Long Reach Passive Optical Network Architectures

Long reach passive optical network architectures based on time-and-wavelength-division multiplexing (TWDM) are investigated. Generic variations of architectures employing different topologies like multi-stage, tree-like and bus-like splitters are studied. We confirm by simulations the feasibility of such architectures deploying a chain of linear semi-conductor optical amplifiers (SOA). State-of-the-art linear SOAs support a reach of up to 100 km with a total split size of 512 in a non-wavelength routed fiber plant.