Time domains in a PON

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9497019-B2
Application number	US-201214409168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2012
Priority date	Jun 18, 2012
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

An Optical Line Termination (OLT) is connected to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) over an Optical Distribution Network (ODN), wherein the OLT transmits multiple time domains to the ONU over the ODN for synchronizing client equipment connected to the ONU with different time domains. The multiple time domains are transported in one or more OMCI messages, and each OMCI message comprises a single Managed Entity.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for an Optical Network Unit (ONU) in a Passive Optical Network (PON) of managing a time-of-day synchronization with at least two reference clocks, wherein the ONU is connected to an Optical Line Termination (OLT) over an Optical Distribution Network (ODN) and to at least two client equipment, the method comprising:
receiving one or more Optical Network Terminal (ONT) Management and Control Interface (OMCI) messages from the OLT, said one or more OMCI messages transporting time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks over the ODN, wherein each of the at least two reference clocks is associated with at least one of said at least two client equipment;
creating at least two individual time-of-day messages, each message being based on time-of-day information from a corresponding one of said at least two reference clocks; and
sending each of the at least two individual time-of-day messages to the at least one of said at least two client equipment associated with the corresponding one of the at least two reference clocks, for synchronizing each of the at least two client equipment with its associated reference clock.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of said one or more OMCI messages comprises a single Managed Entity (ME) which contains time-of-day information from one or more of said at least two reference clocks.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time-of-day information from said at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in a single OMCI message.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the single OMCI message comprises as single Managed Entity, which contains the time-of day information from the at least two reference clocks.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time-of-day information from said at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in at least two OMCI messages, each of said at least two OMCI messages containing time-of-day information from only one reference clock.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein each of said at least two OMCI messages comprises a single Managed Entity, which contains time of day information from only one of said at least two reference clocks.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising synchronizing a local clock in the ONU with one of said at least two reference clocks.

8. A method for an Optical Line Termination (OLT) in a Passive Optical Network (PON) of managing a time-of-day synchronization with at least two reference clocks, wherein the OLT is connected to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) over an Optical Distribution Network (ODN) and the ONU is connected to at least two client equipment, the method comprising:
receiving time-of-day information from at least two reference clocks, wherein each of the at least two reference clocks is associated with at least one of said at least two client equipment;
creating one or more Optical Network Terminal (ONT) Management and Control Interface (OMCI) messages for transporting the time-of-day information from a corresponding one of said at least two reference clocks over the ODN; and
sending the one or more OMCI messages to the ONU over the ODN, for synchronizing each of said at least two client equipment with its associated reference clock.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein each of said one or more OMCI messages comprises a single Managed Entity (ME) which contains time-of-day information from one or more of said at least two reference clocks.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in a single OMCI message.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the single OMCI message comprises a single Managed Entity, which contains the time-of day information from the at least two reference clocks.

12. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in at least two OMCI messages, each of said at least two OMCI messages containing time-of-day information from only one of said at least two reference clocks.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein each of said at least two OMCI messages comprises a single Managed Entity, which contains time-of-day information from only one of said at least two reference clocks.

14. An Optical Network Unit (ONU) for a Passive Optical Network (PON) the ONU being connectable to an Optical Line Termination (OLT) over an Optical Distribution Network (ODN) and to at least two client equipment, wherein the ONU is arranged to manage a time-of-day synchronization with at least two reference clocks, and comprises processing circuitry configured to:
receive one or more Optical Network Terminal (ONT) Management and Control Interface (OMCI) messages from a connected OLT, said one or more OMCI messages transporting time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks over the ODN, wherein each of the at least two reference clocks is associated with at least one of the at least two connected client equipment;
create at least two individual time-of-day messages, each message being based on the time-of-day information from a corresponding one of the at least two reference clocks; and
send each individual time-of-day message to the at least one of the at least two connected client equipment associated with the corresponding one of the at least two reference clocks synchronizing each of the at least two client equipment with its associated reference clock.

15. The ONU according to claim 14 , wherein the time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in a single OMCI message.

16. The ONU according to claim 15 , wherein the single OMCI message comprises a single Managed Entity (ME) which contains the time-of day information from the at least two reference clocks.

17. The ONU according to claim 14 , wherein the time-of-day information from the at least two reference clocks is transported over the ODN in at least two OMCI messages, each OMCI message comprising time-of-day information from only one of the at least two reference clocks.

18. The ONU according to claim 17 , wherein each of said at least two OMCI messages comprises a single Managed Entity, contains time-of-day information from only one of the at least two reference clocks.

19. The ONU according to claim 14 , the ONU comprising at least two transceivers for communicating with the at least two client equipment, wherein each transceiver is arranged to communicate with one of the at least two equipment over a User Network Interface (UNI).

20. The ONU according to claim 14 , further comprising a local clock, wherein the ONU is arranged to synchronize its local clock with one of said at least two reference clocks.

21. An Optical Line Termination for a Passive Optical Network (PON) the OLT being connectable to an Optical Network Unit (ONU) over an Optical Distribution Network (ODN) wherein the OLT is arranged to manage a time-of-day synchronization with at least two reference clocks, and comprises processing circuitry configured to:
receive time-of-day information from at least two reference clocks;
create one or more Optical Network Terminal (ONT) Management and Control Interface (OMCI) messages for transporting the time-of-day information from a corresponding one of said at least two reference clocks over the ODN; and
send the one or more OMCI messages to the ONU ov

Assignees

• Nors Niclas
• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Nors Niclas

Classifications

• H04J3/0664 Primary

  unidirectional timestamps · CPC title

• H04Q2011/0088

  Signalling aspects · CPC title

• H04L7/0075 Primary

  with photonic or optical means · CPC title

• H04J3/0641

  Change of the master or reference, e.g. take-over or failure of the master · CPC title

• H04Q11/0067

  Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring · CPC title