come with additional cost. The challenge is to identify the degree of capacity and flexibility that can deliver the target benefits at the lowest possible cost.

DWDM-PON would provide maximum flexibility, although with limited real additional capacity, if each wavelength were individually routed through a fiber cross-connect panel and terminated on discrete optics with discrete fibers. But this flexibility would require up to twice as much CAPEX as current GPON and significantly higher OPEX, in the form of bigger central offices, additional Optical Distribution Frames (ODFs), more operational complexity and greater outside plant impact. Terminating all the wavelengths on an integrated multi-wavelength optical module would reduce costs but remove flexibility. It is therefore difficult to realize the target benefits with DWDM.

By contrast, TWDM allows for higher bandwidth (up to 10Gbps for any user with a total of 40Gbps) and optimal flexibility relative to bandwidth per user, fiber management, service convergence and resource sharing. These improvements come at 30% less CAPEX and with less operational complexity than DWDM. In effect, TWDM optimally combines the benefits of TDM with the benefits of DWDM systems.

Turn Flexibility into Revenue Growth

The increased bandwidth capacity and flexibility of TWDM-PON opens up a new range of possibilities for fiber networks. For example:

  • TWDM can supply, manage and evolve to the right (or best-fitting) bandwidth for different services—for instance, high-bandwidth symmetrical for business or high-bandwidth asymmetrical for mobile backhaul. It can also support the convergence of more services and users on the same infrastructure. These capabilities will bring CAPEX savings and additional revenue.
  • TWDM-PON adds flexibility by supporting the overlay of multiple services, user groups or organizations on the same fiber. For example, an operator can simplify its operations by using dedicated wavelengths to isolate applications provided by its different business divisions, as shown in the figure below. TWDM-PON allows different wavelengths to be allocated to different servicesPrint.
  • TWDM-PON can accelerate the process of bringing more bandwidth to more users. Increasingly, operators are deploying deep fiber micro-nodes so that they can quickly and cost-efficiently cover more users. These deployments demand high-capacity backhaul. As operators add more micro-nodes, the need for TWDM will surge.
  • TWDM-PON enables operators to add flexibility to the customer experience by letting users share the unused common part of bandwidth capacity. For example, an operator could guarantee that 1 Gbps of bandwidth will always be available to all users. Using TWDM-PON, it could allow users to burst above their assigned bandwidth up to 10Gbps to accelerate actions such as downloading HD movies or backing up data to cloud storage.
  • With TWDM, different wavelengths can be assigned to different operators. This flexibility will facilitate co-investment in common infrastructure, encourage investment and promote sharing of cost and risk.
Get More Value from Existing Fiber

One of the key requirements for NG-PON2 is to preserve operators’ current PON investments and allow them to reuse their most expensive component: the outside plant. TWDM-PON addresses this requirement in three key ways:

  1. GPON compatibility: TWDM-PON can coexist with, and expand on, current GPON deployments. This coexistence ensures that operators’ fiber investments will keep providing value in the long term.
  2. Zero outside plant impact: TWDM-PON typically has no cost or operational impact on existing passive components, including the outside plant. As part of this no-impact approach, TWDM-PON uses the same splitters to simplify fiber management, facilitate tuning and maximize compatibility with network components and end-user equipment.
  3. Easy introduction: TWDM-PON can be introduced smoothly and gradually into existing Fiber To The X (FTTX) deployments. Although integrated multi-wavelength solutions are feasible, some operators may find it easier to start with one wavelength and add more as bandwidth demand grows. Upgrades can be introduced on a fiber-by-fiber basis. They are as simple as adding and configuring new cards at the central office.
Reduce Cost and Risk

TWDM-PON promises to reduce cost and risk by promoting efficient operations. Specifically, it supports wavelength management techniques that can allow operators to move end users from one wavelength to another to rebalance bandwidth, reconnect users to other operators, or decrease downtime during software upgrades. These techniques can help operators forgo expensive truck rolls and in-field fiber reconnections in favor of efficiently reassigning users to specific wavelengths from the central office.

Co-investment offers additional opportunities to reduce cost and risk. TWDM-PON brings successful co-investment within reach by providing an environment in which several operators can effectively share a common fiber infrastructure. With TWDM-PON, individual wavelengths can be associated with and controlled by different operators. Each co-investor benefits from lower capital and maintenance costs, added flexibility to support new services, and new opportunities to establish partnerships and business models.

Open, government-owned fiber networks can also provide opportunities to reduce cost and risk. TWDM-PON permits each operator to use one (or more) wavelengths on the common PON, deployed on either common or separate central office equipment. With their own wavelengths, operators gain the flexibility and independence to offer, manage and upgrade quality of service according to their business priorities.

Technical Enablers and Optimization

Operators need efficient solutions that can help them capitalize on the potential and benefits of TWDM-PON. Areas requiring technical enablers and optimization include wavelength tuning, optical signal amplification and scalability.

Wavelength tuning

To simplify operations, all TWDM ONTs must be colorless. The ONT transceiver must be able to tune to the correct wavelengths in upstream and downstream during end-user provisioning.

Operators can use a variety of techniques to control the wavelength in the upstream direction from the ONT to the OLT. Temperature is the primary parameter of control. For example, thermo-electric controlled lasers can use heating and cooling to accurately set the wavelength. These lasers are available today and can be used in the ONT, but they are expensive.

A heat-only laser could provide a more cost-effective and power-efficient alternative for addressing the needs of the mass market. However, a heat-only approach can only set the laser to wavelengths that correspond to the ambient temperature or above—never below. Therefore, a cyclic Wavelength Multiplexer (WM) must be used at the OLT to route sets of wavelengths, rather than individual wavelengths, to each OLT port. In this way, the laser can be heated above ambient temperature until its wavelength is part of a given wavelength set associated with the destination OLT port. The wavelength sets are analogous to the sets of piano notes with the same name (i.e. “C”, “D”, “E” etc.) and which repeat cyclically at every octave. This results in a simple and low-cost tuning scheme.

In the long-term, it is hoped that photonic integrated circuits will provide other economical solutions to wavelength control.

In the downstream direction, thermo-controlled thin-film filters can be integrated into the ONT receiver to allow tuning. Photonic integrated circuits may provide a future solution.

At the OLT side, thermoelectric-controlled lasers can accurately hold the downstream wavelengths at the correct wavelength. The upstream wavelengths are routed to the correct OLT receiver by way of a WM, using either Thin-Film Filter (TFF) technology or Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWGs).

Optical signal amplification

To transmit higher bit rates with a low error rate, it is necessary to improve the sensitivity of the receivers or increase the level of the received signal. Amplification is needed to transmit these higher-rate optical signals through existing fiber networks, which have a fixed attenuation. The need for amplification is even greater given that NG-PON2 is simultaneously targeting an increased split ratio, greater fiber distances and higher speeds.

Some amplification technologies can be used in both the upstream and downstream directions. These include semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) and Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA). With SOAs, the optimal amplifier location is immediately after the laser in the downstream direction and before the wavelength demux in the upstream direction. All of these components are typically located in the central office.

Scaling and evolution

Operators will need to choose the equipment growth and fiber evolution strategy that best addresses their business needs. For many, the key decision will be whether to adopt a pay-as-you-grow strategy with modular optical components or deploy a fully integrated solution in anticipation of future demand. Others will need to decide whether it makes more business and operational sense to go it alone or embrace a co-investment or network sharing strategy.

Most technical issues can be solved with solutions and advice from knowledgeable vendors. Vendors can also help with business issues, but operators will ultimately need to choose the strategies that best align with their business goals.

Unlock network potential with TWDM

Today’s GPON-based networks are bringing fundamental change to many different industry sectors. However, GPON is tapping a fraction of fiber’s potential. New technologies like TWDM will unlock this potential by adding capacity and flexibility. These improvements will help operators generate more revenue by converging multiple services onto one fiber. They will help operators lower cost by increasing operational efficiency and providing access to viable co-investment options. TWDM will also help operators preserve their existing fiber investments: The upgrade path to TWDM uses the same fiber and passive components as current GPON networks and simply overlays new active components.


From Alcatel-Lucent

The Application of TDM-PON And WDM-PON

1. Instruction
The bandwidth requirements of the telecommunication network users increased rapidly during the recent years. The emerging optical access network must provide the bandwidth demand for each user as well as support high data rate, broadband multiple services and flexible communications for various end-users. Being considered as a promising access network solution due to the high bandwidth provision and the low operation and maintenance cost, passive optical networks (PONs) represent one of the most attractive access network solutions. TDM and WDM techniques are employed in the PON for higher resource efficiency and capacity, which results in TDM-PON and WDM-PON respectively. TDM-PON provides much higher bandwidth for data application but it has limited availability to end-users. WDM PON can solve the problems encountered in TDM-PON by allocating a specified wavelength to each subscriber. This provides a separate, secure P2P, and high data-rate channel between each subscriber and the CO. This article is mainly written to give you a overview of the application of TDM-PON and WDM-PON as well as the joint application—TWDM PON.

2. Application of TDM-PON
TDM-PON types include ATM PON (APON), Broadband PON (BPON), Ethernet PON (EPON), Gigabit PON (GPON). Now EPON and GPON are extensively used in the telecommunication networks.

2.1 Application of EPON
Ethernet PON (EPON) is a PON-based network that carries data traffic encapsulated in Ethernet frames (defined in the IEEE 802.3 standard). A typical EPON system consists of three components: optical line terminal (OLT), optical network unit (ONU), and optical distribution network (ODN). Utilizing PON topological structure to achieve the access of Ethernet, EPON is equipped with the dual advantages of PON and Ethernet including low cost, high bandwidth, strong scalability, excellent compatibility with Ethernet to facilitate network management, etc. Based on where ONUs are deployed, EPON application mode can be fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the building (FTTB), and fiber to the home (FTTH), as shown in Figure 1.

Application of EPON in FTTB, FTTC and FTTH

Figure 1: The application of EPON in FTTB, FTTC and FTTH

In a FTTC system, ONUs are deployed at roadside or beside the junction boxes of telegraph poles. Usually, twisted-pair copper wires are used to connect the ONUs to each user, and coaxial cables are used to transmit broadband graphic services. Currently, the FTTC technology is the most practical and economical Optical Access Network (OAN) solution for providing narrow-band services below 2 Mbps. For services integrating narrowband and broadband services, however, FTTC is not the ideal solution.

In a FTTB system, ONUs are deployed within buildings, with the optical fibers led into user homes through ADSL lines, cables, or LANs. Compared with FTTC, FTTB has a higher usage of optical fiber and therefore is more suitable for user communities that need narrowband/broadband integrated services.

In a FTTH system, ONUs are deployed in user offices or homes to implement a fully transparent optical network, with the ONUs independent of the transmission mode, bandwidth, wavelength, and transmission technology. Therefore, FTTH is ideal for the long term development of optical access networks.

2.2 Application of GPON
Gigabit PON (GPON) is the far-most advanced PON solution used by European and US providers. It is somehow based on the former ATM access networks (APON, BPON), but GPON’s data encapsulation (GEM) is more generic, and accepts different network protocols, such as ATM, Ethernet and IP. A traditional GPON system is made up of three parts: optical line terminal (OLT), optical network terminal (ONT) or ONU, and optical distribution network (ODU) composed of SM fiber and splitter. GPON possess the advantages of high bandwidth, high efficiency, large coverage, abundant user interfaces, etc. In the access network, GPON can be used to fiber to the building (FTTB), fiber to the curb (FTTC), and fiber to the home (FTTH), as shown in Figure 2.

GPON-application

Figure 2: The application of GPON in FTTB, FTTC and FTTH

In a FTTB system, ONTs are deployed within buildings. GPON can be used to serve for the users of multi-dwelling units (MDU) as well as business users. When serving for MDU users, the services supported by GPON contains asymmetric broadband services (digital broadcast, VOD, IP TV) and symmetric broadband services (content broadcast, e-mail, remote diagnose). When serving for business users, the services supported by GPON are symmetric services (group software, content broadcast, e-mail). Facing diverse services, GPON must flexibly provide private line service at different rate.

In a FTTC system, ONTs are deployed at roadside or beside the junction boxes of telegraph poles. The services supported by GPON consists of asymmetric services ( digital broadcast, VOD, IP TV, files downloading, online games) and symmetric services (content broadcast, e-mail, files interaction, remote education). In addition, GPON supported the expansion of the dedicated line POTS and ISDN.

In a FTTH system, ONTs are deployed in user offices or homes. GPON supports the asymmetric services and symmetric services. The asymmetric services include data broadcast, VOD, IP TV, files downloading, etc. The symmetric services include content broadcast, e-mail, files interaction, remote education, remote diagnose, online games, etc. What’s more, GPON supported the expansion of the dedicated line POTS and ISDN.

3. Application of WDM-PON
As the new-generation access network, WDM-PON makes it possible to transmit multiple wavelengths instead of one wavelength in the PON over the same fiber, thus greatly meet the bandwidth requirements of users. In addition to its efficient use of wavelengths, the WDM-PON also has advantages in its use of optical-transmission power. The network management is much simpler than a TDM-PON, and all future services can be delivered over a single network platform.

WDM-PON can be directly used to achieve FTTC, FTTB and FTTH (see Figure 3) and provide services for business subscribers, the single-family subscribers, the multi-family subscribers and other types subscribers at the same time. WDM-PON offer abundant bandwidth to better meet the bandwidth requirements of the back transmission of 3G and LTE base station, thus becoming the optimal technology for the back transmission of mobile station. WDM-PON also can be used to support reach extension and the transition of existing EPON networks to improve the scalability as well as protect the existing network investment. What’s more WDM-PON can also be adpoted to build the hybrid WDM-TDM PON which combines the dual advantages of TDM-PON and WDM-PON with TDM-PON to be better applied in the optical communication network and provide better services for subscribers. WDM-PON is very suitable for the application environment of telecommunication.

WDM-PON application

Figure 3: The application of WDM-PON in FTTC, FTTB and FTTH

4.Joint Application of TDM-PON and WDM-PON
The combination of TDM and WDM in a PON network could be the most cost effective way of introducing TDM/WDM PON into the access network, which brings TWDM-PON into being. Figure 4 shows the architecture of TWDM-PON . Four XG-PONs are stacked by using four pairs of wavelengths {(λ1, λ5), (λ2, λ6), (λ3, λ7), (λ4, λ8)}. For simple network deployment and inventory management purposes, the ONUs use colorless tunable transmitters and receivers. The transmitter is tunable to any of the upstream wavelengths, while the receiver can tune to any of the downstream ones. To achieve a power budget higher than that of XG-PON1, optical amplifiers are employed at the OLT side to boost the downstream signals as well as to pre-amplify the upstream signals. ODN remains passive since both the optical amplifier and WDM Mux/DeMux are placed at the OLT side. Taking the advantages of TDM-PON and WDM-PON and overcoming their shortcomings, TWDM-OPN can provide higher rates and bandwidth to better serve users.

TWDM-PON architecture

Figure 4: The network architecture of TWDM-PON

TWDM-PONcould be applied in the following ways. The first one to consider is used for pay-as-you-grow provisioning. The TWDM-PON system could be deployed by starting with a single wavelength pair. It could be upgraded by adding new wavelength pairs to increase the system capacity. In this way, the operators can address the bandwidth growth demand by investing what is needed and expanding the future demand. Another application of TWDM-PON is for local loop unbundling (LLU). A TWDM-PON with multiple OLT arrangement is shown in Figure 5 for LLU. Each operator would have their own OLT, each of which would contain some set of wavelength channels. A wavelength-selective device would be used to multiplex the OLT ports onto a single fiber. The wavelength-selective device could be as simple as a filter-based demultiplexer, or it could be an arrayed waveguide router type of device. This scheme unbundles the shared infrastructure for multiple operators. It also offers the possibility of every operator’s OLT being the same (containing all the wavelengths), and a single operator could add OLT resources as they want. What’s more, TWDM-PON can applied in the above-mentioned ways of TDM-PON and WDM-PON being applied.

TWDM-PON application for LLU

Figure 5: The application of TWDM-PON for LLU

5.Conclusion
TDM-PON and WDM-PON, as the popular optical access network , are extensively used in the communication networks. WDM-PON solves the problems of limited bandwidth to each subscriber, high transmission power and poor network security exsiting in TDM-PON, becoming the new-generation access network. However, the cost WDM-PON components are relatively high, which lessen its population. Nowadays the high-speed broadband penetration and ongoing growth of the Internet traffic among customers have been placing a huge bandwidth demand on the telecommunication network. TWDM-PON, combining the advantages of TDM-PON and WDM-PON, comes into being to become the far-most advanced PON. Being able to provide higher bandwidth, higher rates in downstream and upstream and competitive cost, TWDM-PON will plays a key role in the optical communication networks.