Patent ID: 8005363

Claim:
A network, comprising: an optical line terminal (OLT) configured to transmit a plurality of downstream signals into a corresponding plurality of Ethernet passive optical networks and to receive a corresponding plurality of upstream signals from the plurality of Ethernet passive optical networks (EPONs), wherein each Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) has a unique downstream signal separated in wavelength from the remaining downstream signals, and wherein each passive optical network has a unique upstream signal separated in wavelength from the remaining upstream signals, each EPON being configurable to time division multiplex its unique upstream signal among a plurality of users; a multiplexer/demultiplexer (Mux/Demux) configured to multiplex the downstream signals from the OLT into an optical fiber and to demultiplex upstream signals from the optical fiber to the OLT; and a splitter configured to split the downstream signals from the OLT to a plurality of optical network units such that each optical network unit (ONU) receives the plurality of downstream signals, wherein the plurality of optical network units are organized into ONU classes corresponding to the plurality of EPONS, each class of ONU including a bandpass filter having a center frequency matching the corresponding EPON's downstream signal's wavelength and having a transmitter matching the corresponding EPON's upstream signal's wavelength.