Overview of GPON Technology

Passive optical networks (PON) technology was available in the middle of 90s.
Since the huge development of network, various standards have been
established and matured. PON developed from the first ATM PON (APON) and
then evolved in Broadband PON (BPON) which is compatible with APON. Later,
arisen Ethernet PON (EPON) and Gigabit PON (GPON) bring great
improvement in data transmission distance and bandwidth. This tutorial will
introduce about GPON technology.

GPON Components
GPON is defined by ITU-T recommendation series G.984. GPON represents an increase
in bandwidth compared with APON and BPON. GPON can be applied in many areas. In
fiber to the desktop (FTTD) application, GPON is distributed via single-mode, simplex
optical fiber connectors, and passive optical splitter typically using angled polish
connectors (APC) to provide precision terminations. There are four main components in
this GPON system: the optical line terminal (OLT), the transmitting media (cabling and
components), the fiber optical splitter, and the optical network terminal (ONT).
OLT
OLT is a device which serves as the service provider endpoint of a passive optical
network. It is an active Ethernet aggregation device that is usually located in a data center
or the main equipment room. An OLT converts the optical signals transmitting over fiber
to the electrical signals and presents them to a core Ethernet switch. The OLT replaces
multiple layer 2 switches at distribution points. OLT distributing signal is connected with
backbone cabling or horizontal cabling through optical splitters, which are connected to
the optical network terminal at each work area outlet.
Transmitting Media
GPON transmits signals through the passive, physical cabling infrastructure. The
transmitting media include copper, fiber optic patch cords, enclosures, adapter panels,
connectors, splitters and other materials. All these transmitting media components should
be factored in the channel loss budget to get a better system performance.

Fiber Optic Splitter

Fiber optic splitter, also known as beam splitter, is an integrated waveguide optical power
distribution device. With this fiber optic splitter, multiple devices can be served from a
single fiber. It’s one of the most important passive devices in the optical fiber network. It’s
especially useful in GPON, EPON and FTTx, etc. PON typically connects a single fiber
from an OLT to multiple ONUs. The connectivity between OLT and ONUs is achieved by
using fiber optical splitters. The number of the outputs in the splitter determines the
number of the splits. The split ratios often contain 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32 and 1:64. The
insertion loss of a typical 1x32 optical splitter ranges from17 dB to 18 dB. Fiber optic
splitter includes fused biconical taper (FBT) splitter and planar lightwave circuit (PLC)
splitters.

ONT
ONT, also called the modem, connects to the termination point (TP) with an optical fiber
cable, and connects to your router via an LAN / Ethernet cable. It converts the optical
signals to electrical signals to deliver to the end device. ONT always has multiple Ethernet
ports for connection to IP services such as CPUs, phones, wireless access points, and
other video components.

GPON Loss Budget

PON is typically composed of OLT and ONUs and other optical transmission media such
as fiber cables and connectors which have been pointed out before. Link loss can be
caused by these components (cable, connectors, patch cords, splices, couplers, and
splitters). Link loss is very important in designing optical access network. The link budget
is shown as the following table. This budget covers all optical components between OLT
and ONU.

Table1. Loss budget for GPON system

Bandwidth (nm) Items Path Loss (dB)

Minimum optical loss 13

1310

Maximum optical loss 28

Minimum optical loss 13

1490

Maximum optical loss 28

GPON Power Budget

The transmitter’s power and receiver’s sensitivity are two parameters that influence the
reach of the access network. How to calculate the power budget? The formula is
“P=FCA*L+SL+Penalties”. P represents power budget. FCA is fiber cable cable
attenuation in dB/m. L is the distance and SL is a splitter loss. Penalties stands for
additional loss such as the splice and connectors. The following table shows the required
power budget for different GPON configurations.

Table2. The minimum power budget for different GPON configurations

Wavelength Required Power

ONUs L (km ) FCA (dB/m) SL (dB) Penalties (dB)
(nm) Budget (dB)
 16 10 1310 0.4 14.5 2.5 21

16 20 1550 0.3 14.5 2.5 23

32 10 1310 0.4 17 2.5 23.5

32 20 1550 0.3 17 2.5 23.5

Now let’s calculate the reach of a network system. Suppose that the power budget is
about 23 dB. A single-mode fiber cable operating at the wavelength of 1550 nm is used.
SL is 14 dB and there are two mechanical splices (0.5 dB/per splice) and two connectors
(0.5 dB/per connector). So the maximum reach of the network can be calculated as (23-
14-2*0.5-2*0.5)/0.3≈23km.

Conclusion
GPON is the most complex of all PONs. But it’s the best one of all PONs. GPON has the
benefits of saving costs for moves and adds or other changes, low price per port on
passive components, easy installation and low installation costs. So GPON gains the
popularity in today’s diverse and ever-changing technology applications.