Protection switching for duplex ATM-PON systems

摘要

A terminal device is provided for communicating data signals with a central communication device via a first signal carrying line and a second signal carrying line. The first signal carrying line is arranged for transporting a first signal and the second signal carrying line is arranged for transporting a second signal, wherein the first and second signals have equal content. The first signal carrying line has a first propagation time and the second signal carrying line has a second propagation time, such that the first propagation time is shorter than the second propagation time. The terminal device includes a signal quality comparison element for determining a first signal quality of the first signal and a second signal quality of the second signal, for comparing the first and second signal qualities, and for accepting the one of the first and second signals that has a better quality.