CSMA/CD-based ethernet passive optical network with optical internetworking capability among users

Abstract

The integration of data services with bandwidth-consuming broadcast services in the access network segment is anticipated in the foreseeable future. The Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is actively being developed to meet the ever-increasing bandwidth demand in a cost-effective and future-proof manner, with internetworking among connected users to emulate shared local area network (LAN) capability being an important feature. In this work, we propose a novel EPON that utilizes an N × N star coupler to facilitate shared LAN capability in addition to conventional access services. It features high upstream channel utilization with reasonable delay, relieves the processing burden at the ce..