Ethernet passive optical network over coaxial (EPOC)
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsEdward Wayne Boyd, Sanjay Goswami
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention exploit the existing capabilities of the Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) MAC layer, designed for fiber optics communications, to provide a low cost MAC layer with upper layer connectivity over a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network. In particular, embodiments allow for the EPON MAC to be used end-to-end (i.e., from an optical line terminal (OLT) to a coaxial network unit (CNU)) in a HFC network, thereby fully leveraging the packet processing capabilities, QoS functions, and management features of the EPON MAC. Furthermore, embodiments enable unified provisioning and management for both fiber and coaxial network units in a HFC network.
Claims31
A media converter, comprising:
- a first interface configured to receive a first optical signal sent from an optical line terminal (OLT) and generate a first bitstream having a first physical layer (PHY) encoding;
- a PHY conversion module, coupled to the first interface, configured to perform PHY layer conversion of the first bitstream to generate a second bitstream having a second PHY encoding;
- and
- a second interface, coupled to the PHY conversion module, configured to generate a first radio frequency (RF) signal from the second bitstream and to transmit the first RF signal to a coaxial network unit (CNU).
A method, comprising:
- receiving a first optical signal;
- generating a first bitstream having a first physical layer (PHY) encoding from the first optical signal;
- performing PHY layer conversion of the first bitstream to generate a second bitstream having a second PHY encoding;
- generating a first radio frequency (RF) signal from the second bitstream;
- and
- transmitting the first RF signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.