Method and grant scheduler for cyclically allocating time slots to optical network units

A grant scheduler for cyclically allocating time slots to a plurality of traffic containers (T-CONTs) included in one or more optical network units (ONUs) for transmitting respective data based on known respective service level agreements for each of said T-CONTs, said grant scheduler comprising:

• a first processing unit for allocating fixed time slots in a current cycle to a fixed subset of T-CONTs;
• a second processing unit for determining bandwidth demand for each T-CONT in a non-fixed subset of T-CONTs based on a dynamic bandwidth allocation input;
• a bandwidth allocation unit coupled to said first processing unit and to said second processing unit for dynamically allocating time slots in the current cycle to said non-fixed subset of T-CONTs based on the determined bandwidth demand and bandwidth availability;
• and
• a grant dispersion unit for combining said fixed allocated time slots and the dynamically allocated time slots into a grant vector.