Converged Fi-Wi Passive Optical Networks and Their Designing Using the HPON Network Configurator

Abstract

With the emerging mobile applications and needs of ever-increasing bandwidth, it is anticipated that the next-generation passive optical network (NG-PON) with much higher bandwidth is a natural path forward to satisfy these demands and to develop valuable converged fiber-wireless access networks for wireless network operators. NG-PON systems present optical access infrastructures to support various applications of many service providers. Hybrid passive optical networks (HPON) present a necessary phase to future PON networks utilized the optical transmission medium – the optical fiber. For developing hybrid passive optical networks, there exist various architectures and directions. They are specified with emphasis on their basic characteristics. For proposing reliable and survivable architectures, traffic protection schemes must be implemented. For converging Fi-Wi passive optical networks, an integration of optical and wireless technologies into common broadband access network must be considered. Finally, the HPON network configurator as the interactive software tool is introduced.