Signal processing apparatus and method for gigabit passive optical network
AssigneeOki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
InventorKohei Eguchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A signal processing apparatus for use in an optical line termination or optical network unit in a gigabit passive optical network encapsulates Ethernet signals, time-division multiplexed signals, and asynchronous transfer mode signals in the same way in a novel type of frame. The same input and output circuits can accordingly be used to support all three types of communication. A low-cost chip set including at least the input and output circuits of the apparatus can be combined with conversion circuits as necessary to provide a flexible answer to the needs of specific gigabit passive optical network systems.
Claims17
A signal processing apparatus used in a gigabit passive optical network (GPON) employing a GPON encapsulation mode (GEM) to encapsulate Ethernet signals and time-division multiplexed (TDM) signals in GPON transmission convergence (GTC) frames including respective payloads and overhead, the signal processing apparatus comprising:
- an Ethernet-to-GEM conversion function for converting input Ethernet signals to GEM frames;
- a TDM-to-GEM conversion function for converting input TDM signals to GEM frames;
- a non-GEM-to-GEM conversion function for converting input non-GEM signals to GEM frames, the input non-GEM signals being signal other than Ethernet signals and TDM signals;
- a GEM-to-Ethernet conversion function for converting GEM frames to output Ethernet signals;
- a GEM-to-TDM conversion function for converting GEM frames to output TDM signals;
- a GEM-to-non-GEM conversion function for converting GEM frames to output non-GEM signals;
- a GTC input section for receiving input GTC frames, extracting GEM frames from the payloads of the input GTC frames, determining which one of an Ethernet signal, a TDM signal, and a non-GEM signal is included in each GEM frame, and sending GEM frames including Ethernet signals to the GEM-to-Ethernet conversion function, GEM frames including TDM signals to the GEM-to-TDM conversion function, and GEM frames including non-GEM signals to the GEM-to-non-GEM conversion function;
- a mapping information management function for generating mapping information from the overhead of the input GTC frames received by the GTC input section;
- and
- a GTC output section for mapping the GEM frames generated by the Ethernet-to-GEM conversion function, the TDM-to-GEM conversion function, and the non-GEM-to-GEM conversion function onto output time slots, based on mapping information generated by the mapping information management function, adding overhead to the GEM frames to create output GTC frames, and outputting the output GTC frames in the time slots.
A signal processing method for processing signals in a gigabit passive optical network (GPON) that uses a GPON encapsulation mode (GEM) to encapsulate Ethernet signals and TDM signals in the payloads of GPON transmission convergence (GTC) frames, the method comprising:
- converting input Ethernet signals, input TDM signals, and input non-GEM signals to respective GEM frames, the input non-GEM signals being signals other than Ethernet signals and TDM signals;
- mapping the GEM frames onto time slots;
- combining the GEM frames with overhead to generate output GTC frames;
- and
- transmitting the output GTC frames in the time slots.
A signal processing method for processing signals in a gigabit passive optical network that uses a GPON encapsulation mode (GEM) to encapsulate Ethernet signals and TDM signals in GTC frames, the method comprising:
- receiving input GTC frames;
- disassembling the input GTC frames into respective overhead and payloads;
- extracting GEM frames from the payloads;
- determining which one of an Ethernet signal, a TDM signal, and a non-GEM signal is included in each GEM frame, the non-GEM signals being signals other than Ethernet signals and TDM signals;
- converting each GEM frame including an Ethernet signal to an output Ethernet signal;
- converting each GEM frame including a TDM signal to an output TDM signal;
- and
- converting each GEM frame including a non-GEM signal to an output non-GEM signal.
A GTC frame used in a gigabit passive optical network, comprising:
- an overhead section including information necessary for control, maintenance, and operation;
- and
- a payload section for transporting user signals, the payload section including one or more GEM frames or fragments thereof;
- wherein
- all user signals carried in the payload section, including non-GEM signals as well as Ethernet signals and TDM signals, are encapsulated in the GEM frames.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.