Professional Knowledge

What is EPON?

2021-06-01
With the rapid development of the Internet, network users' demands for network bandwidth are increasing day by day. In order to meet the needs of the market, the backbone of the communication network has undergone tremendous changes, and the traditional access network that has been changing less has become a bottleneck in the entire network, and various new broadband access technologies have become research hotspots.

EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) is a new type of optical fiber access network technology, which adopts point-to-multipoint structure, passive optical fiber transmission, and provides multiple services on Ethernet. It uses PON technology at the physical layer, Ethernet protocol at the link layer, and uses the PON topology to achieve Ethernet access. Therefore, it combines the advantages of PON technology and Ethernet technology: low cost; high bandwidth; strong scalability, flexible and fast service reorganization; compatibility with existing Ethernet; convenient management, etc.

Due to the many advantages of EPON, it is becoming more and more popular, and it will soon become the most effective communication method for broadband access networks. In order to ensure the stable, efficient and accurate operation of the EPON network, it is particularly important to provide an effective network management system for EPON.

In the field of network management, with the continuous development of network management technology based on the TCP/IP system, SNMP has become the de facto standard. The SNMP-based EPON network management system refers to a system that uses the SNMP management protocol framework to effectively manage the resources of EPON network entities.

In November 2000, IEEE established the 802.3 EFM (Ethernet in the First Mile) research group. 21 network equipment manufacturers in the industry initiated the establishment of EFMA to realize the Gb/s Ethernet point-to-multipoint optical transmission scheme, so it is also called GEPON (GigabitEthernet PON). EFM standard IEEE802.3ah;

EPON is a kind of emerging broadband access technology, which realizes the integrated service access of data, voice and video through a single optical fiber access system, and has good economic efficiency. The industry generally believes that FTTH is the ultimate solution for broadband access, and EPON will also become a mainstream broadband access technology. Due to the characteristics of the EPON network structure, the special advantages of broadband access to the home, and the natural organic combination with computer networks, experts all over the world agree that passive optical networks are the realization of "three networks in one" and the solution to the information highway. The best transmission medium for the "last mile".

The EPON access system has the following characteristics:
1. There are only optical passive components such as optical fiber and optical splitter between the central office (OLT) and the user (ONU). There is no need to rent a computer room, no need to be equipped with power supplies, and no active equipment maintenance personnel. Therefore, it can effectively save construction and Operation and maintenance costs;
2. EPON adopts the transmission format of Ethernet and is also the mainstream technology of user local area network/resident network. The two have natural integration, eliminating the cost factor caused by complicated transmission protocol conversion;
3. Adopt single fiber wavelength division multiplexing technology (downlink 1490nm, uplink 1310nm), only need one backbone fiber and one OLT, the transmission distance can reach 20 kilometers. On the ONU side, it can be distributed to a maximum of 32 users through an optical splitter, so the cost pressure of the OLT and the backbone fiber can be greatly reduced;
4. Both the uplink and the downlink rate are gigabit, the downlink adopts the method of encrypting broadcast transmission for different users to share the bandwidth, and the uplink uses time division multiplexing (TDMA) to share the bandwidth. High-speed broadband, fully meets the bandwidth needs of access network customers, and can be conveniently and flexibly allocated dynamically according to user needs;
5. With a point-to-multipoint structure, the system can be easily expanded and upgraded only by increasing the number of ONUs and a small amount of user-side optical fibers, which fully protects the operator's investment;
6. EPON has the ability to simultaneously transmit TDM, IP data, and video broadcasting. TDM and IP data are transmitted in the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet format, supplemented by a carrier-grade network management system, which is sufficient to ensure transmission quality. Broadcast transmission of video services can be realized by extending the third wavelength (usually 1550nm). 
7. EPON can currently provide a symmetrical upstream and downstream bandwidth of 1.25Gb/s, and can be upgraded to 10Gb/s with the development of Ethernet technology. At the 2009 China FTTH Summit Development Forum held in Beijing, ZTE released the world's first one "Symmetrical" 10G EPON equipment prototype.
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