Telefonica tests XGS-PON

Part 1: XGS and TWDM passive optical networks

Telefonica is the latest operator to test XGS-PON, the 10-gigabit passive optical networking standard.

“Operators want to show they are taking the maximum from their fibre investment,” says Ana Pesovic, marketing manager for fibre at Nokia, the supplier of the XGS-PON equipment used for the operator’s lab tests. “Telefonica has been really aggressive in their fibre deployments in the last couple of years.”

Ana Pesovic

XGS-PON

Approved by the ITU-T in 2016, XGS-PON supports two rates: 10-gigabit symmetrical and the asymmetrical rate of 10 gigabits downstream (to the user) and 2.5 gigabits upstream.

XGS-PON has largely superseded the earlier XG-PON standard which supports the 10-gigabit asymmetrical rate only. “It is fair to say there is no traction for XG-PON,” says Pesovic. “Even in China [an early adopter of XG-PON], we see the interest slowly moving to XGS-PON.”

Nokia says it has now been involved in 40 XGS-PON trials and nine customers have deployed the technology. “These have just started and they are not massive deployments,” says Pesovic.

Nokia’s XGS-PON customers include China Telecom and SK Broadband. SK Broadband has deployed XGS-PON alongside the more advanced TWDM-PON (time wavelength division multiplexing, passive optical network), the ITU-T NG-PON2 standard.

XGS-PON uses a fixed wavelength to deliver either the 10-gigabit symmetrical or asymmetrical service. The standard supports a distance of 20km and a split ratio of up to 1:128 - one XGS-PON optical line terminal (OLT) serving up to 128 optical network units (ONUs). In contrast, TWDM-PON supports four wavelengths enabling up to 40-gigabit symmetrical rates. And unlike XGS-PON, TWDM-PON supports flexible wavelengths using tuneable lasers.

The wavelengths used by XGS-PON and TWDM-PON have been specified such that the two standards can operate alongside GPON on the same fibre. Accordingly, with SK Broadband’s deployment, the two PON standards along with GPON support an aggregate capacity of 52.5 gigabits-per-second.

As well as testing XGS-PON's performance, Telefonica has tested that XGS-PON works without disturbing existing broadband services over its GPON networks, says Pesovic.

For the test, Telefonica used an 8-port line card where each port can be configured for XGS-PON or as a wavelength of a TWDM-PON. The line card fits within Nokia’s 7360 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) FX platform.

5G will require the deployment of many more small cells. With XGS-PON, multiple small cells can be served using a single PON

Applications

XGS-PON with its symmetrical 10-gigabit rate is suited to business services. "Operators can use one network to converge business and residential; today they are two overlay networks,” says Pesovic. Many businesses require 1-gigabit connectivity or less but by having a 10-gigabit link, multiple enterprises can be aggregated on one PON.

Nokia says that in countries such as South Korea as well as in Europe and North America there is also interest in a 10-gigabit PON for residential services. “People are taking the downstream bandwidth for granted and now the upstream is becoming a differentiator, making the quality of experience much better,” says Pesovic.

The bulk of traffic is still predominately downstream but increasingly users want to upload large files and video. Even if these uploads are of shorter duration, the network must deliver, says Pesovic.

Operators are also eyeing XGS-PON for the emerging 5G cellular standard. Nokia points out that 5G will require the deployment of many more small cells. With XGS-PON, multiple small cells can be served using a single PON.

Nokia expects XGS-PON will be deployed for years to come. Broadband is advancing by adding more wavelengths. To GPON, which uses one wavelength, can be added a second wavelength supporting 10-gigabit XGS-PON. Using TWDM-PON adds four and potentially eight more wavelengths - 40 gigabits and 80 gigabits of bandwidth, respectively. “It really doesn’t matter what the technology is called,” says Pesovic.

One North American operator is looking at TWDM-PON as a way to save power. During the night when there is less broadband usage, the operator wants to use wavelength mobility to migrate users onto a single wavelength.

TWDM-PON

Besides wavelength count, TWDM-PON differs from XGS-PON in its use of tuneable lasers.

Having tuneable wavelengths delivers several benefits to the operators. One is load balancing. If users on one wavelength start to exhaust its capacity, several users can be moved to a second wavelength that is less heavily loaded.

TWDM-PON also benefits network sharing and wavelength unbundling. A third-party operator can offer its fibre to interested operators. “Each operator could then operate on a single wavelength,” says Pesovic. If a user changes operator, they can simply be moved from one wavelength to another.

There are also operational benefits. If a fault develops on a board, users can be migrated to a second card without service interruption and the faulty board replaced.

One North American operator is looking at TWDM-PON as a way to save power, says Pesovic. During the night when there is less broadband usage, the operator wants to use wavelength mobility to migrate users onto a single wavelength. This would deliver sufficient bandwidth to those users that are active while allowing the remaining wavelengths to be powered down, saving power.

The issue impeding the uptake of TWDM-PON remains the high cost of tuneable lasers. Nokia expects it to be at least another year before the cost of tuneable lasers becomes more economical for PON. That said, service providers delivering businesses services may still be tempted to adopt TWDM-PON despite the higher cost of tuneable lasers given that the average revenue per user (ARPU) of business users is 5x that of residential users, says Pesovic.

See Part 2: FSAN unveils roadmap plans, click here