Using Ethernet/Gigabit Passive Optical Network (EPON/GPON) Over Traditional Broadband Networks in Bangladesh, its Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Accessing Internet is going to be a fundamental right like other basic human rights. No matter how often a user uses Internet, waiting for a web page to load is really an annoyance. To overcome this situation, Internet speed has increased significantly in the past decade to keep pace with the demand of users, new services and bandwidth-hungry applications. These demands include as multimedia content based e-commerce, video on demand, high definition TV, IPTV, online gaming, social media, etc. Lots of different technologies like gigabit Ethernet, mobile Internet, etc. that have been trying to cater and satisfy the user demand. FTTH(Fiber to the home) is one of the high-speed access technology which offers triple play service (i. e., data, voice and video) EPON/GPON is easier, faster and low cost. EPON/ GPON can transport Ethernet, ATM and TDM (PSTN, ISDN, E1 and E3) traffic. It has been widely accepted by Internet service providers and operators in terms of bandwidth upgrade, service bearer as well as passive network maintenance. High bandwidth capacity, high quality and multi-play services through a single channel presents a strong business opportunity for telecom operators as it provides support which includes voice, Ethernet, ATM, leased lines and others. FTTH offers simple operation, administration, maintenance and provisioning capabilities as well as end-toend service management. It not only provides substantially higher efficiency as a transport network, but also delivers simplicity and superb scalability for future expansion in supporting additional services. According to the contents above, we can see that there are own advantages and disadvantages of EPON and GPON. In performance comparison, GPON is better than EPON, while EPON has many advantages on time and cost. And now, EPON is still the mainstream of PON, and meanwhile, GPON is catching up with it. Going forward to the broadband access market, maybe it is not substitution between EPON and GPON. It is more likely that they are coexist to complement each other. For the users who have demands of multi-service, high QoS and security, as well as ATM backbone network, GPON seems to be an ideal.