Ethernet passive optical network over coaxial (EPoC) physical layer link and auto-negotiation

摘要

A PHY auto-negotiation and link up procedure for Ethernet Passive Optical Network Over Coax (EPOC) is provided. The procedure is compliant with the Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) standard and can be used to bring an EPOC network to user traffic readiness. In addition, the procedure, or a variation thereof, can be used to enable periodic maintenance of the coaxial link of the EPOC network, thereby maintaining adequate communication conditions.

主权项

1. A method for performing physical layer auto-negotiation and link up in an Ethernet Passive Optical Network over Coaxial (EPOC) network, the method comprising:
transmitting a link info broadcast message over a physical layer (PHY) link channel of the EPOC network, wherein the link info broadcast message includes a bit pattern that allows an unlinked coaxial network unit (CNU) to locate the PHY link channel by hunting for the bit pattern among a plurality of channels of a transmission spectrum of the EPOC network; transmitting a first link configuration unicast message over the PHY link channel of the EPOC network in response to receiving a reply message to the link info broadcast message; and transmitting a second link configuration unicast message over the PHY link channel of the EPOC network in response to receiving a reply message to the first link configuration unicast message, wherein the PHY link channel carries no media access control level content.