Supporting multi-dwelling units in passive optical networks

An optical network unit (ONU) for controlling flow rate in an Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON), comprising:

• an ONU queue corresponding to a particular class of service;
• a port coupled to a switch configured to store each of a plurality of upstream packets in one of a plurality of output switch queues based on a class of service of the upstream packet;
• and
• a flow-control mechanism configured o control a flow rate of upstream packets with the particular class of service from one of the plurality of output switch queues to the ONU queue based on a status of the ONU queue,
• wherein the flow-control mechanism is configured to send a flow-control message to a traffic shaper coupled to the one of the plurality of output switch queues to control the flow rate.

A method for controlling flow rate in an Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON), comprising:

• storing each of a plurality of upstream packets received from a plurality of user-to-network interface (UNI) ports in one of a plurality of output switch queues based on a class of service of the upstream packet;
• and
• monitoring a status of an ONU queue corresponding to a particular class of service;
• controlling a flow rate of upstream packets with the particular class of service from one of the plurality of output switch queues to the ONU queue based on the status;
• and
• sending a flow-control message to a traffic shaper coupled to the one of the plurality of output switch queues to control the flow rate.