A Review on Evolution Trends in Passive Optical Networks

In this paper, the passive optical network (PON) evolution trend has been discussed. The literature of PON standards which are ATM PON (APON), Broadband PON (BPON), Gigabit PON (GPON), 10-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks (XG-PON) and next-generation PON2 (NG-PON2) has been reviewed extensively. From the literature review, a comparison of the PON technologies is made. The GPON, XG-PON and NG-PON2 are the most recent PON generations, and these are simulated to find the split per wavelength supported. The Q-factor below 6 is considered unacceptable in the analysis. The results show that the GPON can support 32 ONU when transmitted power set to 3dB. In the case of XG-PON, the Q-factor remains more than 6 for a split ratio up to 16. For the NG-PON2, the observed Q-factor is more than 6 for split up to 32. However, as the split increases above 32, the Q-factor falls below the acceptable level of 6.