China Telecom Research Institute Completed 50G PON Prototype Test with ITU-T Next Generation PON Standard

Recently, China Telecom Research Institute successfully completed the technical test of the 50G PON prototype that supports the ITU-T standard optical power budget. The system performance fully met expectations. The 50G PON prototype uses the wavelengths specified in ITU-T G.9804.3 (officially released in 2021) and supports upstream and downstream line rates of 50 Gbps and 25 Gbps. After two-level 1:8 optical splitters and 20 km fiber transmission, the optical power budget exceeds 29 dB, meeting the N1 optical power budget indicator defined in the standard as well as operators’ requirements for smooth evolution from the GPON/XG(S)-PON system based on Class B+/N1 to the 50G PON system.

China Telecom takes the lead in formulating international standards for the 50G PON technology of the next-generation optical access network, and actively promotes the demonstration application of the 50G PON prototype on operators’ live networks. The project team actively aligned with the technical requirements for smooth evolution from 10G PON to 50G PON, and promoted the incorporation of key physical-layer parameters such as the MPM coexistence model (combo mode) and corresponding optical power budget into ITU-T G.9804.3, to ensure that 10G PON system can evolve to ITU-T 50G PON smoothly.

In the technical test of the 50G PON prototype, multiple ONUs can register with the OLT and go online normally in a two-level 1:8 optical splitter environment with a fiber transmission distance of 20 km. Compared with the 50G PON prototype tested in 2021, this prototype features technical breakthroughs in key indicators such as the system optical power budget and wavelength, meeting ITU-T standard requirements and further promoting the development and maturity of the 50G PON ecosystem.

China Telecom Research Institute will continue to work with industry chain partners to promote 50G PON standardization and commercialization, promote the development and maturity of next-generation optical access networks, and meet the access bandwidth requirements of various bandwidth-hungry intelligent applications in the future.