Method and apparatus for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an Ethernet passive optical network

1. A method for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the method comprising:

receiving a first flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

receiving a second flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

multiplexing the first and second flow of data to obtain an effective downstream data rate of about 2.5 Gbps, wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves;

buffering received packets, which involves;

providing a local clock which is synchronized to received multi-point control protocol (MPCP) messages;

buffering an MPCP message;

calculating a transmission time at which the MPCP message will be transmitted downstream based on the clock; and

updating a timestamp for the MPCP message based on the calculated transmission time; and

transmitting the buffered packets at about 2.5Gbps based on the order in which each packet is received; and

receiving a flow of upstream data transmitted from at least one remote node to the central node at about 1.25 Gbps.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the downstream data;

demultiplexing the received downstream data to produce the first and second flow of data; and

forwarding the first flow of data to an optical network unit (ONU).

3. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the first flow of data contains EPON frames each of which is labeled with an logical link identifier (LLID); and

wherein the second flow of data contains broadcast frames which are not labeled with LLIDs.

4. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the first flow is produced by a first optical line terminal (OLT);

wherein the second flow is produced by a second OLT; and

wherein the first OLT is responsible for scheduling upstream traffic from the remote nodes.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving the downstream flow of data at about 2.5 Gbps at a remote node; and

selectively forwarding EPON frames to an ONU, wherein the effective data rate of the data forwarded to the ONU does not exceed about 1.25 Gbps.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves:

buffering an MPCP message at a first buffer which has a fixed buffering delay;

buffering data frames other than an MPCP message from the first flow at a second buffer;

buffering data frames other than an MPCP message from the second flow at a third buffer; and

transmitting the MPCP message after introducing a fixed buffering delay to the MPCP message.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves:

performing code-group interleaving at about 2.5 Gbps based on the code groups received from the first and second flow of data, wherein a code group may contain 10 bits if the received code groups are 8B/10B encoded or otherwise may contain 8 bits.

8. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves:

optically transmitting the first flow of data on a first wavelength;

optically transmitting the second flow of data on a second wavelength; and

multiplexing the first wavelength and the second wavelength using a wavelength-division multiplexer; and

wherein the method further comprises demultiplexing the first wavelength and the second wavelength at a remote node.

9. A method for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the method comprising:

receiving a first flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

receiving a second flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

multiplexing the first and second flow of data to obtain an effective downstream data rate of about 2.5 Gbps, wherein multiplexing the first and second flow of data involves;

buffering received packets, which involves:

providing a local clock;

buffering an MPCP message;

measuring the amount of time delay the MPCP message is subjected to due to the buffering based on the local clock; and

updating a timestamp for the MPCP message based on the measured delay prior to transmitting the MPCP message downstream; and

transmitting the buffered packets at about 2.5Gbps based on the order in which each packet is received; and

receiving a flow of upstream data transmitted from at least one remote node to the central node at about 1.25 Gbps.

10. An apparatus for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the apparatus comprising:

a first input port configured to receive a first flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

a second input port configured to receive a second flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

a multiplexer configured to multiplex the first and second flow of data to obtain an effective downstream data rate of about 2.5 Gbps, wherein while multiplexing the first and second flow of data, the multiplexer is configured to;

buffer received packets, wherein while buffering received packets, the multiplexer is configured to;

provide a local clock which is synchronized to received MPCP messages;

buffer an MPCP message;

calculate a transmission time at which the MPCP message will be transmitted downstream based on the clock; and

to update a timestamp for the MPCP message based on the calculated transmission time; and

to transmit the buffered packets at about 2.5 Gbps based on the order in which each packet is received; and

a head-end receiver configured to receive a flow of upstream data transmitted from at least one remote node to the central node at about 1.25 Gbps.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:

a tail-end receiver configured to receive the downstream data;

a demultiplexer configured to demultiplex the received downstream data to produce the first and second flow of data; and

a forwarding mechanism configured to forward the first flow of data to an optical network unit (ONU).

12. The apparatus of claim 10 ,

wherein the first flow of data contains EPON frames each of which is labeled with an logical link identifier (LLID); and

wherein the second flow of data contains broadcast frames which are not labeled with LLIDs.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:

a first optical line terminal (OLT) which produces the first flow of data; and

a second OLT which produces the second flow of data; and

wherein the first OLT is responsible for scheduling upstream traffic from the remote nodes.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising:

a tail-end receiver configured to receive the downstream flow of data at about 2.5 Gbps at a remote node; and

a forwarding mechanism configured to selectively forward EPON frames to an ONU, wherein the effective data rate of the data forwarded to the ONU does not exceed about 1.25 Gbps.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein while multiplexing the first and second flow of data, the multiplexer is configured to:

buffer an MPCP message at a first buffer which has a fixed buffering delay;

buffer data frames other than an MPCP message from the first flow at a second buffer;

buffer data frames other than an MPCP message from the second flow at a third buffer; and

to transmit the MPCP message after introducing a fixed buffering delay to the MPCP message.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein while multiplexing the first and second flow of data, the multiplexer is configured to perform code-group interleaving at about 2.5 Gbps based on the code groups received from the first and second flow of data, wherein a code group may contain 10 bits if the received code groups are 8B/10B encoded or otherwise may contain 8 bits.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 ,

wherein while multiplexing the first and second flow of data, the multiplexer is configured to:

optically transmit the first flow of data on a first wavelength;

optically transmit the second flow of data on a second wavelength; and

to multiplex the first wavelength and the second wavelength using a wavelength-division multiplexer; and

wherein the apparatus further comprises a demultiplexer configured to demultiplex the first wavelength and the second wavelength at a remote node.

18. An apparatus for facilitating asymmetric line rates in an EPON which includes a central node and at least one remote node, the apparatus comprising:

a first input port configured to receive a first flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

a second input port configured to receive a second flow of data at an effective data rate of about 1.25 Gbps;

a multiplexer configured to multiplex the first and second flow of data to obtain an effective downstream data rate of about 2.5 Gbps, wherein while multiplexing the first and second flow of data, the multiplexer is configured to;

buffer received packets, wherein while buffering received packets, the multiplexer is configure to;

provide a local clock;

buffer an MPCP message;

measure the amount of time delay the MPCP message is subjected to due to the buffering based on the local clock; and

to update a timestamp for the MPCP message based on the measured delay prior to transmitting the MPCP message downstream; and

to transmit the buffered packets at about 2.5 Gbps based on the order in which each packet is received; and

a head-end receiver configured to receive a flow of upstream data transmitted from at least one remote node to the central node at about 1.25 Gbps.