Broadcom Corporation

Teknovus, Inc.

Avago Technologies General IP (singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Lawrence Drew Davis

Edward Wayne Boyd

Glen Kramer

Ryan E Hirth

Joel I Danzig

Ernie Bahm

Lowell David Lamb

Jaroslaw Wojtowicz

Rennie Gardner

Mark David Griswold

Sanjay Goswami

Mitchell Gordon McGee

Ngo Ho

Thyagarajan T Subramanian

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide efficient solutions for detecting and transmitting heartbeat frames at an optical line terminal (OLT) of an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The processing burden of a host CPU is reduced by shifting some of the processing responsibilities of the host CPU to an embedded CPU. An OAM capture FIFO buffer stores frames for later processing by the embedded CPU, and fields of an OAM vector register are changed whenever a heartbeat frame is detected for an LLID. Embedded CPU polls the OAM vector at a predetermined rate sufficient to maintain link status, so heartbeat messages are not missed even when the OAM capture FIFO buffer overflows. Additionally, an OAM generation buffer efficiently creates new heartbeat messages to be sent to ONUs for each supported LLID by modifying previously transmitted OAM frames with new information specific to the LLIDs.

OLT MAC module for efficiently processing OAM frames

A system and method for carrying control data in a preamble. A control-data bearing preamble is defined to facilitate end-to-end labeling and control-data transport. This control-data bearing preamble provides a unified labeling scheme with minimal overhead, which facilitates greater ease in parsing. The control-data bearing preamble can be converted to/from other control/labeling schemes at the edge of the control-data bearing preamble aware portion of the network.

System and method for carrying control data in a preamble

Embodiments enable a network operator to use any (and a single) network management system (NMS) that it desires to manage a network having mixed fiber to the home optical network units (ONUs) and coaxial connected cable modems. For example, embodiments enable a cable company operator to use a DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) NMS (which the cable company already uses to manage its DOCSIS network) to manage such mixed network, by a simple addition of a DOCSIS Mediation Layer (DML) module between the NMS and the optical line terminal (OLT). On the other hand, embodiments enable a telephone company operator to use a standard EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) OLT NMS with minor OLT and OAM (Operations, Administration, and Maintenance) protocol modifications to manage the same mixed network.

Unified network management of hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network

One embodiment provides a system that performs protection switching in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON), which includes an optical line terminal (OLT) and at least one optical network unit (ONU). The system is configured with at least one redundant component for the OLT and/or ONUs, wherein the redundant component can be optical or electrical, and can be a port, line card or link. The system provides protection by detecting a failure, and switching automatically to the redundant components to reduce service disruption time. The protection switching comprises: preserving the existing configuration over the loss of at least one of a multiple-point control protocol (MPCP) message; an operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) message; and a signal on the physical layer. The system recovers from the failure without performing ONU discovery.

Method and system for protection switching in ethernet passive optical networks

Embodiments enable an Ethernet over Coaxial (EoC) Coaxial Media Converter (CMC) that implements only a subset of the functions (e.g., MAC and PHY) of a cable modem termination system (CMTS). The CMC sits between an optical line terminal (OLT) and a plurality of cable modems (CMs) that it serves. From the network management side at the OLT, the CMC appears and can be managed like an optical network unit (ONU). From the subscriber side, the CMC provides the same connectivity functions to the CMs as a CMTS and serves to terminate coaxial connections from the CMs.

Traffic switching in hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network

One embodiment provides a media access control (MAC) module facilitating operations of an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The MAC module includes a frame formatter configured to generate a MAC control frame. The generated MAC control frame includes at least one of: an organizationally unique identifier (OUI) field, an QUI-specific operation code (opcode) field, and a number of fields associated with the QUI-specific opcode. Transmission of the MAC control frame facilitates realization of an EPON function based on the fields associated with the QUI-specific opcode.

Methods and apparatus for extending MAC control messages in EPON

One embodiment provides a media access control (MAC) module facilitating operations of an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The MAC module includes a frame formatter configured to generate a MAC control frame. The generated MAC control frame includes at least one of: an organizationally unique identifier (OUI) field, an OUI-specific operation code (opcode) field, and a number of fields associated with the OUI-specific opcode. Transmission of the MAC control frame facilitates realization of an EPON function based on the fields associated with the OUI-specific opcode.

Methods and apparatus for extending MAC control message in EPON

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for forwarding packets in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) which includes a central node and at least one remote node. During operation, the system associates a logical link identifier (LLID) to a logical link between the central node and a remote node, wherein the logical link corresponds to a priority level based on a certain service level agreement (SLA). After receiving a packet to be forwarded to a remote node, the system then determines the value of one or more fields within the packet which is used to indicate a priority level for the packet. Subsequently, the system assigns an LLID to the packet based on the value of the one or more fields, thereby facilitating differentiated service qualities within the EPON.

Method and apparatus for facilitating differentiated service qualities in an ethernet passive optical network

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates registration of remote nodes in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The system includes a central node and at least one remote node, wherein a number of virtual remote nodes are coupled to a common physical remote node and transmit upstream data through a common transmitter within the common physical remote node. During an initial discovery cycle, the system receives a solicitation message from the central node at a remote node, wherein the solicitation message assigns a discovery slot in which an unregistered remote node may transmit a response message to the central node for registration. The system then transmits a response message from an unregistered remote node to register within the assigned discovery slot. If multiple virtual remote nodes coupled to the common physical remote node seek registration concurrently, the system controls the transmission of response messages from these virtual remote nodes to the central node so as to avoid collisions between response messages from different remote nodes.

Method and apparatus for registering multiple remote nodes in an ethernet passive optical network

One embodiment of the present invention provides 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. During operation, the system provides a downstream code-group clock, wherein each cycle thereof corresponds to a code group transmitted from the central node to a remote node. The system also provides an upstream code-group clock, wherein each cycle thereof corresponds to a code group received at the central node from a remote node. In addition, the system provides a multi-point control protocol (MPCP) clock, wherein the frequency ratio of the MPCP clock to the downstream code-group clock is different from the frequency ratio of the MPCP clock to the upstream code-group clock, thereby allowing the downstream transmission to be performed at a faster line rate than the upstream transmission line rate.

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

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that decrypts downstream data in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). During operation, the system receives a data frame which is encrypted based on a remote input block and a session key, wherein the remote input block is constructed based on a remote cipher counter and a remote block counter. The system adjusts a local cipher counter based on a received checksum located in a preamble of the data frame, wherein the local cipher counter is substantially synchronized with the remote cipher counter. In addition, the system truncates the local cipher counter by discarding n least significant bits thereof. The system then constructs a local input block based on the truncated cipher counter and a local block counter for the received data frame. Next, the system decrypts the data frame based on the local input block and the session key.

Method for data encryption in an ethernet passive optical network

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates bandwidth-efficient multicast in EPONs. The system includes a central node and at least one remote node. Downstream data from the central node is broadcast through a passive optical coupler to remote nodes. In the other direction, upstream data from a remote node is transmitted through the passive optical coupler to the central node in a unicast manner. During operation, the system first selects a common multicast LLID to represent a number of remote nodes that comprise a multicast group. Upon receiving a multicast message destined to the multicast group, the system sends the multicast message along with the multicast LLID for the multicast group, whereby the multicast message is broadcast through the passive optical coupler in the downstream direction. This allows each remote node belonging to the multicast group to receive the multicast message by matching the multicast LLID.

Method and apparatus for bandwidth-efficient multicast in ethernet passive optical networks

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates forwarding of packets in an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON), which includes a central node and at least one remote node. During operation, the system assigns a logical link identifier (LLID) to a remote node, wherein an LLID corresponds to a logical link between the central node and a remote node. The system also associates an LLID with a port of a switch within the central node, wherein the switch has a number of ports; wherein a port may be a physical port or a virtual port; and wherein the number of ports on the switch are divided into network-side ports and user-side ports. Upon receiving a downstream packet from a network-side port, the system searches a mapping table to determine whether one or more field values of the downstream packet correspond to any LLIDs or ports. If the one or more field values correspond to an LLID, the system assigns the LLID to the downstream packet and transmits the downstream packet to a remote node.

Growing community of inventors

Petaluma, CA, United States of America

Lawrence Drew Davis