Optical and IP routing innovations have revolutionized the deployment of PON and Fiber-to-the-X (FTTX) technologies for broadband access to serve both residential and business customers in rural, suburban, and urban environments.
With solutions such as Cisco’s Routed PON, operators can transform the economics of their network and FTTX deployments while helping to bridge the digital divide.
Advancements in IP/optical interoperation, enhancements to management systems (controllers), and the use of AI-driven automation, which enable operators to cost effectively deploy and manage broadband infrastructures capable of generating profitable new revenue streams.
Converged PON architectures enable differentiated broadband services through a software-defined broadband network, delivering numerous advantages to operators.
As operators and enterprises seek to streamline fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) operational models, a converged PON approach opens new revenue streams by broadening the FTTP service portfolio to include wholesale and enterprise use cases, thus enabling service providers to cater to a wider range of customer demands—and for large enterprises, to leverage a converged PON architecture to re-engineer their private networks.
The Routed PON architecture addresses these major operator concerns and provides the following advantages.
Source: GlobalData, Cisco
Converged PON architecture differs widely from traditional chassis-based models. The integration of pluggable OLTs with programmable IP routers is a significant trend that allows for more efficient, scalable, and cost-effective broadband solutions. The need for effective automation, sustainability, and flexible business models to address both residential and enterprise use cases is the common driver for deployments.
Converged PON architectures enable higher bandwidth services, improved cost efficiency, and integration with existing networks, thus preparing the operator and enterprise networks for future demands, particularly in the context of 6G and beyond. Routed optical networking is a proven implementation model that is easily expanded to support the latest PON pluggables.
Solutions such as Cisco Routed PON offer service providers a combination of the latest PON pluggable technology coupled with converged access, assured services, and simplified end-to-end management and orchestration.
Integrating PON into the broader IP/optical metro network enables the delivery of all services over a common infrastructure. This includes broadband services (FTTH, cable), wireless backhaul, and business connectivity services. Architecturally, integration requires three components: a pluggable PON OLT, a PON agent/controller, and a PON manager.