Overhead reduction in Ethernet passive optical network (EPON)

摘要

Embodiments reduce overhead in Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) networks by reducing the amount of switching among Optical Network Units (ONUs) done by the Optical Line Terminal (OLT). In one embodiment, Logical Link Identifiers (LLIDs) hosted by the same ONU are linked at the OLT such that the OLT grants same ONU LLIDs consecutively when appropriate. This reduces the optics related delay associated with switching among ONUS. At the same time, the linking of LLIDs hosted by the same ONU allows for data from multiple LLIDs to be grouped together within a single Forward Error Correction (FEC) block at the ONU, when appropriate, reducing FEC overhead.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
maintaining, by an Optical Line Terminal (OLT), a polling status list of Logical Link Identifiers (LLIDs) associated with a plurality of Optical Network Units (ONUs), the polling status list including a respective entry for each LLID of the LLIDs, wherein entries of LLIDs associated with a same ONU of the plurality of ONUs are linked together within the polling status list; processing the polling status list, wherein processing the polling status list comprises processing the entries of the LLIDs associated with the same ONU consecutively; and in response to said processing, sending, by the OLT, polling grants to an ONU of the plurality of ONUs, the polling grants corresponding to respective LLIDs associated with the ONU, the respective LLIDs being eligible for polling, and wherein sending the polling grants comprises sending the polling grants in first consecutive time slots to the ONU.