System and Method for Managing Network Components in a Hybrid Passive Optical Network

Abstract

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a system and method for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON) is provided. In a particular embodiment, the method includes transmitting, at a first wavelength, a first configuration message on the PON, wherein the first configuration message comprises a first transmitter interface number. The method also includes transmitting, at a second wavelength and at approximately the same time as the first message, a second configuration message on the PON, wherein the second configuration message comprises a second transmitter interface number. The method further includes receiving a configuration response message from each of one or more optical network units (ONUs) in a first set of ONUs that comprises the first transmitter interface number and receiving a configuration response message from each of one or more ONUs in a second set of ONUs that comprises the second transmitter interface number. The method also includes, based on the configuration response messages from the first set and second set of ONUs, associating, in a database, each ONU in the first set of ONUs with the first wavelength and each ONU in the second set of ONUs with the second wavelength. The method further includes, using the database, transmitting downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the first set of ONUs at the first wavelength and transmitting downstream traffic for any ONU in the second set of ONUs at the second wavelength.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and its features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example PSPON;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example Hybrid PON (HPON);

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating in more detail the example HPON of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an auto-discovery of reachability scheme in an example HPON logical topology according to a particular embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example reachability table associated with the auto-discovery of reachability scheme of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another auto-discovery of reachability scheme in an example HPON logical topology according to a particular embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example OLT in an example HPON logical topology according to a particular embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A method for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: transmitting, at a first wavelength, a first configuration message on the PON;receiving at a receiver a configuration response message from each of one or more optical network units (ONUs) in a first set of ONUs;based on the configuration response messages from the first set of ONUs, associating, in a database, each ONU in the first set of ONUs with the first wavelength;after transmitting the first configuration message, transmitting, at a second wavelength, a second configuration message on the PON;receiving at the receiver a configuration response message from each of one or more ONUs in a second set of ONUs, wherein the ONUs in the second set of ONUs do not belong to the first set of ONUs;based on the configuration response messages from the second set of ONUs, associating, in the database, each ONU in the second set of ONUs with the second wavelength; andusing the database: transmitting downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the first set of ONUs at the first wavelength; andtransmitting downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the second set of ONUs at the second wavelength.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message comprise ONU serial number requests, and the configuration response messages received from the ONUs comprise ONU serial numbers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message comprise the same information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, during transmission of the first configuration message, a configuration message comprising no bandwidth allocation for upstream transmission is transmitted at the second wavelength.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, during transmission of the second configuration message, a configuration message comprising no bandwidth allocation for upstream transmission is transmitted at the first wavelength.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein: each ONU in the first set of ONUs is associated in the database with the first wavelength by associating each ONU in the first set of ONUs with a first transmitter interface transmitting at the first wavelength; andeach ONU in the second set of ONUs is associated in the database with the second wavelength by associating each ONU in the second set of ONUs with a second transmitter interface transmitting at the second wavelength.

7. An optical line terminal (OLT) for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: a first transmitter interface configured to transmit a first configuration message on the PON;a receiver configured to: receive a configuration response message from each of one or more optical network units (ONUs) in a first set of ONUs; andbased on the configuration response messages from the first set of ONUs, associate, in a database, each ONU in the first set of ONUs with the first transmitter interface; anda second transmitter interface configured to transmit a second configuration message on the PON after the first transmitter interface transmits the first configuration message;wherein the receiver is further configured to: receive a configuration response message from each of one or more ONUs in a second set of ONUs, wherein the ONUs in the second set of ONUs do not belong to the first set of ONUs; andbased on the configuration response messages from the second set of ONUs, associate, in the database, each ONU in the second set of ONUs with the second transmitter interface;wherein the first transmitter interface is further configured to, using the database, transmit downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the first set of ONUs; andwherein the second transmitter interface is further configured to, using the database, transmit downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the second set of ONUs.

8. The OLT of claim 7, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message comprise ONU serial number requests, and the configuration response messages received from the ONUs comprise ONU serial numbers.

9. The OLT of claim 7, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message comprise the same information.

10. The OLT of claim 7, wherein, during transmission of the first configuration message, a configuration message comprising no bandwidth allocation for upstream transmission is transmitted at the second wavelength.

11. The OLT of claim 10, wherein, during transmission of the second configuration message, a configuration message comprising no bandwidth allocation for upstream transmission is transmitted at the first wavelength.

12. A method for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: transmitting, at a first wavelength, a first configuration message on the PON, wherein the first configuration message comprises a first transmitter interface number;transmitting, at a second wavelength and at approximately the same time as the first configuration message, a second configuration message on the PON, wherein the second configuration message comprises a second transmitter interface number;receiving at a receiver a configuration response message from each of one or more optical network units (ONUs) in a first set of ONUs that comprises the first transmitter interface number;receiving at the receiver a configuration response message from each of one or more ONUs in a second set of ONUs that comprises the second transmitter interface number;based on the configuration response messages from the first set and second set of ONUs, associating, in a database, each ONU in the first set of ONUs with the first wavelength and each ONU in the second set of ONUs with the second wavelength; andusing the database: transmitting downstream traffic destined for any ONU in the first set of ONUs at the first wavelength; andtransmitting downstream traffic for any ONU in the second set of ONUs at the second wavelength.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first and second configuration messages are transmitted during discovery of the ONUs.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message further comprise ONU serial number requests, and the configuration response messages received from the ONUs further comprise ONU serial numbers.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein: the first and second configuration messages comprise “IDENT” attributes as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol;each configuration response message comprises an “IND” attribute as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol;the “IDENT” attributes in the first and second configuration messages comprise the transmitter interface numbers; andthe “IND” attribute in each configuration response message comprises the transmitter interface number.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the first and second configuration messages are transmitted after discovery of the ONUs.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein: the first and second configuration messages comprise “Configure Port-ID” messages as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol; andeach configuration response message comprises an acknowledge message as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol, each acknowledge message comprising a copy of a plurality of bytes included in the associated “Configure Port-ID” message.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein: each ONU in the first set of ONUs is associated in the database with the first wavelength by associating each ONU in the first set of ONUs with a first transmitter interface transmitting at the first wavelength; andeach ONU in the second set of ONUs is associated in the database with the second wavelength by associating each ONU in the second set of ONUs with a second transmitter interface transmitting at the second wavelength.

19. An optical line terminal (OLT) for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: a first transmitter interface configured to transmit a first configuration message on the PON, wherein the first configuration message comprises a first transmitter interface number;a second transmitter interface configured to transmit a second configuration message on the PON at approximately the same time as the first message, wherein the second configuration message comprises a second transmitter interface number, anda receiver configured to:

20. The OLT of claim 19, wherein the first and second configuration messages are transmitted during discovery of the ONUs.

21. The OLT of claim 19, wherein the first configuration message and the second configuration message further comprise ONU serial number requests, and the configuration response messages received from the ONUs further comprise ONU serial numbers.

22. The OLT of claim 19, wherein: the first and second configuration messages comprise “IDENT” attributes as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol;each configuration response message comprises an “IND” attribute as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol;the “IDENT” attributes in the first and second configuration messages comprise the transmitter interface numbers; andthe “IND” attribute in each configuration response message comprises the transmitter interface number.

23. The OLT of claim 19, wherein the first and second configuration messages are transmitted after discovery of the ONUs.

24. The OLT of claim 19, wherein: the first and second configuration messages comprise “Configure Port-ID” messages as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol; andeach configuration response message comprises an acknowledge message as defined by the ITU-T G.984.3 protocol, each acknowledge message comprising a copy of a plurality of bytes included in the associated “Configure Port-ID” message.

25. A reachability table for managing network components in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: entries identifying one or more optical network units (ONUs) in a first set of one or more ONUs in the PON, wherein the entries identifying the one or more ONUs in the first set of ONUs are associated in the table with a first wavelength; andentries identifying one or more ONUs in a second set of one or more ONUs in the PON, wherein the entries identifying the one or more ONUs in the second set of ONUs are associated in the table with a second wavelength.

26. The reachability table of claim 25, wherein the reachability table is accessible by an optical line terminal (OLT) in the PON to transmit downstream traffic destined for a particular ONU at the wavelength associated with the particular ONU.

27. The reachability table of claim 25, wherein the reachability table is accessible by an optical line terminal (OLT) in the PON to forward upstream traffic from a particular ONU to one or more system ports associated with the ONU.

28. The reachability table of claim 25, wherein: each entry identifying an ONU in the first set of ONUs is associated in the table with the first wavelength by being associated with an entry in the table identifying a first transmitter interface transmitting at the first wavelength; andeach entry identifying an ONU in the second set of ONUs is associated in the table with the second wavelength by being associated with an entry in the table identifying a second transmitter interface transmitting at the second wavelength.