Advanced broadband optical access networks

Optical fiber-based access networks are being deployed to address the increasing demand for bandwidth and help to support multiple services. As for the future optical access networks, different technologies have been proposed and under investigations, including WDM-based passive optical networks (WDM-PON), optical coding division multiplexing -based PON (OCDM-PON), and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based PON (OFDM-PON). Compared with other PON technologies, OFDM-PON shows some very promising features, e.g. dynamic bandwidth allocation, network privacy and support of multiple services. Here we will show the principles, and experimental testings of an OFDM-PON and further talk about virtual PON scheme using OFDM technologies.