Apparatus and method for registering a coaxial network unit on an optical network

An optical line terminal (OLT) comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• register a coaxial line terminal (CLT) using a first logical link identifier (LLID) that is a broadcast LLID for the OLT and using a logical node identifier (LNID) assigned by the OLT to the CLT, wherein the CLT intermediates between the OLT via an optical portion of a unified optical-coaxial network and a coaxial network unit (CNU) via an electrical network portion of the unified optical-coaxial network;
• process a register request message originating from the CNU and comprising the first LLID;
• assign a second LLID to the CNU;
• register the CNU;
• and
• generate a CNU register message comprising the first LLID, the second LLID, and the LNID;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the CNU register message to the CNU via the CLT.

A coaxial network unit (CNU) comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive an access time allocation from a coaxial line terminal (CLT);
• a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to:
• process the access time allocation;
• establish a link between the CNU and the CLT on a coaxial portion of a unified optical-coaxial network using the access time allocation;
• and
• generate a register request message;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the register request message to an optical line terminal (OLT) via the CLT subsequent to the receiver receiving the access time allocation,
• wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, from the OLT via the CLT and in response to the register request message, a CNU register message comprising a first logical link identifier (LLID) that is a broadcast LLID for the OLT, a second LLID assigned by the OLT to the CNU, and a logical node identifier (LNID) assigned by the OLT to the CLT.