DBA:

GPON uses point-to-multi-point connections between central Optical Line Termination (OLT), coordinating network
resources and Optical Network Units (ONU). Due to the high available bandwidth in GPON, bandwidth allocation is
based on the Service Level Agreements (SLA) where Quality of Service (QoS) can be granted according to the demand.
Bandwidth is allocated per transmission container (T-CONT) which is a GPON mechanism for provisioning of
differentiated QoS.

To avoid collisions the OLT allocates bandwidth per T-CONT in a TDMA fashion. The DBA automatically adjusts
bandwidth grants to the needs of a particular T-CONT.
In a GPON system, the OLT controls the upstream data traffic by sending authorization signals to ONTs. In a PON
network, an effective TDMA mechanism is required to control the upstream traffic, so that data packets from multiple
ONTs do not collide during upstream transmission. However, the collision-based mechanism requires QoS management
in a passive ODN, which is physically impossible or causes severe efficiency loss. Due to the above-mentioned factors, a
mechanism for management of the upstream GPON traffic has been the primary focus in standardization of GPON traffic
management. It drives the development of the ITU-T G.983.4 recommendation, which defines the DBA protocol for
management of the upstream PON traffic.

Figure 1 illustrates the DBA principle. The GPON system controls the upstream traffic by allocating data authorization to
each transmission container (T-CONT) inside an ONT. To determine the authorized bandwidth to be allocated to a T-
CONT, the OLT needs to know the traffic status of the T-CONT. Each ONT reports its data status to the OLT through the
payload field in the upstream frames. After receiving the data status, the OLT, according to status of data to be
transmitted on the ONTs, periodically updates the upstream bandwidth map information using the DBA algorithm and
notifies all ONTs of the bandwidthmap information through downstream frames. In this way, each ONT dynamically
adjusts its upstream bandwidth according to its actually transmitted data traffic, thereby improving the utilization of
upstream bandwidth.

Figure 1 DBA principle

STATUS/NON-STATUS REPORTING DBA TYPE

The DBA uses the T-CONTs activity status as an input to the scheduler, either explicit through buffer status reporting
(SR), or implicit through transmission of the idle GEM frames in place of granted upstream allocations, referred to as non
status reporting (NSR).

For both SR and NSR DBA, the OLT traces the activity status of each T-CONT and instantaneously updates size and
number of allocation intervals granted per DBA cycle.
To determine how much traffic to assign to an ONU, the OLT needs to know the traffic status of the T-CONT associated
with the ONU. In status reporting method, as part of its traffic status a T-CONT indicates how many packets are waiting
in its buffer. Once the OLT receive this information, it can share the allocation to various ONUs accordingly. When an
ONU has no information waiting to be transported, upon receiving a grant it sends an idle cell upstream to indicate that
its buffer is empty. This informs the OLT that the grants for that T-CONT can be assigned to other T-CONTs. If an ONU
has a long queue waiting in its buffer, the OLT can assign multiple TCONTs to that ONU. DBA algorithms can be divided
into two categories: SR-DBA (Status Reporting Dynamic Bandwidth Assignment) provides bandwidth assignment
according to report from ONU. NSR-DBA (Non-Status)give bandwidth assignment which does not need reportfrom ONU.
However, it provides dynamic assignment byusing traffic monitoring by OLT.

T-CONT:
T-CONT: a service carrier in the upstream direction in the GPON system. All GEM ports are mapped to T-CONTs. Then,
service streams are transmitted upstream by means of the OLT's DBA scheduling. T-CONT is the basic control unit of the
upstream service stream in the GPON system. Every T-CONT is identified by Alloc-ID. The Alloc-ID is globally allocated by
the OLT. That is, every T-CONT can be used by only one ONU connected to the OLT.

There are five types of T-CONT, defined by the Fixed, Assured and Maximum Parameters:

Type 1: Only fixed Bandwidth(CIR-Committed Information Rate);

Type 2: Only Assured Bandwidth;
Type 3:Assured+Maximum Bandwidth;
Type 4: Only Maximum Bandwidth (Best Effort)(PIR-Peak Information Rate);
Type 5:Fixed+Assured+Maximum Bandwidth.

Assured Bandwidth Definition:

The assured bandwidth is the available bandwidth of a T-CONT when cells are
transmitted in the T-CONT buffer. If no cell is transmitted in the T-CONT buffer,
the bandwidth can be used by other T-CONTs. Therefore, the assured bandwidth
can be allocated dynamically.

The bandwidth is allocated to a T-CONT. If the T-CONT does not use the
bandwidth, the other T-CONTs can use the bandwidth.

Fixed Bandwidth Definition:

The fixed bandwidth is the bandwidth that is reserved and allocated periodically
to ensure the cell transfer delay. If a T-CONT has fixed bandwidth and the T-CONT
does not transfer cells, the OLT still sends the fixed bandwidth grant. Hence, idle
cells are sent upstream from the ONT to the OLT.

The bandwidth is allocated only to a T-CONT. Even though the T-CONT does not
use the bandwidth, the other T-CONTs cannot use the bandwidth.

Maximum Bandwidth Definition:

The maximum bandwidth is the upper threshold of the bandwidth that can be
allocated to a T-CONT, that is, the maximum bandwidth that a T-CONT can use.

NOTE:

In the DBA profile with the assured bandwidth/maximum bandwidth, the

maximum bandwidth must be equal to or larger than the assured bandwidth.
In the DBA profile with the mixed model, the maximum bandwidth must be equal
to or larger than the sum of the fixed bandwidth and the assured bandwidth.