Laboratoire des Applications Numériques (LAN), in collaboration with the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) Group and the Broadband Forum, recently concluded a second XGS-PON Interoperability Plugfest. This year's event focused on interoperability between XGS-PON optical line terminals (OLTs) and optical network units (ONUs), and the coexistence among various PON technologies, including GPON and NG-PON2.
ADTRAN, Broadcom, Calix, CommScope, Econet, Huawei, Intel, MT2, Nokia, Sagemcom, TiBit Communications, and ZTE were among the participating companies.
By testing their products against other technologies present at the event, equipment vendors, FSAN, and Broadband Forum members were able to identify opportunities for interoperability improvements to their products. Orange was among the supporting operator members that contributed to the test plan.
"Efficient interoperability testing and its next step ONU certification process is essential to Orange before envisioning any significant deployment of a technology generation," said Christian Gacon, Orange Labs' director of wireline network and infrastructure. "XG(S)-PON test events prove the basic standards sanity check and enable the next step consisting in common technical specifications amongst major operators worldwide to focus the industry towards a bulk first market for the technology."
The plugfests are an extension of the Broadband Forum's PON interoperability activities. Its other PON interoperability activities include the BBF.247 G-PON and XG-PON1 ONU Certification program, which is being expanded to include XGS-PON and NG-PON2. The first plugfest was held last December at LAN in Tauxigny, France (see "FSAN, Broadband Forum hold XGS-PON plugfest at LAN in France").
"Since we held the first plugfest last year, momentum around PON has been growing and this second event underpins the wider activities being carried out," said Thierry Doligez, LAN director. "The industry is very much working together to ensure that when it comes to deploying PON technologies, operators have a wide choice of interoperable solutions and can deploy the technology cost-effectively."
Based on the ITU-T as Recommendation G.9807.1, XGS-PON supports a symmetrical 10-Gbps capability over a fiber infrastructure that can co-exist with legacy 2.5-Gbps GPON.
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