An introduction to the difference between GPON and EPON

      ⦁ Background
      At present, PON passive optical network (Passive Optical Network) has become the mainstream technology solution for access network, and the following is its service topology diagram:

Figure  PON service topology diagram

      As shown above, OLT (Optical Line Terminal) is used to connect the fiber optic trunk line terminal equipment, Splitter for the splitter, can achieve 1:16, 1:32, 1:64 or maximum 1:128 split, ONU (Optical Network Unit) optical network unit belongs to the user side of the device, passively accept the data sent by the OLT, to provide services for the user side. ONU (Optical Network Unit) is a user-side device that passively accepts data sent by OLT and provides services for the user side.
      At present, there are two types of GPON and EPON programs, what is the difference and connection between the two? This article makes a brief introduction.
      ⦁ Follow the protocol differences
      EPON is an acronym for Ethernet Passive Optical Network, that is, Ethernet Passive Optical Network, it is by the IEEE International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, EPON is fully compliant with the characteristics and performance of the Ethernet protocol.
      GPON is an acronym for Gigabit Passive Optical Network, that is, Gigabit Passive Optical Network, which is led and defined by the ITU International Telecommunication Union and FSAN full-service access network, the common point of these two organizations is that they are all based on the carrier's technology as the main content of the work.
      From the leading definition of the organization, carriers usually choose to choose GPON as the optical network technology, while EPON is closer to Ethernet, GPON and EPON protocols followed are also different.

Table 1 Protocols followed by EPON and GPON

      ⦁ Difference in operating rate
      EPON upstream and downstream rates are fixed, while GPON can provide multiple asynchronous transmission rates:

Table 2 EPON and GPON Operating Rate Differences

      ⦁ Difference in Tap Ratio
      Tap ratio is how many ONU user ends an OLT port carries. Due to the advantage of downlink rate, GPON is usually 1:64~1:128, and EPON is usually 1:16~1:32 tap ratio, GPON can support more ONU users.
      In summary, GPON and EPON as an important part of the access network, each has its own merits, and GPON than EPON bandwidth (mainly focus on the downlink) is larger, more powerful split capacity, more flexible, can support more users, the transmission of a larger bandwidth services.
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