Just over two months after introducing RF over glass (RFoG) products (story here), Arris dropped the other optical shoe with the introduction of products for Ethernet passive optical networking (EPON).
There are any number of reasons to extend an HFC plant with more fiber, and any number of ways to do it. The actual architecture an operator chooses to implement can depend on customer needs and how much the operator needs to spend to fulfill those needs. Flexibility, including a clear technological migration path, is key. The usual migration path for gradual extension of fiber runs from standard HFC to RFoG to PON.
With the introduction of RFoG products, and now with EPON products, Arris has a portfolio of optical products that support flexible solutions and a technological migration path.
Arris’ FTTMax EPON system is composed of the FTTMax EPON optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network unit (ONU), which allow operators to add mixed-use services incrementally without changing their back office operations.
It is ideally suited to expand cable operators’ ability to serve small- and medium-size businesses and emerging markets by providing Gigabit Ethernet services.
Operators already using Arris’ CHP Max 5000 headend chassis can add EPON to their service offerings by simply adding an FTTMax EPON OLT to the CHP Max 5000 chassis and an FTTMax EPON ONU at the customer premises, Arris said. Up to 1,280 customers can be served from the 20 OLT ports per 2RU.
The EPON products support Arris’ CorWave coordinated wavelength plan over existing HFC infrastructures, which the company said will reduce upfront capital investment and allow EPON services to coexist with other services, even over a single fiber.
“Because the Arris FTTMax EPON systems utilize the CorWave coordinated wavelength plan and DOCSIS back office systems, MSOs can target business services quickly, cost effectively, easily and incrementally while conserving fiber,” said Arris access and transport president John Caezza.
