International Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology ISSN (Online):2278-5299

Volume 2, Issue 5: Page No.58-61,September-October 2013

http://www.mnkjournals.com/ijlrst.htm

SIMULATIVE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF

GPON AND WDMPON
1
ANIL KUMAR, 2ANKUR SINGHAL
1,2
M. M. UNIVERSITY, MULLANA, INDIA

Abstract- Now a days use of Triple play, online gaming and other real time applications are in demand. Present access network are a
bottleneck due to bandwidth limitations. Passive optical networks technology (GPON and WDM PON) are the ultimate solution for the
present and future. GPON is popular due to its capability to handle ATM and Ethernet data. CWDM is gaining more popularity due to its
bandwidth on demand capability.
Keywords GPON, WDM PON, Optical Line Terminal (OLT), Optical Network Unit(ONU), Optical Splitter

INTRODUCTION Researchers from the NEC Labs and Corning have

To transmit data from one point to another, some signal
path is needed between those points. Depending on the
requirements and available infrastructure, media like air,
copper or optical fibers are used to create path as radio
networks, electrical networks and optical networks
respectively. The evolution of the Internet has led to a variety
of modern applications which require access to high-speed
networks resulting to the creation of bandwidth intensive
applications which require deterministic latency and low
jitter. Triple play an integrated solution to provide voice,
video and data traffic (Internet connectivity) is expected to
create the next wave of bandwidth penetration to end users.
Internet video streaming and downloads already are starting
to take up a greater share of the bandwidth and will grow to
almost 60% of all consumer Internet traffic in 2014.
According to the June 2010 forecast of the Cisco Visual
Networking Index, total global Internet Protocol traffic will
quadruple from 2009 to 2014, reaching 63.9 exabytes (EBs)
per month, or 766.8 EBs per year [1].Access network still
relies on an aging copper infrastructure, hence failed to open
the bottleneck despite some developments. In order to
support this ever-increasing demand for higher broadband
bandwidth, PON (passive optical networks) technologies
appears to be the best choice among various access
technologies due to its ability to scale to a much higher speed
(10 Gbps and beyond) with enormous bandwidth potential.
Advantages of optical fibers over copper transmission line
include the ability to carry signals over long distances, low
error rates, immunity to electrical interference, security and
light weight [2, 3]. In the mid 1960s optical fiber was
proposed as a suitable transmission medium but there was an
obstacle - loss of signal strength or attenuation in the glass.
Finally in 1970, Corning produced the first fibers with
attenuation less than 20 dB/km. Further developments in
fiber optics were the use of the specific regions on the
spectrum where optical attenuation is low. These regions,
called windows, lie between areas of high absorption [2, 3].
demonstrated ultra-high speed transmission with a capacity of
1.05 petabit/s.
Passive Optical Networks
PON is a point-to-multipoint (PtMP) technology viewed by
many as an attractive solution to the first mile problem [4, 5].
A PON minimizes the number of optical transceivers, central
office terminations and fiber deployment. PON is an optical
network with no active elements in the signals path from
source to destination. The only external elements used are
passive optical components, such as optical fiber, splices and
splitters. PON consists of an OLT, a passive splitter and few
ONUs. The primary function of the ONU is to receive traffic
in an optical format and convert it to the customers desired
format (Ethernet, IP multicast, POTS, T1, etc.). ONUs
account for over 70% to 80% of the system cost in FTTX
scenario.
The PON was introduced as a technology that would
provide access to the cabinet and from there the signal would
be distributed using copper cables [6]. TDMA approach was
used to multiplex streams from different customers and such
an approach was more than sufficient for Plain Old
Telephony Services (POTS). With the advent of broadband,
data oriented services and Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM) protocol, the PON was used as a technology that
could enable a truly high speed access to the backbone
network [3, 8]. Deploying a PON in access network can
provide a cost efficient and flexible infrastructure which
provides the required bandwidth to customers for many years
to come [9]. Sharing the fiber medium means reduced cost
and using passive components in the ODN means reduced
recurring power costs.
At a top level, PON are classified by the used link-layer
protocol. Whereas an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
PON (APON) uses ATM, an Ethernet PON (EPON) uses
Ethernet, and a gigabit PON (GPON) uses the GPON
encapsulation method (GEM) in addition to ATM cells to
support Ethernet. The International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) has generated standards for APONs: G.983
broadband PON (BPON), as well as GPONs: G.984 gigabit-

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capable PON (GPON). The IEEE has generated a standard
for EPONs: IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the first mile. 90% of
data traffic originates and terminates in Ethernet frames,
using an EPON can reduce the adaptation required to move
data between the LAN and the access network. But ATM
creates inefficiencies in data transport as a result of its fixed
data unit that requires most data packets to be segmented and
reassembled at the end points of the network. It results in
higher processing delays, as well as reduced efficiency of
error recovery techniques. GPONs by using GEM instead of
ATM, avoid the inefficiency of segmentation and reassembly.
FSAN endorsed GPON standard reflects operator needs more
directly than does EPON and standard is the G.984.x series.
It has an own defined packet format and can encapsulate
several protocols. A GPON system consists of the three basic
PON components, an OLT which is at the distribution side,
an ONU at the user side and in between an ODN. OLT for
GPON systems can be divided into three parts, a PON Core
shell, a Cross Connect shell and a Service shell. An OLT can
have multiple ODNs connected to it, each to serve one or
more ONUs. GPON is capable of running in ATM, GEM and
Dual mode.
Managing Upstream/Downstream Traffic in an PON
In PON the process of transmitting data downstream from
the OLT to multiple ONUs is fundamentally different from
transmitting data upstream from multiple ONUs to the OLT.
The traffic directionality in GPON is illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1: Traffic directionality in EPON [11]
In Figure 2 data is broadcast downstream from the OLT to
multiple ONUs. Each packet carries a header that uniquely
identifies it as data intended for ONU-1, ONU-2 or ONU-3.
In addition some packets may be intended for all of the
ONUs (broadcast packets) or a particular group of ONUs
Figure 2: Downstream Traffic Flow in a PON [12]
(multicast packets). At the splitter the traffic is divided into
three separate signals, each carrying all of the ONU-specific
packets. When the data reaches the ONU it accepts the
ISSN:2278-5299
packets that are intended for it and discards the packets that
are intended for other ONUs.
Figure 3 shows how upstream traffic is managed utilizing
TDM, in which transmission time slots are dedicated to the
ONUs. The time slots are synchronized so that upstream
packets from the ONUs do not interfere with each other once
the data are coupled onto the common fiber. For
Figure 3: Upstream Traffic Flow in a PON [12]
example, ONU-1 transmits packet 1 in the first time slot,
ONU-2 transmits packet 2 in a second non-overlapping time
slot, and ONU-3 transmits packet 3 in a third non-
overlapping time slot.
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
A WDM system uses a multiplexer at the transmitter to join
the signals together and a demultiplexer at the receiver to
split them apart. With the right type of fiber it is possible to
have a device that does both simultaneously and can function
as an optical add-drop multiplexer. The first WDM systems
combined only two signals. Modern systems can handle up to
160 signals and can thus expand a basic 10 Gbit/s system
over a single fiber pair to over 1.6 Tbit/s.
Figure 4: DWDM System
WDMs are categorized in two parts, Coarse WDM and Dense
WDM. DWDM revolutionized data transmission technology
by increasing the capacity signal of embedded fiber. This
increase means that the incoming optical signals are assigned
to specific wavelengths, within a designated frequency band
and then multiplexed onto one fiber. This process allows for
multiple video, audio and data channels to be transmitted. In
addition, DWDM amplifies a broad range of wavelengths in
the 1550 nm region. The advances in DWDM technology
have made it possible to exploit the huge potential bandwidth
of optical fibers well exceeding 10Tb/s per fiber [13]. Using
fewer regenerators in long-distance networks results in fewer
interruptions and enhanced efficiency. Important components
for DWDM systems are transmitters, receivers, fiber
amplifiers, DWDM multiplexers and DWDM demultiplexer.
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 International Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology.
Simulation set up
GPON Simulation Setup consists of an Optical Line
Termination (OLT) at the service providers central office
and Optical Network Units (ONUs) near end users. Fiber
distribution is done using a tree-and-branch architecture. A
single fiber connected to the OLT can be split up to 32 times
and connected to multiple ONTs. ONU works on 1310 nm
and OLT operating wavelength is 1490 nm for GPON.
Current simulation models a typical GPON FTTH design
with 10 subscribers and 20-km distance.
In WDM PON at the OLT level a remote node Cyclic WDM
MUX-DEMUX separates and combines the data. After
passing through a band pass filter signal is given to ONU
receiver.
Using the simulation setup, the values of input signals,
wavelength spectrum, eye diagrams, scattering diagrams and
received signals are measured. From the eye diagram the
values of Q factor and eye opening are determined. During
simulation various parameters of the optical network were
changed and the output has been observed by the eye
diagram. The eye opening tells us about the strength of the
signal and if large is the eye opening the better is the optical
network. The factors which can affect the signal strength are
length of the optical fiber, wavelength, attenuation factor,
signal delay, line code, splitting ratio. In other words the
simulation depends upon the above factors and the quality of
service of a network can be improved by selecting their
appropriate values.
RESULTS
In this paper we have used OPTI_SYSTEM simulation
software. The optical fiber length has been varied as 5, 10, 15
and 20 km. Simulation eye diagram were saved to analyze.
Figure 5 and 6 shows these eye diagrams for specified length
of optical fiber. The use of eye diagram is a traditional
technique for quickly and intuitively assessing the quality of
a received signal. Eye height shows the power level of the
signal.
Figure 5: Eye diagram at 5 km and 10 km
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Figure 5: Eye diagram at 15 km and 20 km
From the above eye diagrams it is clear that GPON shows
clear, wider pattern as compared to WDM PON.
400
300
200 GPON
100 WDM
0
5 KM 10 KM 15 KM 20 KM
Fig 6: Graph - Max Q Factor Vs OFC Length
It is clear from the above graph that in case of maximum
quality factor GPON is out performing WDM PON. GPON
performance is becoming better with increase in fiber length.
In case of WDM quality factor deteriorate with fiber length.
So it is clear from the results that when length of fiber is
increased, the performance of optical passive networks
degrades. Hence the parameters i.e. length, wavelength,
attenuations should be in appropriate values so that greater
efficiency can be achieved using optical passive networks.
Conclusion
In this paper we analyzed PONs to address the
requirements of the best next generation passive optical
network. The differences between GPON and WDM PON
can be found at different levels. GPON is even more flexible
since it provides not only an ATM service but also additional
services like GEM with several possibilities for data
encapsulation. For this moment GPON has the fastest
transmission speed followed by EPON. The focus has been
on efficient technique to manage and utilize the bandwidth
effectively in evolving high-speed networks and to thereby
deliver the bandwidth to next-generation applications.
Finally we conclude that Passive Optical Networks is an
emerging field and there is a huge scope for research and
development. The Performance of these methods have been
analyzed and from the experimental results, it is found that
GPON and WDM PON both has given good result. But
GPON is a better technique.
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