Higher-speed passive optical networks

Twenty years after the invention of optical fiber communications, the passive optical network (PON) was proposed by J. R. Stern and colleagues at British Telecom in 1987. Following nearly four decades of development, PON serves as critical infrastructure in emerging network services, delivering ultra-high bandwidth and carrier-grade availability to power bandwidth-intensive future applications. GPON and XG(S)-PON have gradually become the mainstream solutions for broadband access in the home, enterprise, and campus. The telecom operator has already begun commercially deploying 50G-PON to enable 10G access for end-users. The standardization of Beyond 50G PON (B50G-PON) will soon be prioritized on the agendas of the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector and European Telecommunication Standards Institute. Based on our previous works, we will introduce the architecture and key digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms for 50G-PON. For the B50G-PON, the 100G flexible-rate PON and 200G flexible coherent PON are recommended, including their respective architectures and key DSP algorithms. Future, faster technological evolution will accelerate the development of higher-speed PONs to deliver superior network access services.