Patent ID: 7778545
Filing Date: 2010-08-17
Classification: H04Q

Abstract:
1. A method for bandwidth doubling in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) comprising the steps of: a. providing a mixed system in which an optical line terminal (OLT) is optically coupled to at least one 1 Gigabit per second (1 G) rate optical network unit (ONU) and to at least one 2 Gigabit per second (2 G) rate ONU, wherein the OLT is operative to transmit downstream packets through a downlink to each ONU, and wherein each ONU is operative to transmit upstream packets through an uplink to a respective OLT; and, by the OLT, b. performing packet-by-packet multiplexing of packets; and c. outputting a 2 G downstream traffic output in a 2 G channel wherein the OLT is a logical 2 G OLT that comprises a functional combination of two 1 G OLT devices and is operative to transmit to each 2 G ONU at a 2 G rate and wherein the steps of performing packet-by-packet multiplexing of packets and outputting a 2 G downstream traffic output in a 2 G channel are performed using the two 1 G OLT devices; and wherein the packet-by-packet multiplexing includes: