Patent ID: 7729612

Claim:
A passive optical network (PON) component comprising a processor configured to implement a method comprising: parsing a plurality of signals from a plurality of optical network units (ONUs); determining that one of the ONUs is a faulty ONU when the parsing is unsuccessful; responsive to determining that one of the ONUs is faulty, analyzing an optical power of the signals to detect the faulty ONU; and sending an order to disable an optical transmitter in the faulty ONU, wherein analyzing the optical power of the signals comprises: ordering the ONUs to stop sending signals, and recording a first optical power value, wherein when the first optical power value is not equal to zero, analyzing the optical power of the signals further comprises individually checking each ONU to determine the faulty ONU, and wherein individually checking each ONU comprises: selecting one of the ONUs, ordering the selected ONU to send a signal, and recording a second optical power value; determining that the selected ONU is the faulty ONU when the second optical power value is equal to the first optical power value; and determining that the selected ONU is not the faulty ONU and instructing the selected ONU to stop transmitting the signal when the second optical power value is not equal to the first optical power value.