Patent ID: 8521033

Claim:
A passive optical network, comprising: at least one optical line termination; and a plurality of optical network units in communication with the at least one optical line termination; wherein the at least one optical line termination is configured to: communicate a transmission schedule to the plurality of optical network units; and transmit payloads to the plurality of optical network units in accordance with the transmission schedule; wherein at least one of the plurality of optical network units is configured to: receive the transmission schedule from the at least one optical line termination; and operate in a low power mode during periods indicated in the transmission schedule during which the respective optical network unit is not scheduled to receive payload transmission; wherein a first optical network unit of the plurality of optical network units is configured to: switch from the low power mode to operate in a receiving mode from a start time of a first transmission time slot allocated to the first optical network unit; and receive a payload transmission addressed to the first optical network unit during the first transmission time slot.