Patent ID: 7525982

Claim:
A method for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the method comprising: receiving a first flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps; receiving a second flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps; multiplexing the first and second flow of data to obtain an effective downstream data rate of about 2.5 Gbps, wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves; buffering received packets, which involves; providing a local clock which is synchronized to received multi-point control protocol (MPCP) messages; buffering an MPCP message; calculating a transmission time at which the MPCP message will be transmitted downstream based on the clock; and updating a timestamp for the MPCP message based on the calculated transmission time; and transmitting the buffered packets at about 2.5Gbps based on the order in which each packet is received; and receiving a flow of upstream data transmitted from at least one remote node to the central node at about 1.25 Gbps.