Power management for passive optical networks

A method for managing power of a passive optical network, comprising:

• collecting data regarding incoming and outgoing data frames transmitted to each optical network units (ONU) in a passive optical network (PON) comprising a plurality of ONUs on the downstream side of the PON, wherein each ONU can be in at least a sleep state and an active state and wherein the PON transmits data in packets of data frames;
• storing downstream data frames for each ONU in a buffer, while the ONU is in the sleep state;
• processing the data collected by said collecting to generate upstream and downstream data rates for each ONU and gaps between upstream and downstream data frames transmitted to each ONU;
• and
• determining state transitions of each ONU, wherein an ONU transitions to the sleep state when the indicators of activity level for the ONU indicate a low activity level for the ONU, and an ONU transitions to the active state when the indicators of activity level for the ONU indicate a high level of activity for the ONU.

A system for power management of a passive optical network, comprising:

• a plurality of optical network units (ONUs) on the downstream side of a passive optical network (PON), wherein each ONU transmits data in packets of data frames, wherein each ONU can be in at least a sleep state and an active state, and wherein each ONU comprises:
• an ONU network statistics collector, for collecting data regarding incoming and outgoing data frames at the ONU;
• an ONU activity detector for processing the data collected by said network statistics collector to generate indicators of activity level of the ONU;
• and
• an ONU protocol manager comprising a state machine for the ONU, wherein the state machine governs state transition of the ONU to the sleep state when said ONU activity detector indicates a low activity level for the ONU;
• and
• an optical line terminal (OLT) on the upstream side of the PON, comprising:
• an OLT network statistics collector, for collecting data regarding traffic at each of the ONUs;
• an OLT buffer for storing downstream data frames for each ONU while the ONU is in the sleep state;
• an OLT activity detector for processing the data collected by said OLT network statistics collector to generate upstream and downstream data rates for each ONU and gaps between upstream and downstream data frames transmitted to each ONU;
• and
• an OLT protocol manager comprising a plurality of state machines for the respective plurality of ONUs, wherein each state machine governs state transition of its respective ONU to the active state when said OLT activity detector indicates a high level of activity for the ONU.