ZTE has developed what it claims is the industry’s first XG-PON1 optical line terminal (OLT) ASIC. The ASIC is a 4-port device and ZTE has used two to create what it says is the industry’s first 8-port XG-PON1 line card.
XG-PON1 is the next-generation GPON standard that delivers aggregate data rates of 10 Gbps downstream and 2.5 Gbps upstream. ZTE says XG-PON1 equipment has already been deployed by Chinese and other operators, although analysts question the demand for XG-PON1 and claim some vendors have already backed away from its development and marketing.”Demand for the ZTE XG-PON1 is strong, but does not stem from any specific location or area,” claimed Bei Jinsong, director of optical access network at ZTE. “The ZTE XG-PON1 is being used in tests and commercial trials across the globe.”Julie Kunstler, principal analyst, components, at market research firm, Ovum, thinks the market will be limited, however. “There is so little demand for XG-PON1; even Verizon has turned its back on XG-PON1,” she said. “Basically, the industry is skipping over XG-PON1 and is going towards XG-PON2 because they want symmetrical speeds.” XG-PON2 is the GPON standard that supports 10Gbps symmetrical data rates. ZTE says that XG-PON2 remains very much at the R&D stage.
So far system vendors have implemented their XG-PON1 designs using FPGAs. ZTE is the first to announce a 4-port ASIC and claims its custom silicon delivers power consumption and size advantages. “The power consumption of a single port in the ZTE XG-PON1 is ten percent less than the Code of Conduct 2014 requirement,” said Jinsong.
An 8-port line card is considered the industry standard for 10G PON, and several chip companies have announced 8-port devices for the alternative 10G EPON standard, says Kunstler.
Overall, 10G PON shipments have been incredibly low, and those that have shipped have been 10G EPON, according to Ovum. “There will be more 10G EPON this year as several service providers such as Bright House Networks deploy it for mobile backhaul, and China Telecom for multi-dwelling units,” says Kunstler. “However, non-FTTH applications, such as mobile backhaul, are the sweet spot.”
By Roy Rubenstein
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