Broadband Innovation of the Year: DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DpoE) Alcatel-Lucent

摘要

FTTx isn't just for telcos. Cable TV operators with DOCSIS broadband offerings are also looking for PON solutions to help them keep up with demand for fiber access - especially the demand coming from the SME sector. Alcatel-Lucent delivered that at the end of 2013 by adding a DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE) option to its 7360 ISAM FX platform. DPoE essentially enables DOCSIS networks to use EPON technology to roll out FTTH services, offering symmetrical connectivity speeds anywhere from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps. That's a big leap from the current DOCSIS 2.x standard, which maxes out at 38 Mbps downstream and 27 Mbps upstream, or DOCSIS 3.0, which can combine channels to bring downstream data speeds up into 100+-Mbps territory. A new standard, DOCSIS 3.1, promises Gigabit-level speeds and greater efficiencies, but commercial implementation on any meaningful scale is at least two years away.