The present invention relates to an optical wavelength division multiplexing access system for bidirectional transmission of optical signals between a center node (OSU) and a plurality of optical network units (ONUs).
In
In this configuration, one wavelength band λd is allocated for downstream optical signals from the OSU to the ONUs, and one wavelength band λu (≠λd) is allocated for upstream optical signals from the ONUs to the OSU. Wavelengths λd1 to λdn, in the wavelength band λd, and wavelengths λu1 to λun, in the wavelength band λu, are allocated for the individual ONUs. Further, an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is employed as W-MULDEM means for multiplexing or demultiplexing optical signals having individual wavelengths.
Optical transmitter/receiver 51-1 to 51-n of the OSU 50 transmit downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn, in the wavelength band λd, to the individual ONUs. A downstream AWG 52 multiplexes the downstream optical signals. An optical carrier supply module (OCSM) 53 for an upstream signal collectively oscillates optical carriers that are used for upstream signals and have wavelengths λu1 to λun, in the wavelength band λu, that are to be transmitted to the individual ONUs. A WDM coupler 54 multiplexes the downstream optical signals and the optical carriers for upstream signals and transmits the obtained signals to the W-MULDEM unit 60 through the downstream optical fiber 1d.
In the W-MULDEM unit 60, a WDM coupler 61 demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having the wavelengths λd from an optical carrier for an upstream signal having the wavelength λu. A downstream AWG 62 demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having the wavelengths λd1 to λdn, and an upstream signal optical carrier AWG 63 demultiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun. WDM couplers 64-1 to 64-n perform wavelength division multiplexing for the respective downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn, which are to be transmitted to the individual ONUs, and the optical carriers for upstream signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun. The resultant downstream optical signals and the optical carriers for upstream signals are transmitted to the corresponding ONUs 70-1 to 70-n along the downstream optical fiber 2d.
An optical transmission/reception unit 71 in the ONU 70-1 demultiplexes a downstream optical signal having the wavelength λd1 from an optical carrier for an upstream signal having the wavelength λu1, and receives the downstream optical signal having the wavelength λd1. The optical transmission/reception unit 71 also modulates an optical carrier for an upstream signal having the wavelength λu1, and transmits the modulated signal as a return upstream optical signal to the W-MULDEM unit 60 through the upstream optical fiber 2u. The other ONUs perform the same processing. An upstream AWG 65 in the W-MULDEM unit 60 multiplexes the upstream optical signals, having wavelengths λu1 to λun, that are transmitted by the individual ONUs, and transmits the obtained signals to the OSU 50 through the upstream optical fiber 1u. The upstream optical signal is demultiplexed by an upstream AWG 55 of the OSU 50, and the obtained signals are transmitted to the optical transmitter/receiver 51-1 to 51-n that correspond to the ONUs.
As is shown in
When an obstacle, such as the severing of a fiber, has occurred at the multiplexing section between the OSU 50 and the W-MULDEM unit 60, communication with all ONUs is disabled. Therefore, it is preferable that, in order to obtain a dual multiplexing section, an optical fiber for current use and a redundant optical fiber be provided, and a function for switching to the redundant optical fiber be furnished for the OSU 50 and the W-MULDEM unit 60.
In
When the multiplexing section between the OSU 50 and the W-MULDEM unit 60 is to be doubled by using the switching method that employs the optical switch shown in
It is one objective of the present invention to obtain a dual multiplexing section between an OSU and a W-MULDEM unit without adding a dynamic function, such as an optical switch, to the W-MULDEM unit.
To achieve this objective, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, an optical wavelength division multiplexing access system, whereby a center node (OSU) and n optical network units (ONUs) are arranged by using a W-MULDEM unit, whereby a multiplexing section between the OSU and the W-MULDEM unit is established by extending a current-use optical fiber and a redundant optical fiber and access sections between the W-MULDEM unit and the individual ONUs are established by the extension of optical fibers, whereby downstream optical signals from the OSU to the ONUs and upstream optical signals from the ONUs to the OSU are multiplexed using wavelengths that are allocated to individual ONUs and the resultant signals are transmitted across the multiplexing section, and whereby the W-MULDEM unit performs wavelength multiplexing or wavelength demultiplexing for the upstream or downstream optical signals to provide bidirectional transmission, is characterized in that:
the OSU includes transmission means for multiplexing downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn that correspond to the ONUs and that are to be transmitted to the ONUs along the current-use optical fiber, for multiplexing downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ that correspond to the ONUs and that are to be transmitted to the ONUs along the redundant optical fiber, and for selecting either the current-use optical fiber or the redundant optical fiber for use for transmission, and reception means for receiving upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun along the current-use optical fiber or for receiving upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ along the redundant optical fiber;
the individual ONUs receive corresponding downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn or corresponding downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ, which are received along the optical fibers extended across the access sections, the individual ONUs transmit, to the optical fibers extended across the access sections, corresponding upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1 to λun and are to be transmitted along the current-use optical fiber extended across the multiplexing section, or corresponding upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ and are to be transmitted along the redundant optical fiber;
the W-MULDEM unit includes an array waveguide diffraction grating (AWG) having two ports, which are to be respectively connected to the current-use optical fiber and the redundant optical fiber, and n ports, which are to be connected to optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs;
the W-MULDEM unit demultiplexes to the ports corresponding to the ONUs the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λd1 to λdn and are received along the current-use optical fiber, or the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ and are received along the redundant optical fiber, or multiplexes, to the port corresponding to the current-use optical fiber or the redundant optical fiber, the upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1 to λun or wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ and that are received along the optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs; and
a wavelength difference between the downstream optical signal and the upstream optical signal corresponding to each of the ONUs is integer times a free spectrum range (FSR) of the AWG.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention, an optical wavelength division multiplexing access system, whereby a center node (OSU) and n optical network units (ONUs) are arranged through a W-MULDEM unit, whereby a multiplexing section between the OSU and the W-MULDEM unit is established by extending a current-use downstream optical fiber, a current-use upstream optical fiber, a reserve downstream optical fiber and a reserve upstream optical fiber and access sections between the W-MULDEM unit and the individual ONUs are established by the extension of downstream optical fibers and of upstream optical fibers, whereby downstream optical signals from the OSU to the ONUs and upstream optical signals from the ONUs to the OSU are multiplexed, using wavelengths that are allocated to the individual ONUs, and resultant optical signals are transmitted across the multiplexing section, and whereby the W-MULDEM unit performs either wavelength multiplexing or wavelength division for the upstream or downstream optical signals to provide bidirectional transmission, is characterized in that:
the OSU includes transmission means for multiplexing downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn that correspond to the ONUs and that are to be transmitted to the ONUs along the current-use downstream optical fiber, for multiplexing downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ that correspond to the ONUs and that are to be transmitted to the ONUs along the reserve downstream optical fiber, and for selecting either the current-use downstream optical fiber or the reserve downstream optical fiber used for transmission, and reception means for receiving upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun transmitted along the current-use upstream optical fiber, or for receiving upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ transmitted along the reserve upstream optical fiber;
the ONUs receive, along the optical fibers extended across the access sections, corresponding downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn or corresponding downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ, the ONUs transmit, to the optical fibers extended across the access sections, corresponding upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1 to λun and that are to be transmitted along the current-use optical fiber extended across the multiplexing section, or corresponding upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ and are to be transmitted along the redundant optical fiber;
the W-MULDEM unit includes a downstream array waveguide diffraction grating (AWG) having two ports, which are to be respectively connected to the current-use downstream optical fiber and the reserve downstream optical fiber, and n ports, which are to be connected to optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs, and an upstream array waveguide diffraction grating (upstream AWG) having two ports, which are to be respectively connected to the current-use upstream optical fiber and the reserve upstream optical fiber, and n ports, which are connected to the optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs; and
the W-MULDEM unit demultiplexes to the ports of the downstream AWG that correspond to the ONUs the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λd1 to λdn and are received along the current-use downstream optical fiber, or the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ and are received along the reserve downstream optical fiber, or multiplexes, to the port corresponding to the current-use upstream optical fiber or the reserve upstream optical fiber, the upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λu1 to λun or wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ and that are transmitted to the upstream AWG along the optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs.
(Wavelength Allocation)
In
The OSU 10 includes: current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw and reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np, which correspond to the ONUs; a current-use AWG 12w, which multiplexes downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn that which have been received from the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw and transmits the obtained optical signal to the current-use optical fiber 101, or which demultiplexes to the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun that have been received along the current-use optical fiber 101; and a reserve AWG 12p, which multiplexes downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ that have been received from the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np and transmits the obtained optical signal to the redundant optical fiber 102, or which demultiplexes to the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ that have been received over the redundant optical fiber 102.
Optical transmission/reception circuits 31 of the individual ONUs 30-1 to 30-n receive, along the optical fibers 103 extended at the access sections, either downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn, or downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ. Further, for the transmission of an upstream optical signal along the current-use optical fiber 101 at the multiplexing section, the optical transmission/reception circuits 31 select upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun, or for the transmission of an upstream optical signal along the reserve optical fiver 102, select upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ and transmit the selected upstream optical signals to the optical fibers 103 at the access sections.
The W-MULDEM unit 20 is constituted by a single AWG 21. The AWG 21 includes: two ports that are respectively connected to the current-use optical fiber 101 and the redundant optical fiber 103 that extend across the multiplexing section; n ports #1 to #n that are connected to the optical fibers 103-1 to 103-n that extend across the access section and correspond to the ONUs. The downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn that have been received along the current-optical fiber to the port W, or the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ that have been received along the redundant optical fiber to the port P, are routed to the ports #1 to #n that correspond to the ONUs. Furthermore, the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun, are received at the ports #1 to #n along the optical fibers 103 that correspond to the ONUs, and are merged at the port W corresponding to the current-use optical fiber 101. The upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λun+Δλ are merged at the port P corresponding to the redundant optical fiber 102.
In
For this process, the free spectrum range (FSR) of the AWG should be taken into account for the allocation of the wavelengths. The diffraction order is an arbitrary integer, and a plurality of center wavelengths are present for one AWG. A band that can be used by one AWG without being overlapping is called an FSR, and the property that is repeated for each FSR is employed. That is, as is shown in
In this specification, the wavelength λ can be replaced with a frequency f. The wavelength difference Δλ can not exactly be replaced with a frequency difference Δf, because the ratio of the wavelength difference Δλ to the frequency difference 1f is changed when a wavelength differs. However, it will be apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art that the replacement of the wavelength difference Δλ with the frequency difference Δf is also included within the scope of the present invention.
In
According to this embodiment, since the wavelength difference between the downstream optical signal and the upstream optical signal is defined as the aFSR, and since the difference between the wavelengths for current use and reserve use is defined as Δλ (+mFSR), a dual optical fiber structure can be obtained at the multiplexing section, and the current use system and the reserve use system can be alternately selected, passively, by a single AWG. That is, for the transmission of the downstream optical signals to the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n along the current-use optical fiber 101, the OSU 10 multiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn and corresponding to the individual ONUs, and for the transmission along the redundant optical fiber 102, multiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1+Δλ (or λd2) to λdn+Δλ (or λdn+1) and corresponding to the ONUs. On the other hand, for the transmission of upstream optical signals along the current-use optical fiber 101 at the multiplexing section, the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n can transmit upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun, while for the transmission along the redundant optical fiber 102, they can transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ (or λu2) to λun+Δλ (or λun+1). Through this wavelength selection, the W-MULDEM unit 20 can passively select the current use system and the reverse system.
(Current-Use and Reserve-Use Switching Configuration Using Optical Switches)
An explanation will now be given for means for transmitting or receiving signals by selecting either the current-use optical fiber 101 or the redundant optical fiber 102. In
The OSU 10 also includes: an optical switch 16w, which is used to set ON or OFF the input/output between the current-use optical fiber 101 and the current-use AWG 12w; and an optical switch 16p, which is used to set ON or OFF the input/output between the redundant optical fiber 102 and the reserve AWG 12p. In addition, the OSU 10 includes: a supervisory light source 15, for outputting supervisory light having a wavelength of λs0 to supervise the current-use optical fiber 101, and supervisory light having a wavelength of λs1 to supervise the redundant optical fiber 102; and a supervisory control unit 14, for detecting the supervisory lights having wavelengths λs0 and λs1 after the transmission along the current-use optical fiber 101 and the redundant optical fiber 102 has been completed, and for transmitting a selection signal. Multiplexing/demultiplexing units 13w and 23w, for multiplexing or demultiplexing wavelength λs0, are provided for the current-use optical fiber 101, and multiplexing/demultiplexing units 13p and 23p, for multiplexing or demultiplexing wavelength λs1, are provided for the redundant optical fiber 102.
The multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 13w (13p) multiplexes the supervisory light, which has wavelength λs0 (λs1) and is received from the supervisory light source 15, and the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λd1 to λdn (wavelengths λd1+Δλ to λdn+Δλ), which are to be transmitted along the current-use optical fiber 101 or the redundant optical fiber 101. The multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23w (23p) of the W-MULDEM unit 20 reflects the supervisory light by using, for example, a mirror or a filter, and outputs it again to the current-use optical fiber 101. The multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 13w (13p) extracts only the supervisory light, which it transmits to the supervisory control unit 14.
In this embodiment, when the current-use optical fiber 101 is employed, the optical switch 16w is set to the ON state, while the optical switch 16p is set to the OFF state, and communication between the OSU 10 and the ONUs 30 is performed by using the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1+Δλ to λn+Δλ. When a failure occurs in the current-use optical fiber 101 extending across the multiplexing section, the supervisory control unit 14 transmits a select signal to the optical switches 16w and 16p to set the optical switch 16w to the OFF state and the optical switch 16p to the ON state. As a result, the redundant optical fiber 102 is selected.
Further, when a failure occurs in the current-use transmission/reception units 11-1w to 11-nw of the OSU 10, the states of the optical switches 16w and 16p are changed in accordance with a selection signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, and the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np are selected.
It should be noted that either a configuration wherein either the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np are set to the ON state and the others are set to the OFF state, or a configuration wherein an electric signal is changed so it is input/output at the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or at the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np can also be employed.
(Wavelength Allocation)
In
According to this embodiment, the optical wavelength division multiplexing access system comprises: a center node (OSU) 10, a W-MULDEM unit 20 and a plurality of optical network units (ONU) 30-1 to 30-n. The multiplexing section between the OSU 10 and the W-MULDEM unit 20 is established by extending a downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and a downstream redundant optical fiber 121, for transmitting downstream optical signals from the OSU to the individual ONUs, and an upstream current-use optical fiber 112 and an upstream redundant optical fiber 122, for transmitting upstream optical signals from the ONUs to the OSU. The access sections between the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n and the W-MULDEM unit 20 are established by extending downstream optical fibers 131-1 to 131-n, for transmitting downstream optical fibers to the ONUS, and upstream optical fibers 132-1 to 132-n, for transmitting upstream optical signals from the ONUs.
The OSU 10 includes: current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw and reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np, which correspond to the individual ONUs 30; a downstream current-use AWG 12dw, which multiplexes the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and have been received from the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw, and transmits the resultant optical signal to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; and an upstream current-use AWG 12uw, which demultiplexes to the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw the upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn and are received along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112. The OSU 10 further includes: a downstream reserve AWG 12dp, which multiplexes the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn and are received from the reserve transmission/reception units 11-1p to 11-np, and transmits the resultant signal to the downstream redundant optical fiber 121; and an upstream reserve AWG 12up, which demultiplexes to the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np the upstream optical signals that have wavelengths λup1 to λupn and are received along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
The OSU 10 also includes: a light source 15, which outputs a current-use supervisory light having wavelength λs0 that differs from the wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and λuw1 to λuwn, and a reserve supervisory light, which has a wavelength λs1 that differs from the wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn and λup1 to λupn; and a supervisory control unit 14, which detects the supervisory light having wavelengths Δs0 and λs1, after their transmission along the current-use optical fiber and the redundant optical fiber has been completed, and which transmits a select signal.
Means for selecting the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 or the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 for use in transmission can be a configuration wherein, in accordance with a select signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, either the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np are set to the ON state and the others are set to the OFF state, or a configuration wherein an electric signal is changed that is to be transmitted to the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or to the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np. Further, means for selecting the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 or the upstream redundant optical fiber 122 can be a configuration wherein, in accordance with a select signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, either the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np are set to the ON state and the others are set to the OFF state, or a configuration wherein an electric signal is changed that is to be output by the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw or to the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np.
Optical transmission/reception circuits 31 of the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n receive, through the downstream optical fibers 131 at the access sections, the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn or λdp1 to λdpn. Further, for the transmission of upstream optical signals along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 at the multiplexing section, the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn are selected and transmitted to the upstream optical fibers at the access sections, and for the transmission of upstream optical signals along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122, upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn are selected.
The W-MULDEM unit 20 is constituted by a downstream AWG 22d and an upstream AWG 22u. The downstream AWG 22d includes: two ports, W and P, that are connected to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 at the multiplexing section; and n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to the downstream optical fibers 131 at the access sections that correspond to the ONUs. The upstream AWG 22u includes: n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to the upstream optical fibers 132 at the access sections that correspond to the ONUs; and two ports W and P, which are connected to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 and the upstream redundant optical fiber 122 at the multiplexing section.
The downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, which are received at the port W of the downstream AWG 22d along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, or the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, which are received at the port P along the downstream redundant optical fiber 112, are branched to the ports #1 to #n that correspond to the ONUs. On the other hand, the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are received at the ports #1 to #n of the upstream AWG 22u along the optical fibers that correspond to the ONUs, are merged at the port W that corresponds to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, are merged at the port P that corresponds to the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
When an optical amplifier is required because the loss, for example, of an optical fiber is increased, an optical fiber may be connected to the downstream current-use (or reserve) optical fiber in order to collectively amplify the downstream optical signals that were multiplexed immediately before they reached the port W (or P) of the AWG 22d. Similarly, for the upstream current-use (or reserve) optical fiber, an optical amplifier may be connected in order to collectively amplify the upstream optical signals that were multiplexed immediately after they reached the port W (or P) of the AWG 22u.
A multiplexing unit 13dw, for multiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 and the downstream signal light having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, and a demultiplexing unit 23dw, for demultiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 from the downstream signal light having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, are provided for the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. A multiplexing unit 23uw, for multiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 and the upstream signal light having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and a demultiplexing unit 13uw, for demultiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 from the upstream signal light having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, are provided for the upstream current-use optical fiber 112. A multiplexing unit 13dp, for multiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs1 and the downstream signal light having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, and a demultiplexing unit 23dp, for demultiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs1 from the downstream signal light having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, are provided for the downstream redundant optical fiber 121. A multiplexing unit 23up, for multiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs1 and the upstream signal light having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, and a demultiplexing unit 13up, for demultiplexing the supervisory light having wavelength λs1 from the upstream signal light having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, are provided for the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
When a failure occurs in the current-use optical fiber, the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn need only be multiplexed in accordance with the select signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, so that these signals can be transmitted along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 to the individual ONUs 30-1 to 30-n. The optical transmitters 31 of the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are to be transferred along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 at the multiplexing section, and transmits the upstream optical signals having λup1 to λupn, which are to be transferred along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122. Further, in accordance with a selection signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, the optical receivers 11-1w to 11-nw or 11-1p to 11-np are selected in order to receive the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn or λup1 to λupn.
In
Another example for the wavelength allocation is shown in
In the examples in both
According to this embodiment, since the downstream AWG 22d and the upstream AWG 22u are provided independently, unlike in the first embodiment, the difference between the wavelengths of the downstream optical signal and the upstream optical signal need not be set as an aFSR, and an arbitrary difference can be designated. Thus, switching between the current-use system and the reserve system can be passively performed by using two AWGs, with the dual optical fiber strands being provided for the multiplexing section.
(Current-Use and Reserve-Use Switching Configuration Employing Optical Switches)
In
In this embodiment, for a transmission along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the optical switch 16dw is set to the ON state while the optical switch 16dp is set to the OFF state, and for a transmission along the downstream redundant optical fiber 112, the optical switch 16dw is set to the OFF state while the optical switch 16dp is set to the ON state. Further, when the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 is to be selected to receive the upstream optical signals transmitted by the ONUs 30, the optical switch 16uw is set to the ON state and the optical switch 16up is set to the OFF state. When the upstream redundant optical fiber 122 is to be selected to receive the upstream optical signals transmitted by the ONUs 30, the optical switch 16uw is set to the OFF state and the optical switch 16up is set to the ON state.
When a failure occurs in the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the states of the optical switches 16dw and 16dp are changed in accordance with a selection signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, so that the downstream optical signals addressed to the ONUs 30 are transmitted along the downstream redundant optical fiber 112. The optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30 transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are to be transferred along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 at the multiplexing section, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, which are to be transferred along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122. Further, the states of the optical switches 16uw and 16up are changed in accordance with a selection signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun, or λup1 to λupn, are received.
Further, when a failure occurs in one of the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw of the OSU 10, the state of the optical switch 16 is changed in accordance with a selection signal from the supervisory control unit 14, and the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np can be selected. The configuration wherein the W-MULDEM unit 20 is constituted only by passive parts need only be provided to switch between the current-use system and the reserve system for the optical fibers at the multiplexing section and for the optical transmitter/receiver of the OSU 10.
(Configuration for Current-Use and Reserve-Use Switching by Employing Optical Switches and by Performing a Loopback Process)
In
The OSU 10 additionally includes: an optical carrier supply module (OCSM) 19w, which collectively generates optical carriers, used for upstream optical signals, that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn and are to be transferred to the ONUs 30 along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; aWDM coupler 13cw, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; an optical carrier supply module (OCSM) 19p, which collectively generates optical carriers, used for upstream signals, that have wavelengths λup1 to λupn and are to be supplied to the ONUs 30 along the redundant optical fiber 121; and a WDM coupler 13cp, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream redundant optical fiber 121.
The optical carrier supply modules (OCSMs) can be a plurality of single-wavelength laser beam sources, the wavelengths of which differ, and a multi-wavelength light source that is constituted by a light multiplexing unit that multiplexes the output beams or a multi-wavelength collective oscillation light source described in document 1.
The OSU 10 also includes: a WDM coupler 13cw, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals, and have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; and a WDM coupler 13cp, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals, and have wavelengths λup1 to λupn, and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream redundant optical fiber 121. An AWG 17c includes: two ports W and P, which are connected to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 extended at the multiplexing section; and n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n and which output optical carriers for upstream signals.
The optical transmission/reception circuits 31 of the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n include optical modulators, which modulate the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn and are supplied by the OSU 10, and which obtain upstream signals.
The AWG 22d of the W-MULDEM unit 20 receives, at port W along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and demultiplexes these signals to the ports #1 to #n corresponding to the ONUs 30. Also, the AWG 22d receives, at port P along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121, the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λup1 to λupn, and demultiplexes these signals to the ports #1 to #n corresponding to the ONUs 30.
In this embodiment, when the current-use optical fiber 101 is to be employed, the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n and the tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n transmit the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn. The downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn are multiplexed by the downstream AWG 17d, and the resultant signal is output to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. The optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn are multiplexed by the AWG 17c, and the resultant carrier is output by the WDM coupler 13cw to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. The optical carriers for upstream signals are modulated by the optical modulators of the ONUs 30, and upstream signals that are obtained are transmitted to the W-MULDEM unit 20.
When a failure occurs in the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the states of the optical switches 16dw and 16dp are changed in accordance with a selection signal received from the supervisory control unit 14, and the downstream optical signals to be transferred to the ONUs 30 are transmitted along the downstream redundant optical fiber 112. Further, the optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30 transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are to be transferred along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 at the multiplexing section, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, which are to be transferred along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122. Then, the states of the optical switches 16uw and 16up are changed in accordance with a selection signal transmitted by the supervisory control unit 14, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λun, or λup1 to λupn, are received.
In addition, when a failure has occurred in one of the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw of the OSU 10, the state of the optical switch 16 is changed in accordance with the select signal from the supervisory control unit 14, and the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np can be selected. The configuration wherein the W-MULDEM unit 20 is constituted only by passive parts need only be provided to switch between the current-use system and the reserve system for the optical fibers at the multiplexing section, and for the optical transmitter/receiver of the OSU 10.
(Configuration for Current-Use and Reserve-Use Switching by Varying a Wavelength)
In
The downstream AWG 17d includes: two ports W and P, which are connected to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 at the multiplexing section; and n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to the output ports of the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n. The upstream AWG 17u includes: n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to the output ports of the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n; and two ports W and P, which are connected to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 and the upstream redundant optical fiber 122 at the multiplexing section.
The ONUs 30-1 to 30-n includes: optical transmitter/receiver 31, which transmit the upstream optical signals by selecting either wavelength λupk or λupk (1≦k≦n; λupk=λuwk+Δλu (Δλu is a constant value)) from among wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn and wavelengths λup1 to λupn.
For transmission along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n of the OSU 10 select and transmit the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, and the downstream AWG 17d multiplexes these signals and transmits the resultant signal along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. In the W-MULDEM unit 20, the downstream AWG 22d demultiplexes the downstream optical signal, and the optical transmitter/receiver of the individual ONUs 30 receive the demultiplexed signals. For transmission along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112, the optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30 select and transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and in the W-MULDEM unit 20, the AWG 22u multiplexes these signals and transmits the resultant signal to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112. The AWG 17u of the OSU 10 demultiplexes the upstream optical signal, and the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n of the OSU 10 receive the demultiplexed signals.
When a failure occurs in the current-use optical fiber, the wavelengths selected by the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n of the OSU 10 are changed to λdp1 to λdpn, in accordance with a selection signal obtained from the supervisory control unit 14. Then, the downstream optical signals are output to port P of the downstream AWG 17d for transfer along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121. In the same manner, the wavelengths of the upstream optical signals, which are to be transmitted by the optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30, are also changed to λup1 to λupn for transfer along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
As means for transmitting a select signal from the supervisory control unit 14 to the optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30, first, the select signal is transmitted by the supervisory control unit 14 to the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n of the OSU 10. The optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n insert the select signal into the unused frames of the downstream signals, and transmit the obtained signals to the optical transmitter/receiver 31 of the ONUs 30. It should be noted that a failure occurring in the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n can be coped with by providing the dual structure for the optical transmitter/receiver, and by employing the optical switches that select the current-use system or the reserve system.
(Configuration for Current-Use and Reserve-Use Switching by Varying Wavelengths and by Performing a Loopback Process)
In
The OSU 10 includes: tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n, which select and output an optical carrier, used for an upstream signal, that has wavelength λuwk (1≦k≦n) or wavelength λupk (=λuwk+Δλu; 1≦k≦n), so as to supply the optical carrier to the ONUs 30 along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; and the AWG 17c, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn or λup1 to λupn and have been received from the tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n, and outputs the resultant signal to both the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and the downstream redundant optical fiber 121.
The OSU 10 also includes: the WDM coupler 13cw, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; and a WDM coupler 13cp, which multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λup1 to λupn and transmits the resultant carrier to the downstream redundant optical fiber 121. The AWG 17c includes: two ports W and P, which are connected to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 and the downstream redundant optical fiber 121 at the multiplexing section; and n ports #1 to #n, which are connected to the tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n that output the optical carriers for upstream signals.
The optical transmission/reception circuits 31 of the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n include optical modulators, which modulate the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn or λup1 to λupn and are supplied by the OSU 10 and obtain upstream signals.
The AWG 22d of the W-MULDEM unit 20 receives, at the port W along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111, the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and demultiplexes these signals to the ports #1 to #n that correspond to the ONUs 30. Furthermore, the AWG. 22d receives, at the port P along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121, the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λup1 to λupn, and sorts these signals to the ports #1 to #n that correspond to the ONUs 30.
In this embodiment, when the current-use optical fiber 101 is employed, the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n and the tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n transmit the downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn and the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn. The downstream AWG 17d multiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, and outputs the resultant signal to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. The AWG 17c multiplexes the optical carriers for upstream signals that have wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and the WDM coupler 13cw outputs the resultant signal to the downstream current-use optical fiber 111. The light modulators of the ONUs 30 modulate the optical carriers for upstream signals and output the obtained upstream signals to the W-MULDEM unit 20.
When a failure occurs in the current-use optical fiber, a select signal is transmitted from the supervisory control unit 14 to the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n and the tunable light sources 19-1 to 19-n. The downstream optical signals that have wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn and the optical carriers for upstream signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn are changed, so that the optical fiber to be used is changed to the redundant optical fiber. Furthermore, a failure that occurs in the optical transmitter/receiver 18-1 to 18-n can be coped with by providing a dual structure for the optical transmitter/receiver, and by employing the optical switches that select either the current-use system or the reserve system.
In
The downstream AWG 22d of the second embodiment has a configuration wherein the current-use downstream optical signal received at the port W and the reserve downstream optical signal received at the port P are distributed to the ports #1 to #n. In this embodiment, a special downstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw and a special reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp are employed. Further, in the second embodiment, the upstream AWG 22u has a configuration wherein the current-use downstream optical signals received at the ports #1 to #n are merged at the port W, and the reserve downstream optical signals are merged at the port P. In this embodiment, a special upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw and a special upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up are employed.
So long as multiplexing or demultiplexing for the one-to-n correspondence can be performed, the downstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw, the downstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp, the upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw and the upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up need not always be AWGs.
Downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, received along a downstream current-use optical fiber 111, are sorted by the downstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw. Downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, received along a downstream redundant optical fiber 121, are sorted by the downstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp. Wavelength group filters 24-1d to 24-nd transmit, to downstream optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs 30, the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, or λdp1 to λdpn.
Upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, or λup1 to λupn, received from the optical fibers corresponding to the ONUs 30, are transmitted through wavelength group filters 24-1u to 23-nu to corresponding ports #1 to #n of the upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw or the upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up. The upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are received by the upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw, are multiplexed, and the resultant signal is transmitted to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112. The upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, which are received by the upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up, are multiplexed, and the resultant signal is transmitted to the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
In
However, since the downstream optical signals and the upstream optical signals are independent of each other, the wavelengths can be equalized for the upstream current-use optical signals, for example, and the downstream reserve optical signals, as is shown in
Specifically, for the transmission of downstream optical signals along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111 to the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n, the OSU 10 need only multiplex the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn that correspond to the individual ONUs 30, and for the transmission along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121, need only multiplex the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn that correspond to the ONUs 30. On the other hand, for the transmission of upstream optical signals along the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 at the multiplexing section, the ONUs 30-1 to 30-n need only transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and for the transmission along the upstream redundant optical fiber 122, need only transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn. Using this wavelength selection, the W-MULDEM unit 20 can passively switch between the current-use system and the reserve system.
According to this embodiment, the ONUs provided for the configuration in the third embodiment, shown in
In
The upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw multiplexes the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu1 to λu32 and wavelengths λu33 to λu64, which are received at the ports #1 to #64, and the upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up multiplexes the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λu33 to λu64 and wavelengths λu1 to λu32, which are received at the ports #1 to #64. Then, the wavelength group filters 24-1n to 24-nu couple the wavelength group λu1 to λu32 with the wavelength group λu33 to λu64.
Since the downstream optical signals (wavelengths λd1 to λdn) and the upstream optical signals (wavelengths λu1 to λun) are independent of each other, these signals may be set in different bands, as shown in
In
The W-MULDEM unit 20 includes: an optical carrier AWG 22c and wavelength group filters 25w, 25p and 25-1d to 25-nd, in addition to the downstream AWG 22d and the upstream AWG 22u for the second embodiment in
The optical carrier AWG 22c demultiplexes the optical carriers having wavelengths λu1 to λun, which are used for upstream signals, to the ports #1 to #n that correspond to the individual ONUs. The wavelength group filters 25-1d to 25-nd multiplex the downstream optical signals, demultiplexed by the downstream AWG 22d, with the optical carriers for upstream signals that are demultiplexed by the upstream signal optical carrier AWG 22c, and transmits the obtained signals to the downstream optical fibers that correspond to the individual ONUs.
The wavelengths are allocated, as shown in
In
According to the configuration for the fifth embodiment, the optical carrier AWG 22c demultiplexes both the optical carrier, which is received at the port W for the upstream current-use signal, and the optical carrier, which is received at the port P for the upstream reserve signal, to the ports #1 to #n. In this embodiment, a special current-use optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cw and a special reserve optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cp are employed. In addition, according to the configuration for the fifth embodiment, the downstream AWG 22d demultiplexes both the downstream current-use optical signal received at the port W and the downstream reserve optical signal received at the port P to the ports #1 to #n. In this embodiment, a special downstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw and a special downstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp are employed. Moreover, according to the configuration for the fifth embodiment, the upstream AWG 22u multiplexes at the port W the downstream current-use optical signals received at the ports #1 to #n, and multiplexes the downstream reserve optical signals at the port P. In this embodiment, a special upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw and a special upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up are employed.
A wavelength group filter 25w demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, which are received along a downstream current-use optical fiber 111, from the optical carriers having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are used for upstream signals, and transmits these signals and carriers to the current-use optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cw and the downstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw. A wavelength group filter 25p demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λd1 to λdn, which are received along a downstream redundant optical fiber 121, from optical carriers having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, which are used for upstream signals, and transmits the signals and carriers to the reserve optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cp and the downstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp.
The current-use optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cw demultiplexes the optical carriers having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are used for upstream signals, and the reserve optical carrier multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23cp demultiplexes the optical carriers having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, which are used for upstream signals, and transmits the demultiplexed carriers to the wavelength group filter 25-1d through the wavelength group filters 24-1c (to 24-nc). The downstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dw demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdw1 to λdwn, and the downstream current multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23dp demultiplexes the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λdpn, and transmits the demultiplexed signals to the wavelength group filter 25-1d through the wavelength group filters 24-1d (to 24-nd). The wavelength group filters 25-1d (to 25-nd) transmit, to downstream optical fibers 131 that correspond to the individual ONUs 30, the optical carriers for upstream signals and the downstream signals for current use, or the optical carriers for upstream signals and the downstream optical signals for reserves.
The wavelength group filters 25-1u (to 25-nu) transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, which are received along upstream optical fibers 132 corresponding to the ONUs 30, to the upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw, and transmit the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn to the upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up. The upstream current-use multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23uw multiplexes the received upstream optical signals having wavelengths λuw1 to λuwn, and transmits the resultant signal to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112. The upstream reserve multiplexing/demultiplexing unit 23up multiplexes the received upstream optical signals having wavelengths λup1 to λupn, and transmits the resultant signal to the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
The wavelengths are allocated, as shown in
An optical wavelength division multiplexing access system according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention is shown in
In this embodiment, a dual structure is provided for current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw and reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np in an OSU 10. When a failure occurs in the current-use optical fiber and the reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1p to 11-np, the redundant optical fiber and the reserve optical transmitter/receiver in a reserve system are employed to continue the operation. When a failure occurs in the redundant optical fiber and the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw, the current-use optical fiber and reserve optical transmitter/receiver in the current-use system are employed to continue the operation. In this manner, a redundant structure can be obtained that can cope with a double failure in the optical fiber and the optical transmitter/receiver.
According to the configuration for the above embodiments, the supervisory light has been employed to supervise the current-use optical fiber and the redundant optical fiber. In this embodiment, instead of using supervis ory light, a cutoff of the transmission of upstream optical signals by optical transmitter/receiver of an OSU 10 is detected, so that shearing of an optical fiber is determined. An optical wavelength division multiplexing access system according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The OSU 10 further includes: current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw; optical switches 16-1dw to 16-ndw and 16-1uw to 16 nuw, used to set ON or OFF for input/output of light; reserve optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 1-nw; and optical switches 16-1dp to 16-ndp and 16-1up to 16 nup, used to set ON or OFF for input/output of light.
In this embodiment, when a current-use optical fiber is employed, the optical switches 16-1dw to 16-ndw and 16-1uw to 16-nuw are in the ON state, and the optical switches to 16-ndp and 16-1up to 16-nup are in the OFF state. When a failure has occurred in the current-use optical fiber, transmission of the upstream optical signals by the optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw is cut off, and a supervisory control unit 14 transmits a select switch to the individual optical switches. When the optical switches 16-1dw to 16-ndw and 16-uw to 16-nuw are set to the OFF state, and the optical switches 16-1dp to 16-ndp and 16-1up to 16-nup are set to the ON state, the current-use optical fiber can be changed to the redundant optical fiber.
When failures occur in some of the current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw, a selection switch need only be transmitted to the optical switches that correspond to those current-use optical transmitter/receiver 11-1w to 11-nw that have malfunctioned, so that the optical transmitter/receiver can be changed.
As means for collectively detecting a cutoff of the transmission of upstream signals from the ONUs 30, a small number of upstream optical signals obtained by multiplexing are branched at the upstream current-use optical fiber 112 and the redundant optical fiber 122, and are monitored. The states of the current-use and redundant optical fibers can also be monitored by detecting the presence/absence of optical signals.
With the above described arrangement, the optical fibers to be employed and the current-use system and the reserve system for the optical transmitter/receiver of the OSU 10 can be selected by the W-MULDEM unit 20 that is constituted only by passive parts.
The processing for performing current-use and reserve-use switching is shown in
(1) A selection signal is to be transmitted when the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 can not be detected, and the supervisory light having wavelength λs1 can be detected.
(2) A selection signal is to be transmitted when supervisory lights having wavelengths λs0 and λs1 can not be detected, and upstream optical signals cannot be received from the optical receivers of the OSU and can also not be detected.
(3) A selection signal is not to be transmitted when the supervisory light having wavelength λs0 can be detected.
(4) A selection signal is not to be transmitted when supervisory lights having wavelengths λs0 and λs1 can not be detected, and upstream optical signals can not be received by the optical receivers of the OSU.
In this manner, when one of the above described failures has occurred, the current-use optical fiber and the redundant optical fiber that is to be used can be switched without halting the communication between the ONUs and the OSU.
In the above described embodiments, a star network configuration has been employed wherein one W-MULDEM unit is connected to one OSU. In this embodiment, a bus network configuration is employed wherein a plurality of W-MULDEM units are connected to one OSU. An optical wavelength division multiplexing access system according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention is shown in
Each one of W-MULDEM units 20-k (1≦k≦n) includes: a demultiplexing unit 26dw, for demultiplexing downstream optical signals, having wavelengths λλdw1 to λλdwn, which are received along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; a multiplexing unit 26uw, for multiplexing upstream optical signals, having wavelengths λkuw1 to λkuwn, to be transferred to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112; a demultiplexing unit 26dp, for demultiplexing downstream optical signals having wavelengths λdp1 to λλdpn, which are received along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121; and a multiplexing unit 326up, for multiplexing upstream optical signals having wavelengths λkup1 to λkupn, which are to be transferred to the upstream redundant optical fiber 122.
The W-MULDEM unit 20-k also includes: a demultiplexing unit 23dw, for demultiplexing a current-use supervisory light having wavelength λsk0 that is received along the downstream current-use optical fiber 111; a multiplexing unit 23uw, for multiplexing the current-use supervisory light having wavelength λsk0 that is to be transferred to the upstream current-use optical fiber 112; a demultiplexing unit 23dp, for demultiplexing the reserve supervisory light having wavelength λsk1 that is received along the downstream redundant optical fiber 121; a multiplexing unit 23up, for multiplexing the reserve supervisory light having wavelength λsk1 that is to be transferred to the upstream redundant optical fiber 122; and a downstream AWG 27d and an upstream AWG 27u.
The downstream optical signals having wavelengths λ1dw1 to λ1dwn, λ2dw1 to λ2dwn and λndw1 to λndwn, or wavelengths λ1dp1 to λ1dpn, λ2dp1 to λ2dpn and λndp1 to λndpn, and the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λ1uw1 to λ1uwn, λ2uw1 to λ2uwn and λnuw1 to λudwn, or wavelengths λ1up1 to λ1upn, λ2up1 to λudpn and λnup1 to λnupn, are employed to perform communication between ONUs, which are connected to the corresponding W-MULDEM units 20-1 to 20-n, and the OSU 10.
In this embodiment, the downstream optical signals having wavelengths λλdw1 to λλdwn, which are transmitted by the OSU 10, or the upstream optical signals having wavelengths λkuw1 to λkuwn, which are transmitted by the ONUs, are multiplexed or demultiplexed by the corresponding W-MULDEM units 20-k. When a failure occurs in an optical fiber extended at each interval, a fiber malfunction interval is detected by using the supervisory lights for λs10 to λsn0 and λs11 to λsn1, which are output by the OSU 10, and switching can be performed by employing the same switching means as used for the above embodiments.
With this arrangement wherein n W-MULDEM units 20-1 to 20-n are connected by bus wiring to one OSU 10, the current-use system and the reserve system to be used can be switched for the optical fiber and the optical transmitter/receiver of the OSU 10.
An optical wavelength division multiplexing access system according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention is shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2003-151539 | May 2003 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2004/007773 | 5/28/2004 | WO | 00 | 5/18/2005 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2004/107626 | 12/9/2004 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5539564 | Kumozaki et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
5907417 | Darcie et al. | May 1999 | A |
H2075 | Gnauck et al. | Aug 2003 | H |
6868232 | Eijk et al. | Mar 2005 | B2 |
20030039010 | Akimoto et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20030142978 | Lee et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20040213574 | Han et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20050036785 | Tervonen et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
11-122172 | Apr 1999 | JP |
2000-329963 | Nov 2000 | JP |
2001-358697 | Dec 2001 | JP |
2002-368656 | Dec 2002 | JP |
2003-051765 | Feb 2003 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20060062576 A1 | Mar 2006 | US |