Patent ID: 7970281
Filing Date: 2011-06-28
Classification: H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A method for managing different transmission architectures in a passive optical network (PON), comprising: transmitting traffic in an upstream or downstream direction in a first time-slot from a first set of one or more transmitters in a PON at each channel of a first set of one or more channels, wherein each channel in the first set of channels has a separate wavelength band from any other channels in the first set of channels; and transmitting traffic in the same upstream or downstream direction in a second time-slot from a second set of one or more transmitters in the PON at each channel of a second set of one or more channels that collectively provide greater bandwidth than the first set of one or more channels, wherein each channel in the second set of channels has a separate wavelength band from any other channels in the second set of channels and wherein the wavelength band of at least one channel of the first set at least partially overlaps the wavelength band of at least one channel of the second set but is not identical to the wavelength band of the at least one channel of the second set, where channels are at least partially overlapping if traffic cannot be sent in the at least partially overlapping channels at the same time without causing collisions of traffic.