Bandwidth allocation in Diffserv-enabled ethernet passive optical networks

Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs) have attracted considerable attention from industry as they offer a simple, highly flexible and cost effective solution to the problem of providing broadband access to a customer. In this paper, a new approach to bandwidth allocation in EPONs is presented where the Optical Line Terminator (OLT) has full control over the access mechanism. This results in much simpler Optical Network Unit (ONU) architecture. It is shown in this paper that such an OLT-centric architecture offers full support for Differentiated Services and makes enforcement of Service Level Agreements possible. Extensive simulation experiments show that bandwidth allocation algorithms deployed in such a centralized environment can deliver good performance in terms of average and maximum packet delay. In this paper two new algorithms are introduced that target SLAaware EPONs and provide a good protection of offered quality of service against interference from other sources. Bandwidth Allocation in DiffServ Enabled Ethernet Passive Optical Networks Dawid Nowak, Philip Perry, John Murphy