Ethernet passive optical network over coaxial (EPOC)
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the present invention exploit the existing capabilities of the Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) MAC layer, designed for fiber optics communications, to provide a low cost MAC layer with upper layer connectivity over a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network. In particular, embodiments allow for the EPON MAC to be used end-to-end (i.e., from an optical line terminal (OLT) to a coaxial network unit (CNU)) in a HFC network, thereby fully leveraging the packet processing capabilities, QoS functions, and management features of the EPON MAC. Furthermore, embodiments enable unified provisioning and management for both fiber and coaxial network units in a HFC network.
1. A media converter, comprising:
an optics module configured to receive a first optical signal and to generate a first bitstream;
a physical layer (PHY) conversion module configured to perform PHY layer conversion on the first bitstream to generate a second bitstream;
a multiplexing module configured to divide the second bitstream into a first plurality of sub-bands; and
a radio frequency (RF) module configured to generate a first radio frequency (RF) signal from the first plurality of sub-bands and to transmit the first RF signal over a coaxial cable.
2. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the first bitstream has a first PHY encoding and the second bitstream has a second PHY encoding.
3. The media converter of claim 2 , wherein the first PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) PHY encoding and the second PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network Over Coax (EPOC) PITY encoding.
4. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the second bitstream is shorter than the first bitstream.
5. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the PHY conversion module is further configured to replace a first line encoding of the first bitstream with a second line encoding to generate the second bitstream.
6. The media converter of claim 5 , wherein the PHY conversion module is further configured to add one or more of inner and outer forward error correction (FEC) bits and framing bits to the first bitstream to generate the second bitstream.
7. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the multiplexing module is further configured to perform one of: Sub-band Division Multiplexing (SDM), wavelet Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and Discrete Wavelet Multitone (DWMT) to divide the second bitstream into the first plurality of sub-bands.
8. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the multiplexing module is further configured to determine respective widths for the first plurality of sub-bands.
9. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the RF module is further configured to Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) encode the first plurality of sub-bands to generate the first RF signal.
10. The media converter of claim 1 , wherein the RF module is further configured to receive a second RF signal having a second plurality of sub-bands over the coaxial cable, and wherein the multiplexing module is further configured to assemble the second plurality of sub-bands to generate a third bitstream.
11. A method, comprising:
receiving a first optical signal;
generating a first bitstream from the first optical signal;
performing physical layer (PHY) conversion on the first bitstream to generate a second bitstream;
dividing the second bitstream into a first plurality of sub-bands;
generating a first radio frequency (RF) signal from the first plurality of sub-bands; and
transmitting the first RF signal over a coaxial cable.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first bitstream has a first physical layer (PHY) encoding and the second bitstream has a second PHY encoding.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) PHY encoding and the second PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network Over Coax (EPOC) PHY encoding.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
replacing a first line encoding of the first bitstream with a second line encoding to generate the second bitstream.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
adding one or more of inner and outer forward error correction (ITC) bits and framing bits to the first bitstream to generate the second bitstream.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein dividing the second bitstream into the first plurality of sub-bands comprises performing one of Sub-band Division Multiplexing (SDM), wavelet Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and Discrete Wavelet Multitone (DWMT) on the second bitstream.
17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining respective widths for the first plurality of sub-bands.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) encoding the first plurality of sub-bands to generate the first RF signal.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving a second RF signal having a second plurality of sub-bands over the coaxial cable; and
assembling the second plurality of sub-bands to generate a third bitstream.
20. A media converter, comprising:
a first interface configured to receive a first optical signal and to generate a first bitstream having a first physical layer (PHY) encoding;
a PHY conversion module, coupled to the first interface, configured to perform PHY layer conversion of the first bitstream to generate a second bitstream having a second PHY encoding; and
a second interface, coupled to the PHY conversion module, configured to generate a first radio frequency (RF) signal from the second bitstream and to transmit the first RF signal over a coaxial cable,
wherein the first PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) PHY encoding and the second PHY encoding is Ethernet Passive Optical Network Over Coax (EPOC) PHY encoding.
21. The media converter of claim 20 , wherein data packets carried by the first bitstream and the second bit stream utilize a same media access control (MAC) layer.
22. The media converter of claim 21 , wherein the same MAC layer is an EPON MAC layer.