Ethernet passive optical network (EPON): building a next-generation optical access network

TLDR

EPONs carry Ethernet frames at standard rates over a power‑free, minimal‑fiber point‑to‑multipoint architecture that has attracted carriers for its low infrastructure cost and is now seen as a promising solution for fiber‑to‑building and fiber‑to‑home deployments. The article introduces EPON as an emerging local subscriber access architecture that merges low‑cost point‑to‑multipoint fiber infrastructure with Ethernet. An EPON uses a single trunk fiber from the central office to a passive splitter that fans out to multiple subscriber drop fibers. EPON is positioned as a potential optimized architecture for fiber‑to‑building and fiber‑to‑home, given Ethernet’s rise as the preferred protocol for metro and access networks.

Abstract

This article describes Ethernet passive optical networks, an emerging local subscriber access architecture that combines low-cost point-to-multipoint fiber infrastructure with Ethernet. EPONs are designed to carry Ethernet frames at standard Ethernet rates. An EPON uses a single trunk fiber that extends from a central office to a passive optical splitter, which then fans out to multiple optical drop fibers connected to subscriber nodes. Other than the end terminating equipment, no component in the network requires electrical power, hence the term passive. Local carriers have long been interested in passive optical networks for the benefits they offer: minimal fiber infrastructure and no powering requirement in the outside plant. With Ethernet now emerging as the protocol of choice for carrying IP traffic in metro and access networks, EPON has emerged as a potential optimized architecture for fiber to the building and fiber to the home.