Fiber to the Premises (FTTP), also known as fiber to the Home (FTTH), refers to broadband telecommunication systems. It is based on fiber optic cables and uses optoelectronics to deliver multiple high-end services such as telephone triple play, broadband Internet and TV to homes or businesses.
Optical fiber communication is widely used as a medium for information transmission due to its unique anti-interference, light weight, and large capacity. However, it is the most economical and effective to lay optical cables using existing transmission lines. Because optical fiber communication has the advantages of large capacity, long distance and resistance to electromagnetic interference, optical fiber communication is well adapted to the needs of today’s power communication development. Especially the optical fiber composite overhead ground wire (OPGW), which combines the high mechanical, high conductivity and good corrosion resistance of aluminum clad steel wire, effectively combines the power overhead ground wire with the communication optical fiber, so it is affected by the power system industry. The attention is paid to and gradually promoted and used.
There are many architectures for fiber to the home, of which there are two main ones: one is a point-to-point topology, which uses an optical fiber from the central office to each user; the other is passive optical network (PON) using point-to-multipoint topology, adopting a point-to-multipoint solution can greatly reduce the number of optical transceivers and fiber consumption, and reduce the rack space required by the central office, which has cost advantages and has become the mainstream.
There are two main types of equipment used for fiber access. One is the central office equipment deployed in the telecom operator’s computer room, called the optical line terminal (OLT), and the other is the equipment near the user end, called the optical network unit (ONU). Judging from the current development situation, fiber to the home also involves multiple industries and categories, such as indoor fiber optics, engineering and applications, which are of strategic significance to the entire telecommunications industry and even the information industry.
In the field of optical fiber access, the hot debate in the industry is two technical solutions for passive optical networks: GPON and EPON. Simply put, the former has stronger business support capabilities and higher transmission efficiency. It is suitable for deployment by high-end commercial and residential customers in the era of full-service operation, but the cost is relatively higher. EPON is mainly aimed at data transmission, and its core advantage lies in its relatively low cost. Both technologies have been commercially available in different application environments, and each has its own merits. It is worth noting that both EPON and GPON are advancing towards the 10G era. In the short term, 10G EPON has advantages over 10G GPON, which is mainly a cost issue. And many operators believe that bandwidth will be sufficient in the next few years. Therefore, the era of mixed use of the two PONs should also exist for some time. In fact, in the process of network construction and networking, the construction mode of GPON and EPON is not much different, it is just different technical choices of operators. The service provision capability of GPON is basically the same as that of EPON, and there is no service access that GPON can do but EPON cannot. In the future, in the 10G era, the two technologies may move towards convergence, that is, the same hardware platform supports both 10G EPON and 10G GPON. Existing equipment manufacturers have begun to play down the difference between the two technologies.
In general, without the emergence of other epoch-making technologies, fiber to the home is the ultimate goal of broadband access for telecommunications networks in the next few years or even decades, and it will drive the development of a series of related industries. In addition, fiber to the home is one of the core technological powers for the telecommunications industry to maintain sustainable development, and it is also an important tool for the telecommunications industry to promote social informatization.
Post time: 2021-02-18
