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E2-E3: CONSUMER FIXED ACCESS


CHAPTER-5
FTTH
(Date Of Creation: 01-04-2011)
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Fiber To The Home

Introduction:
Today everyone wants high-speed data, dependable voice service, and high-quality video.
Currently, these services are being delivered by digital subscriber line (DSL), cable
modems or through wireless. Fiber-based networks in general evolved in response to
consumer demand for a vast assortment of multimedia services and applications. In order
to meet this demand, service providers need a robust, broadband networking solution
such as fiber technology, which offers unlimited bandwidth and the flexibility to meet
customer demand for two-way, interactive, video-based services.

Fiber In The Loop
Fiber In The Loop (FITL) is a system implementing or upgrading portions of the POTS
local loop with fiber optic technology from the central office of a telephone carrier to a
remote Serving area interface (SAI) located in a neighborhood or to an Optical Network
Unit (ONU) located at the customer premises (residential and/or business). Generally,
fiber is used in either all or part of the local loop distribution network. FITL includes
various architectures, such as fiber to the curb (FTTC), fiber to the home (FTTH) and
fiber to the premises (FTTP).
Residential areas already served by balanced pair distribution plant call for a trade-off
between cost and capacity. The closer the fiber head, the higher the cost of construction
and the higher the channel capacity. In places not served by metallic facilities, little cost
is saved by not running fiber to the home.

Fiber to the x (FTTX) is a generic term for any network architecture that uses optical
fiber to replace all or part of the usual copper local loop used for telecommunications.
The four technologies, in order of an decreasingly fiber loop length are:
Fiber to the node / neighborhood (FTTN) / Fiber to the cabinet (FTTCab)
Fiber to the curb (FTTC) / Fiber to the kerb (FTTK)
Fiber to the building (FTTB)
Fiber to the home (FTTH)
In the actual deployments, the difference between FTTN and FTTC is quite subtle and is
mostly that the later is nearer the customer than the former.
The broadly-defined term fiber to the premises (FTTP) is sometimes used to describe
FTTH and/or FTTB.
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Fiber to the node:
Fiber to the Node (FTTN), also called fiber to the neighborhood or fiber to the cabinet
(FTTCab), is telecom architecture, based on fiber-optic cables, run to a cabinet serving a
neighborhood. Customers connect to this cabinet using traditional coaxial cable or
twisted pair wiring. The area served by the cabinet is usually less than 1,500 m in radius
and can contain several hundred customers. (If the cabinet serves an area of less than 300
m in radius then the architecture is typically called fiber to the curb.) Unlike the fiber to
the premises (FTTP) technology, fiber to the node can use the existing coaxial or twisted
pair infrastructure to provide last mile service. For this reason, fiber to the node costs less
to deploy. However, it also has lower bandwidth potential than fiber to the premises.

Advantages
Low Cost
Non-blocking or low-blocking performance
Extremely flexible to deploy
Allows the use of a variety of media from the Telephone Exchange to the user

Disadvantages
Supports fairly less Bandwidth in comparison to the FTTP

Fiber to the curb
Fiber to the curb (FTTC), also called fiber to the kerb (FTTK), is a telecommunications
system based on fiber-optic cables, run to a flexible point that serves several customers.
Each of these customers has a connection to this platform via coaxial cable or twisted
pair.
Fiber to the curb allows delivery of broadband services such as high speed internet. High
speed communications protocols such as broadband cable access (typically DOCSIS) or
some form of DSL are used between the curb and the customers. The data rates vary
according to the exact protocol used and according to how close the customer is to the
curb.
FTTC is subtly distinct from FTTN or FTTP (all are versions of Fiber in the Loop). The
chief difference is the placement of the cabinet. FTTC will be placed near the "curb"
which differs from FTTN which is placed far from the customer and FTTP which is
placed right at the serving location.
Unlike the competing fiber to the premises (FTTP) technology, fiber to the curb can use
the existing coaxial or twisted pair infrastructure to provide last mile service. For this

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reason, fiber to the curb costs less to deploy. However, it also has lower bandwidth
potential than fiber to the premises.

Fiber to the premises
Fiber to the premises (FTTP) is a form of fiber-optic communication delivery in which an
optical fiber is run directly onto the customers' premises. This contrasts with other fiber-
optic communication delivery strategies such as fiber to the node (FTTN), fiber to the
curb (FTTC), or hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC), all of which depend upon more traditional
methods such as copper wires or coaxial cable for "last mile" delivery.
Fiber to the premises can be further categorized according to where the optical fiber ends:
FTTH (fiber to the home) is a form of fiber optic communication delivery in which
the optical signal reaches the end user's living or office space.
FTTB (fiber to the building) is a form of fiber optic communication delivery in
which the optical signal reaches the private property enclosing the home or business
of the subscriber or set of subscribers, but where the optical fiber terminates before
reaching the home living space or business office space, with the path extended
from that point up to the user's space over a physical medium other than optical
fiber (for example copper loops).

Optical portion
Optical distribution networks have several competing technologies:

Direct fiber
The simplest optical distribution network can be called direct fiber. In this architecture,
each fiber leaving the central office goes to exactly one customer. Such networks can
provide excellent bandwidth since each customer gets their own dedicated fiber
extending all the way to the central office. However, this approach is about 10% more
costly due to the amount of fiber and central office machinery required. The approach is
generally favored by new entrants and competitive operators. A benefit of this approach
is that it doesn't exclude any layer 2 networking technologies, be they Passive optical
network, Active Optical Network, etc. From a regulatory point of view it leads to least
implications as any form of regulatory remedy is still possible using this topology.
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Shared fiber
More commonly each fiber leaving the central office is actually shared by many
customers. It is not until such a fiber gets relatively close to the customers that it is split
into individual customer-specific fibers. There are two competing optical distribution
network architectures which achieve this split: active optical networks (AONs) and
passive optical networks (PONs).

Active Optical Network
Active optical networks rely on some sort of electrically powered equipment to distribute
the signal, such as a switch, router, or multiplexer. Each signal leaving the central office
is directed only to the customer for whom it is intended. Incoming signals from the
customers avoid colliding at the intersection because the powered equipment there
provides buffering. One of the most common types of active optical networks is called
active ethernet, a type of ethernet in the first mile (EFM). Active ethernet uses optical
ethernet switches to distribute the signal, thus incorporating the customers' premises and
the central office into one giant switched ethernet network. Such networks are identical to
the ethernet computer networks used in businesses and academic institutions, except that
their purpose is to connect homes and buildings to a central office rather than to connect
computers and printers within a campus. Each switching cabinet can handle up to 1,000
customers, although 400-500 is more typical. This neighborhood equipment performs
layer 2/layer 3 switching and routing, offloading full layer 3 routing to the carrier's
central office.

Passive optical network
Passive optical network (PON) is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network
architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber
to serve multiple premises, typically 32. A PON configuration reduces the amount of
fiber and central office equipment required compared with point to point architectures.
Downstream signal coming from the central office is broadcast to each customer
premises sharing a fiber. Encryption is used to prevent eavesdropping. Upstream signals
are combined using a multiple access protocol, invariably time division multiple access
(TDMA).
In a standard passive optical network (PON), the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) resides in
the central office or head-end. It transmits an optical signal to a splitter, from which the
signal is distributed to multiple customers directly or via another splitter. Optical-
Network Terminals (ONT) terminates the signal at the customer premises or, in the case
of a fiber to the curb architecture, at a remote hub. PON technology allows the service
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provider to share the fiber cost of running fiber from the CO to the premises among many
usersusually up to 32 locations. PON deployments define a maximum distance,
typically 20 to 30 km, between the OLT and the ONU (ONT). As shown in Figure 1, the
fiber run from the CO is brought to a centralized distribution point, and then extends from

this fiber to each customer location. The extension of the fiber is done via passive optic
splitters or filters at the distribution point, which guides the laser light on the fiber to their
appropriate locations.

PONs do not require any power in the outside plant to power the filters or splitters,
thereby lowering the overall operational cost and complexity. And because the single
fiber either in a ring or tree technology is shared, this "high-cost" capital deployment of
fiber for several kilometers is lower than if the carrier were to deploy individual fibers to
each location.




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Fig-1
BSNL FTTH Plan
Phase-I (2008-09): Originally Overlay Access Network is planned in 98 cities where the
numbers of DELs are more than 3 Lakhs. Hence in the phase-I Ethernet in the First Mile
(EFM) using the FTTB, FTTH is proposed to be deployed. FTTX systems are devised as
either point to point Optical systems or Point to Multipoint Fiber systems (also known as
Passive Optical Networks-PON. 7, 00,000 customers are targeted in the first year. 1.5
Lakhs customers are planned in 73 cities with GE-PON and 5.5 Lakhs customers in 25
cities with G-PON and both are also referred to as the Ethernet To The Home (ETTH)
technologies often.

Phase-II (2009-10): The second phase of G-PON/GE-PON deployment can be extended
to other cities also having OAN cable already laid as per the OAN target. Phase-II FTTH
plan shall target 7, 00,000 customers to be extended with fast Ethernet/ Gigabit Ethernet
service to their buildings on Fiber.

Phase-III (2010-11): This year OAN project is proposed to be commenced in 198 cities
where NIB-2.2 is being executed. Therefore the third phase of Ethernet to the Home
(ETTH) can be taken up in all these 198 cities. Sufficient fiber infrastructure shall be in
place by then in all these cities for commencing the ETTH service in all these cities the
broadband FTTH customers to be targeted. Thus the total target of the FTTH deployment
in 2010-11 shall be approximately 7, 50,000. The total customer base on FTTH upto
March 2011 shall be 2 Millions.

Planning Guidelines:
Out Door Network (ODN) planning and fiber planning for GPON: The Overlay
Access Network ( OAN) to be planned in all broadband cities by deploying high count
OF cables. Optical fiber is to be terminated in all the premises of the commercially
important customers and potential customers and ISPs by extending from the nearest
manhole / fiber access point for providing the any time bandwidth to the customer. The
minimum fiber count is to be deployed in those cities should be 96F or 288 F and above
in the main routes and 24 F/12F cables for leading into the buildings. The leading fibers
shall be terminated in fiber termination box (FTB). The FTBs shall be accordingly to
24F / 12F capacity.

2:32 split architecture: It is prefer to have one splitter in the premises of the
customer / building / locality. The two leading fiber from the 24F/ 12 F cables say fiber 1
and 2 shall be the input to the 2:32 splitter. These two fibers shall be joint in the two
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sides of the main route OAN fiber no. 1. The other side of the main route fiber will form
a ring through different physical rank and will be terminated on port 2
( redundancy PON port). Similar fashion shall be adopted for other splitters on the same
leading fiber for next building.

Cascade split architecture in GPON: Since the number of customers are lesser in
the beginning and distributed across the city, cascade splitters can be deployed to cover
more area. As a general design parameter, the number of splits proposed can be only
two. The splitters may be used in any of the following combinations such as 2:4 & 1:16,
2:4 & 4X (1:8), 2:8 & 1:4 etc. In all such situations, the two fibers of leading cable will
spliced to the two sides of single fiber in the main route OAN cable. Thre splitter out port
fibers will be terminated back to the leading fiber say no. 3 to 5 which will be used at
next location splitter in the same leading fiber route and one will be used at the same
location for further split into 1:8 for 8 Customers. Hence, in case of fiber cut in the main
rout at any side of the fiber, the services will be uninterrupted however fiber cut occurs in
the leading cable, services on affected splitters shall be interrupted. In any case if the
fiber cut occurs in the leading fiber (12F/24F) services will be fully interrupted till
restoration of the leading OF Cables.

GEPON based Next Generation Play Networks Planning: The GEPON networks
do not support the redundancy. Accordingly only Single Fiber and single input splitters
are planned. There are 20 PON Ports per GEPON Chassis and each chassis is capable to
cater 32X20=640 customers. There are only 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16 and 1:32 split ratio
splitters planned. 1:32 split architecture shall be used in the highly dense locations and
multistoried buildings. In case of customers are lesser in the beginning and distributed
across the city, cascade splitters can be deployed to cover more areas. The single fiber
will be directly connected to the splitters. Splitters may be planned directly or in cascade.
In case of cascade, split loss shall be taken care and it shall be within the limit of
10*log(32) db. Some quantities of 2:4 splitters are also planned. These splitters will be
used in the Central Office (CO). In case of very important customers are to be served
with GEPON services and in case of fiber cut in one side, manually connection of the
GEPON Port can be carried out to the ring fiber and services can be restored.
There are several advantages associated with Fiber to the Home -FTTH, if deployed
through PON:


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It is a passive network, so there are no active components from the CO- or central
office to the end user. This dramatically minimizes the network maintenance cost
and requirements, as well as eliminating the need for a DC power network.
It is a single fiber to the end user, providing revenue-generating services with
industry standard user interfaces, including voice, high-speed data, analog or digital
CATV, DBS, and video on demand.
FTTH features local battery backup and low-power consumption.
FTTH can be used with bundled service and is reliable, scalable, and secure.
The FTTH network is a future-proof architecture.

































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Chapter 5: FTTH

Sample Self study Objective type questions

1) OLT is installed in ________________as head end.
(i) Central
Office
(ii) Customer
end
(iii) inbetween (iv) All of above

2) ___ is used to terminate the signal at the customer premises.
(i) ONT (ii) OLT (iii) PON (iv) All of above

3) Maximum distance between OLT & ONT can be upto _______ Kms
(i) 10 (ii) 35 (iii) 20 (iv) 45

4) FTTH offers ________________.
(i) Highbandwidth (ii) Low cost (iii) Flexibility (iv) All of above

5) If the cabinet serve an area of less than 300 metres in radius, then it is called
Fiber to the _________________
(i) Curb (ii) Network (iii) Home (iv) All of above

6) Active Optical Network used in FTTH works on point to _______topology.
(i) Point (ii) multipoint (iii) random (iv) All of above

7) Downstream signal from OLT to ONT uses ____________technology.
(i) TDMA (ii) FDM (iii) TDM (iv) FDMA

8) PON used by BSNL uses maximum split ratio of__________.
(i) 1:16 (ii) 1:32 (iii) 1:64 (iv) 1:128

9) Downstream speed for GEPON is ______________-
(i) 1Gb/s (ii) 2.5 Gb/s (iii) 622.08 Mb/s (iv) 155.52 Mb/s

10) GEPON having 20 PON ports per GEPON chasis can support maximum
_________________customers.
(i) 200 (ii) 320 (iii) 520 (iv) 640