Method and apparatus for transporting deterministic traffic in a gigabit passive optical network

1. An optical line termination for exchanging data traffic in a gigabit passive optical network, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium in communication with the processor, storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

generating a timeslot schedule for transport of a desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic by selecting a timeslot from periodic frame clusters operating according to a gigabit passive optical network transmission convergence protocol, wherein each of the periodic frame clusters comprises a plurality of frames, wherein a portion of the plurality of frames is reserved for constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic.

2. The optical line termination of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise reusing a portion of the timeslot schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

3. The optical line termination of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a new timeslot schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

4. The optical line termination of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the timeslot schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic has a period that spans a cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

5. The optical line termination of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise determining which transmission containers in an optical network unit provide constant bit rate data traffic service, and which transmission containers provide non-deterministic data traffic service.

6. An optical network unit for exchanging data traffic in a gigabit passive optical network, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium in communication with the processor, storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a timeslot schedule from an optical line termination identifying a timeslot selected by the optical line termination from periodic frame clusters according to a desired bandwidth of at least one among constant bit rate and non-deterministic data traffic services associated with constant bit rate transmission containers and non-deterministic data transmission containers of the optical network unit, wherein each of the periodic frame clusters comprises a plurality of frames, wherein a portion of the plurality of frames is reserved for constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic; and

transmitting constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic of the constant bit rate transmission containers and non-deterministic data transmission containers according to the timeslot schedule.

7. The optical network unit of claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving from the optical line termination a portion of the timeslot schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

8. The optical line termination of claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving from the optical line termination a new timeslot schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

9. A method, comprising:

generating, at an optical line termination having a processor, a schedule for transport of constant bit rate data traffic in a gigabit passive optical network, wherein the schedule identifies a data unit selected by the optical line termination from periodic data clusters according to a desired bandwidth of the constant bit rate data traffic, wherein each of the periodic data clusters comprises a plurality of frames, wherein a portion of the plurality of frames is reserved for constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

reusing a portion of the schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

generating a new schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic for each cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein a portion of the schedule that supports the desired bandwidth of constant bit rate data traffic has a period that spans a cycle of a plurality of cycles of the periodic frame clusters.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

transmitting the schedule to an optical network unit for transport of the constant bit rate data traffic according to the schedule.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein a data unit comprises a timeslot, and wherein the data unit conforms to a gigabit passive optical network transmission convergence protocol.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein another portion of the plurality of frames is reserved for non-deterministic data traffic and operations, administrative and management activities, and wherein the method further comprises selecting the data unit for the constant bit rate data traffic from the portion of the plurality of frames that is reserved for the constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

selectively assigning to a transmission container providing constant bit rate services the data unit selected from the portion of the plurality of frames that is reserved for the constant bit rate data traffic and non-deterministic data traffic.