Patent Description:
A Passive Optical Network, referred to as PON, based on power splitting, is a promising solution for access networks with a Point-To-MultiPoint, P2MP, architecture at a high data-rate. Considering the increasing demand of subscribers for advanced multimedia applications such as e.g. video-on-demand services and online gaming, future PONs are anticipated to provide a higher speed transmission, for example <NUM>-Gb/s and beyond, over a reach of at least several tens of km. <CIT> for example describes a data transmission method, and the related device and system, which can shorten the time consumed by data transmission and improve the data transmission efficiency of a passive optical network. Time Division Multiple-Access PON architecture is employed in standardized PON generations for the upstream direction, allowing different network users or ONUs to share the upstream bandwidth based on their individual time slot assigned by the OLT. Increasing the bit rate per wavelength channel in a PON while maintaining the use of intensity modulation and direct detection is very challenging.

At high serial rates, the performance of the signal in upstream PONs will be impaired by dispersion and bandwidth-limitations, such as for example Inter-Symbol Interference or ISI induced by fiber dispersion in the C-band and part of the O-band which will limit the transmission reach. Additionally, cost-effective high-performance components at the OLT and ONU are unavailable, as for example the development of high bandwidth (><NUM>) and high gain Avalanche PhotoDiode receivers is immature, as for example premium dual-drive Mach-Zehnder Modulators or Electro-absorption Modulated Lasers are costly. Therefore, using components from <NUM> Gb/s or <NUM> Gb/s PON will cause further ISI induced by the limited bandwidth of the receiver and limit the reach for <NUM>/<NUM> Gb/s PON systems. Finally, especially in the upstream direction of a PON, the ONUs are located at different distances with respect to the OLT. Different optical power levels and different levels of signal impairments reaching the receiver at the OLT side can therefore be expected. Another challenge is that Low Capex and Opex solutions for transparent coexistence of future high-speed PONs with legacy PONs are expected by network operators such as for example FSAN, IEEE AND ITU SG-<NUM>, posting significant challenges in terms of opto-electronic bandwidth and resilience to fibre chromatic dispersion.

Several electronic and optical approaches are known from literature to compensate for ISI in PONs. For example, Digital Signal Processing or DSP is one of the most promising methods to compensate the signal impairments by ISI. DSP comprises the application of for example signal equalization, conditioning, Forward Error Correction coding, etc. to compensate for these impairments. However, due to the TDMA-burst mode nature of the upstream path in PONs, specific mechanisms are required to adapt and improve existing DSPs to be applicable to the optical access domain. Existing signal recovery can hardly function effectively in upstream PONs as the burst-mode payload can be extremely short, for example down to a few tens of bytes, which requires a rapid signal recovery adaptation before the start of each payload, which is difficult to achieve at the above-mentioned bit rates. Additionally, such a signal recovery adaption also requires the least overhead of the payload to avoid reduction of the upstream transmission efficiency, while the current signal recovery methods usually have a long training sequence. Considering the burst payloads from multiple ONUs are employed by different components and have various distances to the OLT, the receiver at the OLT is facing payloads with dynamic range, e.g., different received optical power, hence different Signal-to-Noise Ratios, and dispersion impaired signals bringing further challenges in the signal recovery performance.

The electronic techniques known from literature to compensate for ISI in PONs have the common challenge that optimum performance would require a rapid adaptation of equalizer parameters from one ONU to another, i.e. within the ns-range to avoid the waste of bandwidth. A fast convergence time is not available, and non-optimum performance is accepted with fixed DSP settings or longer convergence time is accepted causing loss of usable bandwidth. In future generations of PON, new services and client systems can be very demanding, e.g., <NUM> Radio Access Network, which will cause the change of requirements on PON systems. For example, neither the waste of bandwidth nor the lack of high-speed performances can be affordable for the above applications, though they might be tolerable in some cases for residential applications.

Several optical methods are proposed in the literature to compensate ISI in PON. Applying optical signal processing with, e.g., tight optical filtering by delay interferometer is also not suitable for burst-mode, as the wavelength instability occurs due to the bursting of laser (especially DML) which exclude narrow optical filters. Optical dispersion compensation methods, such as using a dispersion compensation fiber and a fiber Bragg gratings, can result in a high cost each of them must be applied to each ONU. Additionally, deploying them as post-compensation in the OLT for shared costs cannot provide the compensation over the full range of distortion. Furthermore, either approach is compatible with legacy PONs generations. Finally, the mentioned optical schemes add a significant insertion loss which must be overcome.

Even though DSP is one of the most promising methods to compensate for signal impairments induced by ISI, it will introduce a cost and a complexity into the low-cost PON scenario, such as for example the introduction of a high-speed Analog-to-Digital Converter and/or a Digital-to-Analog Converter and high-power consumption. Thus, known DSP-engines from other fields need to be modified and tailored to address the challenges observed in the upstream PON. Electronic Dispersion Compensation or EDC is another method know from literature to compensate for ISI in PONs. EDC share similar challenges with DSP, but without the ADC/DAC problem and demonstrates less power consumption. At this stage, neuro-networks are immature considering the limited performance improvement that can be achieved. Also, the use of neural networks is still too complicated for PON on multiple aspects: the cost, the computational complexity and time, implementation complexity and the power consumption.

It is thus an object of embodiments of the present invention to propose a method and a system, which do not show the inherent shortcomings of the prior art.

There is a need for developing a rapid, precise and dynamic data recovery scheme for upstream PONs.

Amongst others, it is an object of embodiments of the invention to develop a data recovery scheme for upstream PONs which has a feasible implementation with lower cost and complexity.

This object is achieved, according to a first example aspect of the present disclosure, by a system for determining a signal recovery configuration for upstream transmission of bursts from optical network units, abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination, abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network, abbreviated PON, wherein the system comprises:.

The system according to a first example aspect of the invention can be used in any high-speed burst mode PON that requires rapid signal recovery with lower complexity and power consumption for achieving higher transmission rate along longer distances. The detection and the identification of the signal impairments faced by upstream bursts transmitted from ONUs to OLTs is performed based on the detection of a received pattern embedded into a header of an upstream burst. In other words, each upstream burst comprises a received pattern embedded into its header, and the received pattern comprises information indicative for an impairment experienced by the upstream burst in the PON. Preferably, each upstream burst comprises a received pattern embedded into a preamble of its header.

The system according to a first example aspect of the invention suggests a pattern recognition method to enable the identification and categorisation of different ONUs in the PHY layer without enquiring the MAC layer knowledge as this MAC layer knowledge is typically not available towards the physical devices in the PON. Such identification and categorisation requires a short overhead of the payload per upstream burst from each ONU as applied in current generations of PON, and it will be used to obtain the extent of physical layer impairments of this ONUs, such as for example fibre dispersion and/or ONU components' bandwidth limitation. The result of the identification and categorisation will be useful to decide a fast signal recovery with low complexity afterwards to better serve the ONU's transmission with lower power consumption. The employment of the system according to a first example aspect of the invention simplifies the signal processing needs and can be especially useful in future upstream Time Division Multiplexing-PONs that require higher rates and longer reach.

With the system according to a first example aspect of the invention, it becomes possible to learn the unique features occurring in the header received by the OLT-side receiver for each of the individual ONU or groups of ONUs. These features can exclusively reflect the degrees of transmission impairments induced by different levels of bandwidth-limited transceiver and fibre dispersion, i.e., fiber transmission length, in a fine granularity. For each degree of impairments, at the OLT-receiver side, a corresponding configuration for the signal recovery configuration scheme will be employed, such as for example a specific tap number and tap weights configurations for a receiver equalisation. It is also desired to be sensitive to the impairments to facilitate the learning of the unique features as accurately as possible.

The system comprises predetermined knowledge about a correspondence between predefined patterns and corresponding signal recovery configurations. The received pattern is compared to the predefined patterns already known by the system and the predefined pattern which matches the received pattern is the one that corresponds to the received pattern. In other words, the received pattern is the logical pattern that is transmitted from the ONU to the OLT and/or to the system for example comprised in the OLT. This logical pattern is also known to the system beforehand as a predefined pattern, for example the logical pattern was defined e.g. by the system management. The receiver of the system and/or of the OLT detects the distorted received pattern and compares this distorted received pattern to the predefined patterns for finding the correct settings for the subsequent signal recovery. In other words, matching the received pattern to one of the predefined patterns can be defined as identifying the predefined pattern which comprises the same logical pattern as the received pattern, and wherein the logical pattern is not impacted or distorted by upstream transmission impairments. In other words, finding the predefined pattern corresponding to the received pattern can be defined as identifying the predefined pattern which comprises the same logical pattern as the received pattern, and wherein the logical pattern is not impacted or distorted by upstream transmission impairments. Alternatively, matching the received pattern to one of the predefined patterns or finding the predefined pattern corresponding to the received pattern can be defined as identifying the predefined pattern which demonstrates the highest probability within the predefined patterns known by the system to comprise a logical pattern which is identical to the logical pattern comprised in the received pattern. In other words, a received pattern is matched to a predefined pattern when the logical pattern comprised in the predefined pattern is identified by the system as the one, of the predefined patterns, demonstrating the highest probability to be identical to the logical pattern comprised in the received pattern.

According to example embodiments, the system comprises:.

The predetermined look-up table, also referred to as LUT, may be stored in the system according to a first example aspect of the invention. For example, the predetermined look-up table may preferable be stored in the means for accessing the predetermined look-up table. The LUT according to a first example aspect of the invention maps each pattern identification descriptor from each amount of impairment induced on the upstream burst to its corresponding signal recovery configuration. An impairment amount of an ONU is an indication that the ONU experiences impairments. Such a predetermined LUT may be created from multiple platforms. For example, it can be created based on a simulation platform, emulated testbed platforms or even by applying in-operation processes. The predetermined correspondence between predefined patterns and signal recovery configurations is for example comprised in a predetermined look-up table comprising predefined pattern identification descriptors, and in which to each predefined pattern identification descriptor corresponds a signal recovery configuration.

According to example embodiments, the system is further configured to receive upstream bursts from the plurality of ONUs of the PON and further configured to determine a signal recovery configuration for each upstream burst received from the ONUs.

In this schematic among ONU-<NUM> to ONU-n, when an upstream burst from one ONU-x arrives the OLT, the pattern identification block will start to distinguish this arriving pattern using the pre-defined pattern in its head. As the content of the pre-defined pattern is known, the received pattern at the OLT is then compared with the known content. Multiple methods can be used for such a comparison for distinguishing impairments, such as cross-correlation, spectrum density analysis, image differencing or recognition and other AI related methods, etc..

In this context, n-number of ONUs are located at different distances from the OLT. Additionally, the hardware components implemented in different ONUs differ from each other due to multiple technical characteristics such as for example different manufactures, or variations across wafer runs due to temperature differences, etc. or Capex/Opex reasons e.g. bit rates, potential future pressing engines for business and residential users. Therefore, each upstream burst of each ONU experiences different impairments from the corresponding ONU to the OLT, such as for example fibre chromatic dispersion, imperfection of the ONU and OLT components, as well as the components bandwidth limitation, etc.. Accordingly, based on the learning and the identification of a pattern's distortion from the received pattern of each upstream burst, the relationship between the measured pattern and the impairments can be identified. Therefore, for numerous ONUs, a mapping table can be created and employed as a predetermined look-up table. This table can be applied not only to initialise the PON with data recovery configurations for already operational ONUs, i.e. the ONUs that are already known by the PON, but also for newly added ONUs, i.e. ONUs joining the PON system for first time during the PON's operation.

According to all embodiments, the received pattern is comprised in a preamble of a header of the upstream burst.

This way, the header of the upstream bursts comprises a preamble and the received pattern is comprised in the preamble. The header for example comprises an ITU-T preamble, an identifier, the received pattern and an ITU-T delimiter. The upstream burst comprises the header and the corresponding ONU-x burst data payload.

According to example embodiments, the preamble comprises <NUM> or <NUM> bits.

This way, the construction of the preambles is desired to be as short as possible considering the efficiency of the data payload, e.g., <NUM> or <NUM> bits.

According to example embodiments, the level of difference between the received pattern and the predefined pattern is indicative for an impact of one or more of the upstream transmission impairments between the ONU and the system.

The level of difference between the known and the received received pattern will be obtained as a pattern identification descriptor, e.g., descriptor-x, which can be in any effective forms like a vector, a matrix or other expressions. This descriptor-x will be further compared with the LUT pattern identification descriptor-a to descriptor-m to find the best match. Once the match is found, for example, is descriptor-b on the LUT, then the corresponding signal recovery configuration-b will be directly set as the initial parameters for recovering the corresponding burst payload in the system according to a first exmaple aspect of the invention. The system can contain different recovery schemes based on the system's necessity, such as for example Feed-Forward Equaliser or FFE, Decision Feedback Equalizer or DFE, Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation or MLSE, or any other compensation scheme. The signal recovery configurations setup in the LUT will correspond to each of the used compensation schemes.

According to example embodiments, the system is comprised in the OLT.

Apart from the traditional receiver of the upstream bursts of the ONUs, the additional pattern identification and signal recovery functions are placed in the OLT.

According to example embodiments, the system is operationally coupled to the OLT.

Alternatively, apart from the traditional receiver of the upstream bursts of the ONUs, the additional pattern identification and signal recovery functions are placed in the OLT.

According to example embodiments, the signal recovery configuration comprises one or more of the following:.

According to example embodiments, the system is configured to access a single predetermined look-up table to determine signal recovery configurations for the upstream bursts received from the plurality of ONUs of the PON.

This way, based on the learning and the identification of a pattern's distortion from the received pattern of each upstream burst, the relationship between the measured pattern and the impairments can be identified. Therefore, for numerous ONUs, a mapping table can be created and employed as a predetermined look-up table. This table can be applied to initialise the PON with data recovery configurations for already operational ONUs, i.e. the ONUs that are already known by the PON.

According to example embodiments, the system is configured to access a single predetermined look-up table to determine signal recovery configurations for upstream bursts received from a ONU newly added to the PON.

This way, based on the learning and the identification of a pattern's distortion from the received pattern of each upstream burst, the relationship between the measured pattern and the impairments can be identified. Therefore, for numerous ONUs, a mapping table can be created and employed as a predetermined look-up table. This table can be applied for newly added ONUs, i.e. ONUs joining the PON system for first time during the PON's operation.

According to a second example aspect, use of a predetermined correspondence between predefined patterns and signal recovery configurations for determining a signal recovery configuration for upstream transmission of bursts from optical network units, abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination, abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network, abbreviated PON, is disclosed wherein the determining a signal recovery configuration comprises:.

looking up in the look-up table a signal recovery configuration corresponding to the predefined pattern identification descriptor matching the pattern identification descriptor, thereby determining a signal recovery configuration corresponding to the predefined pattern corresponding to the received pattern of the upstream burst, thereby determining a signal recovery configuration for the upstream burst.

According to example embodiments, a use of a predetermined look-up table is disclosed, wherein the predetermined look-up table comprises predefined pattern identification descriptors, and in which to each predefined pattern identification descriptor corresponds a signal recovery configuration, for determining a signal recovery configuration for upstream transmission of bursts from optical network units, abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination, abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network, abbreviated PON, wherein the determining a signal recovery configuration comprises:.

The detection and the identification of the signal impairments faced by upstream bursts transmitted from ONUs to OLTs is performed based on the detection of a received pattern embedded into a header of an upstream burst. In other words, each upstream burst comprises a received pattern embedded into its header, and the received pattern comprises information indicative for an impairment experienced by the upstream burst in the PON. Preferably, each upstream burst comprises a received pattern embedded into a preamble of its header. The predetermined look-up table, also referred to as LUT, maps each pattern identification descriptor from each amount of impairment induced on the upstream burst to its corresponding signal recovery configuration. An impairment amount of an ONU is an indication that the ONU experiences impairments. Such a predetermined LUT may be created from multiple platforms. For example, it can be created based on a simulation platform, emulated testbed platforms or even by applying in-operation processes.

Thus, the use according to a second example aspect of the invention suggests a pattern recognition method to enable the identification and categorisation of different ONUs in the PHY layer without enquiring the MAC layer knowledge as this MAC layer knowledge is typically not available towards the physical devices in the PON. Such identification and categorisation requires a short overhead of the payload per upstream burst from each ONU as applied in current generations of PON, and it will be used to obtain the extent of physical layer impairments of this ONUs, such as for example fibre dispersion and/or ONU components' bandwidth limitation. The result of the identification and categorisation will be useful to decide a fast signal recovery with low complexity afterwards to better serve the ONU's transmission with lower power consumption. The employment of the use according to a first example aspect of the invention simplifies the signal processing needs and can be especially useful in future upstream Time Division Multiplexing-PONs that require higher rates and longer reach.

With the use according to a second example aspect of the invention, it becomes possible to learn the unique features occurring in the header received by the OLT-side receiver for each of the individual ONU or groups of ONUs. These features can exclusively reflect the degrees of transmission impairments induced by different levels of bandwidth-limited transceiver and fibre dispersion, i.e., fiber transmission length, in a fine granularity. For each degree of impairments, at the OLT-receiver side, a corresponding configuration for the signal recovery configuration scheme will be employed, such as for example a specific tap number and tap weights configurations for a receiver equalisation. It is also desired to be sensitive to the impairments to facilitate the learning of the unique features as accurately as possible.

According to a third example aspect, a method is disclosed for determining a signal recovery configuration for upstream transmission of bursts from optical network units, abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination, abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network, abbreviated PON, wherein the method comprises the steps of:.

According to example embodiments, a method is disclosed for determining a signal recovery configuration for upstream transmission of bursts from optical network units, abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination, abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network, abbreviated PON, wherein the method comprises the steps of:.

Thus, the method according to a third example aspect of the invention suggests a pattern recognition method to enable the identification and categorisation of different ONUs in the PHY layer without enquiring the MAC layer knowledge as this MAC layer knowledge is typically not available towards the physical devices in the PON. Such identification and categorisation requires a short overhead of the payload per upstream burst from each ONU as applied in current generations of PON, and it will be used to obtain the extent of physical layer impairments of this ONUs, such as for example fibre dispersion and/or ONU components' bandwidth limitation. The result of the identification and categorisation will be useful to decide a fast signal recovery with low complexity afterwards to better serve the ONU's transmission with lower power consumption. The employment of the method according to a second example aspect of the invention simplifies the signal processing needs and can be especially useful in future upstream Time Division Multiplexing-PONs that require higher rates and longer reach.

With the method according to a third example aspect of the invention, it becomes possible to learn the unique features occurring in the header received by the OLT-side receiver for each of the individual ONU or groups of ONUs. These features can exclusively reflect the degrees of transmission impairments induced by different levels of bandwidth-limited transceiver and fibre dispersion, i.e., fiber transmission length, in a fine granularity. For each degree of impairments, at the OLT-receiver side, a corresponding configuration for the signal recovery configuration scheme will be employed, such as for example a specific tap number and tap weights configurations for a receiver equalisation. It is also desired to be sensitive to the impairments to facilitate the learning of the unique features as accurately as possible.

According to a fourth example aspect, a computer program product according to claim <NUM> is disclosed.

According to example embodiments, a computer program product is disclosed comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a system to perform at least the following:.

According to a fifth example aspect, a computer readable storage medium according to claim <NUM> is disclosed.

According to example embodiments, a computer readable storage medium is disclosed comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the following steps when the program is run on a computer:.

<FIG> illustrates a system <NUM> for determining a signal recovery configuration <NUM> for an upstream burst <NUM> from an optical network unit <NUM> to an optical line termination <NUM> in a passive optical network <NUM>. The system <NUM> receives an upstream burst <NUM> from an ONU <NUM>. The system <NUM> detects a received pattern <NUM> in the upstream burst <NUM>. The system <NUM> determines a pattern identification descriptor <NUM> for the ONU <NUM> indicative for a level of difference between the received pattern <NUM> and the predefined pattern corresponding to the received pattern <NUM> In other words, the received pattern <NUM> is the logical pattern that is transmitted from the ONU to the OLT and/or to the system for example comprised in the OLT. This logical pattern is also known to the system beforehand as a predefined pattern <NUM>, for example the logical pattern was defined e.g. by the system management. The receiver of the system and/or of the OLT detects the distorted received pattern <NUM> and compares this received pattern <NUM> with the predefined pattern <NUM> for finding the correct settings for the subsequent signal recovery. The system <NUM> accesses a predetermined correspondence between predefined patterns and signal recovery configurations. For example, the system <NUM> accesses predetermined look-up table comprising predefined pattern identification descriptors and in which to each predefined pattern identification descriptor corresponds a signal recovery configuration. The system <NUM> matches the pattern identification descriptor <NUM> to one of the predefined pattern identification descriptors from the predetermined look-up table. The system <NUM> further looks-up in the predetermined look-up table a signal recovery configuration <NUM> corresponding to the predefined pattern identification descriptor matching the pattern identification descriptor <NUM>, thereby determining a signal recovery configuration <NUM> for the upstream burst <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an upstream burst <NUM> from an optical network unit to an optical line termination in a passive optical network. The upstream burst <NUM> comprises a header <NUM> and a data payload <NUM>. The header <NUM> comprises a preamble <NUM>. The preamble <NUM> comprises <NUM> or <NUM> bits. The preamble <NUM> comprises a received pattern <NUM> for the optical network unit.

<FIG> illustrates a system <NUM> for determining a signal recovery configuration <NUM> for an upstream burst <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> from an optical network unit <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> to an optical line termination <NUM> in a passive optical network <NUM>. Components having identical reference numbers than on <FIG> perform the same function. The system <NUM> receives an upstream burst <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> from the ONUs <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>. As depicted in <FIG>, the upstream burst <NUM>; <NUM>; <NUM> undergo different impairments before all the bursts are combined in the splitter and reach the system <NUM>. The system <NUM> detects a received pattern <NUM> in each of the upstream burst <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>. More particularly, the system <NUM> detects a received pattern <NUM> in a header of each of the upstream burst <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>. The system <NUM> determines a pattern identification descriptor <NUM> for each ONU <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> indicative for a level of difference between the received pattern <NUM> and the predefined pattern <NUM> corresponding to the received pattern <NUM>. In other words, the received pattern <NUM> is the logical pattern that is transmitted from the ONU to the OLT and/or to the system for example comprised in the OLT. This logical pattern is also known to the system beforehand as a predefined pattern <NUM>, for example the logical pattern was defined e.g. by the system management. The receiver of the system and/or of the OLT detects the distorted received pattern <NUM> and compares this received pattern <NUM> with the predefined pattern <NUM> for finding the correct settings for the subsequent signal recovery. The level of difference between the received pattern <NUM> and the predefined pattern <NUM> for an upstream burst is indicative for an impact of an upstream transmission impairment between the corresponding ONU and the system <NUM>. The system <NUM> accesses predetermined correspondence between predefined patterns <NUM> and signal recovery configurations. For example, the system <NUM> accesses a predetermined look-up table <NUM>, also known as LUT, comprising predefined pattern identification descriptors <NUM> and in which to each predefined pattern identification descriptor <NUM> corresponds a signal recovery configuration <NUM>. The system <NUM> matches each pattern identification descriptor <NUM> to one of the predefined pattern identification descriptors <NUM> from the predetermined look-up table <NUM>. The system <NUM> further looks-up in the predetermined look-up table a signal recovery configuration <NUM> corresponding to each of the predefined pattern identification descriptors <NUM> matching the pattern identification descriptors <NUM>, thereby determining a signal recovery configuration <NUM> for each of the upstream bursts <NUM>; <NUM>; <NUM> received from the ONUs <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>. The system <NUM> is comprised in the OLT <NUM>. According to an alternative embodiment, the system <NUM> is a system independent from the OLT and operationally coupled to the OLT <NUM>. The signal recovery configuration <NUM> comprises for example feed-forward equalization, a decision feedback equalizer model, maximum likelihood sequence estimation. The system <NUM> access a single look-up table <NUM> to determine signal recovery configurations <NUM> for the upstream bursts <NUM>; <NUM>; <NUM> received from the ONUs <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a specific example of determining a signal recovery configuration <NUM> for upstream bursts <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> from optical network units to an optical line termination in a passive optical network. Components having identical reference numbers than on <FIG> or <FIG> perform the same function. In this example, the cross-correlation values are used to represent the pattern identification descriptors in the LUT of <FIG>. The feed-forward equalization also knonw as FFE is used as the example signal recovery scheme in the signal recovery block and assumes a <NUM>-tap implementation. This implementation results in three FFE weights values to be configured for an FFE weights-x in the LUT, corresponding to each identification result. Each FFE weights-x will be used as the initial values for setting up the FFE implementation <NUM> in compensating the impairments in the data payload. Referring to this specific LUT example, we further provide some simulation results in supporting its technical details shown in <FIG>. The impairments can be described as a bandwidth limitation equivalence at the OLT side, and in the simulation example depicted in <FIG>, this equivalent bandwidth limitation is mathematically approximated by using a Bessel low-pass filter, and by setting different 3dB frequency values of this filter implementation. The output signal of the filter will contain different amount of impairments that emulate different ONUs. Upstream bursts <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> are received at by the system of <FIG> which can be comprised in the OLT of the PON after different impairments equivalence corresponding to the ones depicted in <FIG>. The upstream bursts <NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM> comprise logical patterns which are received as received patterns <NUM> by the system of <FIG>. The received patterns <NUM> are compared to predefined patterns. In this example, the Bessel filtering provides the bandwidth limitation of <NUM>%, <NUM>% and <NUM>% of the original bandwidth. In the middle column, the cross-correlation are calculated (the value from the middle peak of each sub-figure) as criteria of the pattern identification descriptors <NUM>. In the last column, the corresponding FFE weights are also obtained using the iterative Live Monitoring System adaptation method, assuming a <NUM>-Tap FFE only for example. The BERs after the FFE recovery for the three cases are all <NUM>, indicating no errors in the payload. According to example embodiments, the system is further configured to determine specific tap weights configurations for the feed-forward equalization.

<FIG> shows a suitable computing system <NUM> enabling to implement embodiments of the system. Computing system <NUM> may in general be formed as a suitable general-purpose computer and comprise a bus <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a local memory <NUM>, one or more optional input interfaces <NUM>, one or more optional output interfaces <NUM>, a communication interface <NUM>, a storage element interface <NUM>, and one or more storage elements <NUM>. Bus <NUM> may comprise one or more conductors that permit communication among the components of the computing system <NUM>. Processor <NUM> may include any type of conventional processor or microprocessor that interprets and executes programming instructions. Local memory <NUM> may include a random-access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions for execution by processor <NUM> and/or a read only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device that stores static information and instructions for use by processor <NUM>. Input interface <NUM> may comprise one or more conventional mechanisms that permit an operator or user to input information to the computing device <NUM>, such as a keyboard <NUM>, a mouse <NUM>, a pen, voice recognition and/or biometric mechanisms, a camera, etc. Output interface <NUM> may comprise one or more conventional mechanisms that output information to the operator or user, such as a display <NUM>, etc. Communication interface <NUM> may comprise any transceiver-like mechanism such as for example one or more Ethernet interfaces that enables computing system <NUM> to communicate with other devices and/or systems, for example with other computing devices <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. The communication interface <NUM> of computing system <NUM> may be connected to such another computing system by means of a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) such as for example the internet. Storage element interface <NUM> may comprise a storage interface such as for example a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface or a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) for connecting bus <NUM> to one or more storage elements <NUM>, such as one or more local disks, for example SATA disk drives, and control the reading and writing of data to and/or from these storage elements <NUM>. Although the storage element(s) <NUM> above is/are described as a local disk, in general any other suitable computer-readable media such as a removable magnetic disk, optical storage media such as a CD or DVD, -ROM disk, solid state drives, flash memory cards,. could be used. Computing system <NUM> could thus correspond to the system in the embodiment illustrated by <FIG>.

Claim 1:
A system (<NUM>) for determining a signal recovery configuration (<NUM>) for upstream transmission of bursts (<NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>) from optical network units (<NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>;<NUM>), abbreviated ONUs, to an optical line termination (<NUM>;<NUM>), abbreviated OLT, in a passive optical network (<NUM>), abbreviated PON, wherein said system (<NUM>) comprises:
- means configured to receive an upstream burst (<NUM>) from one of said ONUs (<NUM>), wherein said upstream burst (<NUM>) is distorted by upstream transmission impairments;
- means configured to detect a received pattern (<NUM>) in said upstream burst (<NUM>), wherein a header of said upstream burst (<NUM>) comprises an identifier and a preamble comprising said received pattern (<NUM>);
- means configured to determine a pattern identification descriptor (<NUM>) for said ONU (<NUM>) indicative for a level of difference between said received pattern (<NUM>) and a predefined pattern (<NUM>) corresponding to said received pattern (<NUM>);
- means configured to store a predetermined correspondence between predefined patterns and signal recovery configurations in a predetermined look-up table (<NUM>) comprising predefined pattern identification descriptors (<NUM>); and wherein to each predefined pattern identification descriptor (<NUM>) corresponds a signal recovery configuration (<NUM>);
- means configured to access said predetermined look-up table (<NUM>);
- means configured to match said pattern identification descriptor (<NUM>) to one of said predefined pattern identification descriptors (<NUM>) from said predetermined look-up table (<NUM>); and
- means configured to look-up in said look-up table (<NUM>) a signal recovery configuration (<NUM>) corresponding to said predefined pattern identification descriptor (<NUM>) matching said pattern identification descriptor (<NUM>), thereby determining a signal recovery configuration (<NUM>) for said upstream burst (<NUM>) corresponding to said predefined pattern (<NUM>) corresponding to said received pattern (<NUM>) of said upstream burst (<NUM>), thereby determining a signal recovery configuration (<NUM>) for said upstream burst (<NUM>).