Abstract:
An optical access system capable of avoiding cutoffs or interruption in the periodically transmitted signals that occur during the ranging time is provided. A first method to avoid signal cutoffs is to stop periodic transmit signals at the transmitter during the ranging period, and transmit all the periodic transmit signals together when the ranging ends, and buffer the signals at the receiver to prepare for ranging. A second method is to fix definite periods ahead of time for performing ranging, then cluster the multiple periodic transmit signals together in sets at the transmitter and send them, and then disassemble those sets back into signals at the receiver. The transmitting and receiving is then controlled so that the transmit periods do not overlap with the ranging periods. In this way an optical access system is provided that can send and receive signals requiring periodic transmissions without interruption even during ranging operation.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/076,897 filed Mar. 25, 2008, which is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/346,467 filed Feb. 3, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,369,768. Priority is claimed based upon U.S. application Ser. No. 12/076,897 filed Mar. 25, 2008, which claims the priority of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/346,467 filed Feb. 3, 2006, which claims the priority date of Japanese Application No. 2005-219907 filed on Jul. 29, 2005, and which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an optical access system for communication between a subscriber residence and a communication provider station. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Telephone subscriber networks and ADSL have been utilized in access networks for storing user stations in public communications networks for forwarding data such as audio or video. Moreover optical access systems have become more widespread in recent years. 
     These optical access systems use a method for connecting the station and the subscriber in a one-to-one relationship, and a method for connecting in a one-to-x relationship. The PON (Passive Optical Network) method is known as one-to-x connection method. 
     In the PON method, data communication is performed by sharing bandwidth between an OLT (Optical Line Terminal) and multiple ONT (Optical Network Terminal) by assigning one upstream and one downstream optical wavelength. In communication between the ONT and OLT, the downstream optical signal from the OLT heading towards the ONT is divided by a splitter, and the signal just for that particular ONT is extracted. In communication with the upstream signal, the OLT notifies the ONT of the transmission timing, and the ONT then transmits the signal to the OLT at that timing so that communication between the OLT and multiple ONT jointly on one wavelength. 
     Optical access methods of this type include: B-PON (Broadband PON) (See ITU-T Recommendation G.983.1, G.983.4), GE-PON (Giga-bit Ethernet PON) (See IEEE IEEE802.3ah), and G-PON (Generic PON) (See ITU-T Recommendation G.984.1, G.984.4) systems. 
     Signals communicated through PON systems are non-periodic signals such as webs and mail traffic over internet and periodic type signals conveyed by conventional telephone systems and leased line networks. The latter or periodic type signals (TDM: Time Division Multiplexing) have a fixed period (short-period frame) of 125 μs, and the signal is sent at a fixed bandwidth by transmitting a fixed amount of bytes within this fixed period. The signal must be sent each 125 μs period and no timing jitter is allowed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the PON system however, the distance between the ONT and OLT is not always a fixed distance. So the distance between the ONT and OLT must be measured periodically and the transmit timing of the ONT upstream signal must be corrected (This measurement and correction operation is called ranging.). When the distances between the OLT and ONT for example are distributed between 20 to 40 kilometers, the maximum allowable distance differential is 20 kilometers. To measure the distance of OLT and ONUs, the time of ranging (a ranging window) is up to 250 μs. 
     During the time of this measurement, only the frames for ranging are transmitted, then user&#39;s communications must be stopped during this time. 
     As described above, the periodic signal such as TDM signals required for a signal transmission at each 125 μs. The problem is that the ranging is performed and user signal is stopped for 250 μs, periodic signal communication becomes impossible and the signal is lost. 
     In a first aspect of this invention to resolve the above problems, the transmit signals are buffered (temporarily stored) at the transmitter during the ranging time and the signals then sent together when the ranging ends. Since some signals might not arrive during the ranging time, while no ranging is taking place, the receiver buffers ahead of time those TDM signals that are sent during the ranging time, and then transmits these buffered signals so that no interruption in communications will occur. 
     In a second aspect of this invention to resolve the above problems, long-period frames that are X-number of times larger than the short-period frames are utilized, and the ranging timing fixed at a specified position on the long-period frame. The communication signals are then clustered into multiple short-period frames ahead of time at the transmitter, assembled as composite frames and transmitted. These composite frames are then disassembled at the receiver, attached to a 125 μs signal and transmitted towards the next communications device. Communication interruptions can then in this way be avoided by scheduling the transmission timing of these composite frames so as not to conflict with the ranging timing. 
     This invention can therefore provide an optical access system capable of transmitting signals requiring periodic transmission without interruptions in communication even during the ranging operation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a drawing of the embodiment of the optical access network system of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an example of the frame timing of this invention; 
         FIG. 3  is one example of the signal transmit/receive timing of this invention; 
         FIG. 4  is one example of the signal transmit/receive timing of this invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an example of the transmit/receive packet format of this invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an example of the transmit/receive packet format of this invention; 
         FIG. 7  is an example of the optical line terminal (OLT) of this invention; 
         FIG. 8  is an example of the subscriber optical network terminal (ONT) of this invention; 
         FIG. 9  is an example of the PON transmit/receive block for the OLT of this invention; 
         FIG. 10  is an example of the TDM GEM terminator devices for the OLT of this invention; 
         FIG. 11  is an example of the PON transmit/receive block for the ONT of this invention; 
         FIG. 12  is an example of the TDM GEM terminator devices for the ONT of this invention; 
         FIG. 13  is a drawing for describing the ranging method; 
         FIG. 14  is a block diagram of the signal processing in the upstream TDM GEM terminator device for the OLT of this invention; 
         FIG. 15  is a block diagram of the signal processing in the downstream TDM GEM terminator device for the OLT of this invention; 
         FIG. 16  is a block diagram of the signal processing in the upstream TDM GEM terminator device for the ONT of this invention; and 
         FIG. 17  is a block diagram of the signal processing in the downstream TDM GEM terminator device for the ONT of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a drawing showing the first embodiment of the optical access network system of this invention. The optical access network system is configured between the OLT- 1  and the ONT  2 - 1 , ONT  2 - 2 . The OLT connects to each ONT via a splitter  3 . At least one among the ONT  2  is connected to the IP system  4  and the TDM system  5 . The OLT connects to the IP network  6  and the TDM network  7 . TDM signals from the TDM system  5  are stored into the TDM network  7  via the optical network. Signals from the IP system  4  are stored in the IP network  6  via the optical network. 
     The ranging is described next using  FIG. 13 . Ranging is a process for measuring the distance between the OLT and ONT in order to correct the phase of the upstream signal. Ranging starts from the OLT and is performed by immediately returning the signal at each ONT. The ranging window  152  is the time in which ranging is performed and during this time, communication interruptions occur. In this invention, time-division multiplex signals can still be sent and received even during the communication interruption time that is characteristic of optical access systems. 
       FIG. 2  is an example of the transmission frame timing in the optical access system of this invention. Short-period frames each 125 μs long are utilized for communication between the OLT  1  and ONT  2 . Communication is performed multiplexing multiple packets called GEM within these short-period frames  20 . This embodiment utilizes a 1 ms long-period frame  22  of multiple frames, and a range timing  21  is fixed to the frame  22 . Here, the term “fixed” indicates performing ranging at a fixed timing on the long-period frame period. In this example, the long-period frame is eight times longer than the short-period frame, and the range timing is fixed to No.  6   20 - 0 - 6  and No.  7   20 - 0 - 7  within this long-period frame. By fixing the range timing  21  to the long-period frame  22 , it is possible to predict when the communications will be cut off (interrupted). 
       FIG. 3  is one example of the signal transmit frame timing in the optical access system of this invention. In this example, the communication is cut off during the range timing so that a two frame portion of the TDM signal is buffered in advance on the receive side device (OLT in the case of this figure) to prepare for ranging, and the communication interruption is avoided by sending the TDM signal from the buffer within that range timing. 
       FIG. 4  is one example of the signal transmit/receive frame timing of the optical access system of this invention. The composite method is used in this example. The composite method is a method in which a TDM signal made up of a fixed number of x frames are constantly buffered on the transmit side device, and sent together as GEM. In this figure, ONT is the transmit side device, and OLT  1  is the receive side device. The TDM signals  40  arrive periodically at the ONT  2 . The ONT  2  buffers and then clusters these signals side-by-side in groups of four each, and consistently transmits them in groups of four as a GEM in the same short-period frame towards the OLT  1 . The OLT  1  disassembles this GEM and transmits each short-period frame as a TDM signal. In this example, the 1 ms long-period frame is a group of four frames so if composite packets  41  are transmitted in the first and fifth or the second and sixth short-period frames inside the long-period frame, then the composite packets  41  can be transmitted while avoiding the ranging timing fixed at the seventh and eighth (short-period frames) so that communication interruptions can be avoided. 
       FIG. 5  is an example of the composite packet of this invention. This drawing shows the case where the composites are equivalent to three time slots. The composite TDM signals  52  are multiplexed to the rear of the GEM header  50 . An expand-decrease flag  51  is a field for communicating information relating to expansion or reduction. This expand-decrease flag  51  is sometimes utilized for expanding or reducing the number of TDM channels for the applicable ONT  2 . 
       FIG. 6  is an example of a composite packet. This drawing shows the case where the composites are equivalent to three time slots. This drawing also shows the case in which two TDM channels are assigned to the applicable ONT  2 . Signals for CH 1   52 - 1  and CH 2   52 - 2  are alternately loaded in three frames in the same GEM. The expand-decrease flag  51  is a field for communicating information relating to expansion or reduction. This expand-decrease flag  51  is sometimes utilized for expanding or reducing the number of TDM channels for the applicable ONT  2 . 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing the structure of the OLT  1  in this invention. Upstream signals arriving from the optical access network are converted to electrical signals in the photoelectric converter module  71 , and next GEM-terminated in the OLT PON transmit/receiver block  72 , then converted to Ethernet frames and TDM signals, and sent respectively to the Ethernet PHY  73  and the TDM PHY  74 , and transmitted to the IP network  6  and the TDM signal network  7 . Downstream signals arriving from the Ethernet PHY  73  and the TDM PHY  74  are first respectively received at the Ethernet PHY  73  and TDM PHY  74 , and next assembled into GEM frames in the OLT PON transmit/receiver block  72 , and then transmitted via the photoelectric converter module  71  to the optical network  7 . An MPU  75  and RAM  76 , and control interface  77  are a microcomputer for controlling the OLT, a RAM, and a setup interface for making external settings to the OLT. 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing the structure of the ONT  1  of this invention. Downstream signals arriving from the optical access network are converted into electrical signals by the photoelectric converter module  81 , GEM-terminated by the ONT PON transmit/receiver block  82 , then converted to Ethernet frames and TDM signals, and sent respectively to the Ethernet PHY  83  and the TDM PHY  84 , and transmitted to the IP system  4  and the TDM system  5 . After the upstream signals arriving from the IP system  4  and the TDM system  5  are received respectively at the Ethernet PHY  83  and the TDM PHY  84 , they are assembled into GEM frames in the ONT PON transmit/receiver block  82 , and then transmitted via the photoelectric converter module  81  to the optical network  7 . An MPU  85  and RAM  86  and control interface  87  are a microcomputer for controlling the ONT, a RAM, and a setup interface for making external settings to the ONT. 
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram showing in detail the structure of the OLT PON transmit/receiver block  72 . The upstream signals from the photoelectric converter module  71  arrive at the PON receiver  90 . Here, after synchronizing and GEM extraction are performed, the signals divided into multiple transmitted short-period frames are GEM assembled in the receiver GEM assembly  91 . After then storing them in the receiver GEM buffer  92 , they are assigned to the OLT upstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  94  and the OLT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  96  according to table information in the OLT receive table  93 . The Ethernet frames are transmitted via the OLT upstream Ethernet interface  95  to the Ethernet PHY  73 . The TDM signals are extracted from (TDM) composite packets by the OLT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  96 , and sent at the desired timing via the OLT upstream TDM interface  97 , to the TDM PHY  84 . 
     The downstream signals are received as TDM signals from the OLT downstream TDM interface  104 , and the OLT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  103  buffers (temporarily stores) the TDM signals and assembles them into composite frames. The Ethernet frames are received from the OLT downstream Ethernet interface  106 , and the OLT downstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  105  then generates the GEM. The OLT downstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  105  then periodically loads the (TDM) composite GEM from the OLT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  103 , at the available timing according to instructions from the OLT transmit scheduler  102 . After the transmit GEM assembly  100  generates headers via the transmit GEM buffer  101 , the PON transmitter  99  transmits the GEM frames. When performing ranging, the ranging control unit  98  starts ranging with a ranging signal at the timing allowed by the OLT transmit scheduler  102 , and the PON transmitter  99  sends the ranging signals. A reply from ONT  2  then returns to the ranging control unit  98  via the PON receiver  90  to complete the ranging. 
       FIG. 10  is a block diagram showing the structure of the OLT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  96  and the OLT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  103 . After the GEM terminator section  110  deletes the GEM headers of upstream receiver GEM holding the TDM signals, a payload section is written on the upstream frame buffer  111 . The upstream TDM IF block  112  reads out (or loads) the TDM signals according to values in the composite number instruction register  116  and transmits them every 125 μs. These TDM signals headed downstream arrive at the downstream TDM IF block  113  every 125 μs, and those signals are then written in the downstream frame buffer  114 . The storage position in the memory is at this time set according to the value in the composite number instruction register  116 . The GEM generator  115  assembles the specified number of composite frames according to values in the composite number instruction register  116 , attaches a GEM header and transmits the frames. 
       FIG. 14  is a drawing showing the method for disassembling GEM frames and generating TDM frames in the OLT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  96 . After receiving the composite GEM frames (of TDM signals), the OLT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  96  deletes the GEM header  50  and internal header region, and consecutively writes the payload  52  for the composite frame in fields on the upstream frame buffer  111 . The upstream TDM IF block  112  generates 125 μs period frames  162  at the clock  161  (32 MHz in this example), and the arriving composite TDM signals respectively mapped as  164 - 1  through  3  and transmitted at 125 μs period each. The frame valid signal  163  flows in parallel with the frame at this time and indicates whether the TDM signal is valid or invalid. The TDM PHY  74  receives this signal, and a TDM signal is sent here by mapping in SDH frames. 
       FIG. 15  is a drawing showing the method for receiving TDM frames and generating GEM frames in the OLT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  103 . 
     The mapped signal comprised of SDH frames received at the TDM PHY  74  is converted here to a signal flowing in parallel with a clock signal  171 , a frame top signal  172 , and a frame valid signal  173  and these signals are input to the OLT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  103 . These signals arriving every 125 μs are each written in a specified number of bytes on a specified region of the downstream frame buffer  114 . When the writing ends and the GEM generator  115  finishes generating the internal header region and GEM headers, the signals are loaded (read-out) as a consecutive number of composites from the upstream frame buffer  114 , and GEM frames are generated. These frames are sent to the transmit GEM buffer and transmitted to the PON domain. 
       FIG. 11  is a block diagram showing the ONT PON transmit/receiver block  82 . The downstream signal arrives at the PON receiver  127  from the photoelectric converter module  71 . Here, after synchronizing and GEM extraction are performed, the signals divided into multiple transmitted short-period frames are GEM assembled in the Receive GEM assembly  126 . After then storing them in the receiver GEM buffer  125 , they are assigned to the ONT upstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  121  and the ONT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  123  according to table information in the ONT receive table  124 . The Ethernet frames are transmitted via the ONT upstream Ethernet interface  120  to the Ethernet PHY  83 . The TDM signals are extracted from (TDM) composite packets by the ONT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  123 , and sent at the desired timing via the ONT upstream TDM interface  122 , to the TDM PHY  84 . 
     The upstream signals are received as TDM signals from the ONT upstream TDM interface  134 , and the ONT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  133  buffers (temporarily stores) the TDM signals and assembles them into composite frames. The Ethernet frames are received from the ONT upstream Ethernet interface  136 , and the ONT upstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  135  then generates the GEM. The ONT upstream Ethernet GEM terminator section  135  then periodically loads the (TDM) composite GEM from the ONT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  133  at the available timing according to instructions from the OLT transmit scheduler  131 . After the transmit GEM assembly  130  generates headers via the transmit GEM buffer  132 , the PON transmitter  129  transmits the GEM frames. 
     When ranging is requested, the ranging control unit  128  processes the ranging request signal received at the PON receiver  127 , and the ONT  2  completes the ranging process by sending the ranging receive signal back via the PON transmitter  129 . 
       FIG. 12  is a block diagram showing the structure of the ONT downstream TDM GEM terminator section  123  and the ONT upstream TDM GEN terminator section  133 . After the GEM terminator section  140  deletes the GEM headers of downstream receiver GEM holding the TDM signals, a payload section is written on the downstream frame buffer  141 . The downstream TDM IF block  142  reads out (or loads) the TDM signals according to values in the composite number instruction register  146  and transmits them every 125 μs. These TDM signals headed upstream arrive at the upstream TDM IF block  143  every 125 μs, and those signals are then written in the upstream frame buffer  144 . The storage position in the memory is at this time set according to the value in the composite number instruction register  146 . The GEM generator  145  assembles the specified number of composite frames according to values in the composite number instruction register  146 , attaches a GEM header and transmits the frames. 
       FIG. 16  is a drawing showing the method for receiving TDM frames and generating GEM frames in the ONT upstream TDM GEM terminator section  133 . The mapped TDM signal received as SDH frames at the TDM PHY  84  is converted here to a signal flowing in parallel with a clock signal  181 , a frame top signal  182 , and a frame valid signal  183 , and these signals are input to the upstream TDM IF block  143 . These signals arriving every 125 μs are each written in a specified number of bytes on a specified region of the downstream frame buffer  141 . When the writing ends and the GEM generator  145  finishes generating the internal headers and GEM headers, the signals are loaded (read-out) as a consecutive number of composites from the upstream frame buffer  144 , and GEM frames are generated. These frames are sent to the transmit GEM buffer and transmitted to the PON domain. 
       FIG. 17  is a drawing showing the method for disassembling the GEM frames and generating TDM frames in the ONT downstream TDM terminator section  123 . After receiving the composite GEM frames (of TDM signals), the ONT downstream TDM terminator section  123  deletes the GEM header  50  and internal header region, and consecutively writes the payload  52  for the composite frame in fields on the upstream frame buffer  141 . The downstream TDM IF block  142  generates 125 μs period frames  192  at the clock  191  (32 MHz in this example), and transmits the arriving composite TDM signals respectively mapped as  194 - 1  through  3 , every 125 μs. The frame valid signal  193  flows in parallel with the frame at this time and indicates whether the TDM signal is valid or invalid. The TDM PHY  84  receives this signal and by mapping in frames such as T 1 , a TDM signal is sent at this point.