Wavelength-converted long-reach reconfigurable optical access network

Abstract

Next generation optical access networks should not only increase the capacity but also be able to redistribute the capacity on the fly in order to manage more fluctuated traffic patterns. Wavelength reconfigurability is the instrument to enable such capability of network-wide bandwidth redistribution since it allows the dynamic sharing of both wavelengths and timeslots in WDM-TDM optical access networks. However, reconfigurability typically requires tunable lasers and tunable filters at the user side, resulting in cost-prohibitive optical network units (ONU). In this paper, we propose a novel long-reach reconfigurable architecture based on the concept of cyclic-linked flexibility to address the cost-prohibitive problem. The network-wide bandwidth redistribution capability is archived, even though ONUs are equipped only with legacy GPON and XPON transceivers