The ATM system designed to transmit voice better than data has been inefficient due to the increasing requirements of data transmission in recent years. However, the Ethernet technology based on IP exchange have become so popular in the metropolitan and connecting networks that it have attracted several telecom service providers to invest in the research of Ethernet PON (EPON). For traditional telecom service providers, they are inclined to adapt APON due to requirements for voice transmission. But for newly local telecom start ups or cable TV service providers, they can use EPON to transmit IP data conveniently. Nevertheless, as IP will become the main trend of transmission and exchange and Ethernet technology improves in QOS, EPON will finally be more advantageous in the future.
Fiber To The Home (FTTH) connecting technology has been widely implemented as the ultimate broadband solution in the USA and Japan, while it has only been emphasized in Taiwan recently. PON can be used to connect the last mile because it only needs to install a simple optical splitter on the optical split node instead of node equipment, which has the advantages of saving fiber-optic cables, bandwidth share, fast construction, and low construction costs as the perfect broadband connecting technology for FTTH. PON focuses on the bandwidth between T1 (1.5Mb/s) and OC3 (155Mb/s) without conflicts to other technologies. Therefore, PON architecture is the most economical and potential technology.
PON is a kind of point-to-point fiber optical connecting technology which consists of OLT at the central premise, ONU at the client premise, and ODN. PON includes TDM for narrowband and BPON (APON), EPON, and GPON for broadband. |
