US 6,097,515 A · Switchable optical network unit

Abstract

A switch in an optical network unit selectively couples line side ports of the line cards of the unit to individual line circuits in drop cable wiring extending to the customer premises served by the unit. The switchable optical network unit (SONU) permits rapid automated upgrades of service. For example, automatic switching of a line circuit to a line card offering an upgraded service together with automatic provisioning of the SONU to activate service through that line card provides the new upgraded service over the existing line circuit, without requiring a technician to install a new line card or manually connect the line card to the line circuit. If the drop cable to the customer premises includes a primary line circuit and an auxiliary line circuit, the line port can be switched over from the primary line circuit to the auxiliary line circuit to automatically restore service in the event of a failure of the primary line circuit. Alternatively, the SONU can automatically connect a line card for a new service to the auxiliary line circuit to provide second line service to the customer premise.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A communication network, comprising:

a central office switching system;
an optical fiber communication link providing a plurality of two-way communication channels to the central office switching system;
wire circuits running to a plurality of respective customer premises;
a switchable optical network unit, said switchable optical network unit, comprising:
(1) an optical/electrical interface coupled to the optical fiber communication link,
(2) a multiplexer/demultiplexer electrically coupled to the optical/electrical interface,
(3) a plurality of line cards, each line card providing a two-way communications interface between the multiplexer/demultiplexer and one customer drop line port,
(4) a plurality of terminals for connection to the wire circuits running to a plurality of respective customer premises,
(5) a switch coupled between the customer drop line ports of the line cards and the terminals, providing selective connections between the customer drop line ports of the line cards and the terminals, and
(6) a controller for automatically activating the switch in response to control signals received via the optical fiber communication link;
and
a plurality of network interface devices, one network interface device being located at each customer premises and providing a connection of at least one of the wire circuits to a customer premises wiring circuit.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Switchable optical network unit

Life of this patent

Switchable optical network unit

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19