Migration to the next generation passive optical network

Due to the rapid growth of Internet with new generation of services and applications, demand for faster and cheaper access network has been rising. To address the present and future demand, broadband fiber access technologies such as passive optical networks (PONs) are a potential solution. Mostly, time division multiplexed (TDM)-PON is deployed in all parts of the world. In order to mitigate the future demand, some next-generation PON systems have been investigated by the researchers. In this paper, we examine the current status of PONs and investigate the probable future PONs. We also explain the smooth migration process from the current status to the future technologies. Architecture of a self-restored tree-type hybrid wavelength division multiplexed/TDM-PON (WDM/TDM-PON) has been proposed, for migrating from TDM to WDM-PON. Due to the restorable capacity of the architecture, the availability of the system is increased. In addition, cost analysis of different PON architectures are performed and compared with the cost of the proposed architecture. It is found that, the proposed architecture provides more cost effective solution.