Passive Optical Network System and Method for Protecting the Services of the Same

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a passive optical network (PON) system and a method for protecting the service of the system for service recovery and fault locating in case of a failure of the network, wherein the PON system comprises an optical line terminal (OLT), an optical distribution network (ODN) and an optical network terminal (ONT) equipment protection group comprising a plurality of ONT equipment groups, each of which is connected to at least one of other ONT equipment groups within the ONT equipment protection group for the mutual protection relationship. The PON system of the present disclosure does not require equipment and link redundancy for backup, contributes to reduced cost and improved utilization of resources, and provides a means for diagnosing any faults of the links and equipment in the network.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating one embodiment of the tree topology architecture of the PON.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating one embodiment of how the fully-protected optical fiber switchover is performed in the PON.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating the networking of the PON system of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing illustrating the PON system service protection strategy of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the service port switching module of an embodiment of the present disclosure in which the backup link between ONUs is an optical fiber link.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the service port switching module of an embodiment of the present disclosure in which the backup link between the ONUs is an Ethernet link.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A passive optical network (PON) component comprising: a service port configured to communicate with a PON system;a backup port configured to communicate with an optical network terminal (ONT); anda switching module in communication with the service port and the backup port, wherein the switching module is configured to transfer services between the service port and the backup port.

11. The component of claim 10 further comprising a service processing module in communication with the switching module, wherein the switching module is configured to transfer services between the service port and the service processing module, the backup port, or both.

12. The component of claim 11 wherein the switching module allows the backup port to communicate with the service processing module when communication is lost with the PON system.

13. The component of claim 12 wherein a fault message is sent to the ONT when communication is lost with the PON system.

14. The component of claim 11 wherein the switching module allows the service port to communicate with the backup port when communication is lost between the PON system and the ONT.

15. The component of claim 14 wherein a fault message received from the ONT, the PON system, or both indicates when communication is lost between the PON system and the ONT.

16. The component of claim 11 wherein the switching module allows the service port, the backup port, and the service processing module to communicate with each other when communication is lost between the PON system and the ONT.

17. The component of claim 10 wherein the switching module is an optical divider.

18. The component of claim 10 wherein the switching module does not allow the service port to communicate with the backup port when the ONT and the service port are in communication with the PON system.

19. The component of claim 10 further comprising: a conversion module in communication with the switching module, wherein the conversion module converts between optical services and electrical services.

20. The component of claim 19 wherein the conversion module is in communication with the service port, and wherein the switching module is an Ethernet switch.

21. A passive optical network (PON) component comprising a processor configured to implement a method comprising: associating with an optical network terminal (ONT), Thereby creating an ONT protection group;receiving services intended for the ONT; andsending the services to The ONT.

22. The component of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises diagnosing a fault that caused the lost communications.

23. The component of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises creating a logical path between the PON system and the ONT, thereby separating the services intended for the ONT from any other services.

24. The component of claim 21 wherein the method further comprises receiving a message that indicates the ONT has lost communications with a PON system.

25. The component of claim 24 wherein the message is received from the ONT.

26. The component of claim 24 wherein the message is received from the PON system.

27. A passive optical network (PON) component comprising a processor configured to implement a method comprising: associating a first optical network terminal (ONT) and a second ONT, thereby creating an ONT protection group;losing communication with the first ONT; andsending data intended for the first ONT to the second ONT.

28. The component of claim 27 wherein the method further comprises sending a fault message to the second ONT.

29. The component of claim 27 wherein the first ONT has a first bandwidth parameter and the second ONT has a second bandwidth parameter, and wherein the method further comprises adding the first bandwidth parameter to the second bandwidth parameter.