Hybrid fiber/Cu distribution point with external ONU-to-dsl conversion unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9813156-B2
Application number	US-201415033099-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2014
Priority date	Nov 1, 2013
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

A hybrid service terminal for use in a passive fiber optic network comprises a plurality of optical fiber connectors, each coupled to a respective optical fiber for receiving downstream optical frames from an Optical Line Terminal (OLT); a plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors, each of the hybrid fiber/copper connectors coupled to a respective one of the plurality of optical fiber connectors; and a plurality of electrical connectors configured to receive electrical signals from a multi-line converter module over a respective one of a plurality of electrical conductors. One of the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors is configured to provide the downstream optical frames to the multi-line converter module for conversion to the electrical signals. Each of the plurality of electrical connectors is coupled to a respective one of the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors for providing the electrical signals over a respective metallic drop cable coupled to a respective network terminal at a corresponding customer premise.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hybrid service terminal for use in a passive fiber optic network, the hybrid service terminal comprising:
a plurality of optical fiber connectors, each coupled to a respective optical fiber for receiving downstream optical frames from an Optical Line Terminal (OLT);
a plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors, each of the hybrid fiber/copper connectors coupled to a respective one of the plurality of optical fiber connectors; and
a plurality of electrical connectors configured to receive electrical signals from a multi-line converter module over a respective one of a plurality of electrical conductors;
wherein one of the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors is configured to provide the downstream optical frames to the multi-line converter module for conversion to the electrical signals;
wherein each of the plurality of electrical connectors is coupled to a respective one of the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors for providing the electrical signals over a respective metallic drop cable coupled to a respective network terminal at a corresponding customer premise.

2. The hybrid service terminal of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors comprises one of 4, 8, or 12 hybrid fiber/copper connectors.

3. The hybrid service terminal of claim 1 , wherein the number of hybrid fiber/copper connectors matches the total number of customer premises coupled to the hybrid service terminal.

4. A passive fiber optic network comprising:
an optical line terminal (OLT) to couple a Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network to a core network;
a hybrid service terminal that is optically coupled to the OLT via at least one optical fiber, the hybrid service terminal comprising a plurality of hybrid fiber/copper connectors;
a plurality of network terminals, each network terminal configured to provide a service to respective customer premises equipment (CPE); and
a converter module coupled to one of the hybrid fiber/copper connectors via a fiber drop cable, the converter module configured to convert optical signals received over the fiber drop cable to an electrical signal and to transmit the electrical signal over each of a plurality of electrical conductors to a respective one of a plurality of electrical connectors in the hybrid service terminal;
wherein the hybrid service terminal is configured to provide the electrical signals received over each of the plurality of electrical connectors to a corresponding one of the hybrid fiber/copper connectors for communication to a respective one of the plurality of network terminals via a respective one of a plurality of metallic drop cables.

5. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein the number of hybrid fiber/copper connectors in the hybrid service terminal matches the number of network terminals coupled to the hybrid service terminal.

6. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein the converter module receives power over the plurality of metallic drop cables coupling the hybrid service terminal to the respective network terminals.

7. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein each of the metallic drop cables is comprised of a twisted copper pair.

8. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein the converter module is configured to transmit electrical signals according to Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) technology.

9. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein the converter module is configured to transmit electrical signals according to G.Fast technology.

10. The passive fiber optic network of claim 4 , wherein the passive fiber optic network comprises at least one of a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON), a Ten-Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (XGPON), and an ETHERNET Passive Optical Network (EPON).

11. A method of communicating using a passive fiber optic network, the method comprising:
transmitting downstream optical frames from an optical line terminal (OLT) in the passive fiber optic network to a hybrid service terminal having a plurality of hybrid fiber/copper ports;
receiving the downstream optical frames at the hybrid service terminal;
communicating the received downstream optical frames to a multi-line converter module via an optical fiber drop cable coupled to one of the plurality of hybrid fiber/copper ports;
converting the downstream optical frames into an electrical signal at multi-line converter module;
transmitting the electrical signal from the multi-line converter module over each of a plurality of electrical conductors to a respective one of a plurality of electrical connectors in the hybrid service terminal;
providing the electrical signal received over each of the plurality of electrical connectors to a corresponding one of the hybrid fiber/copper ports;
communicating the electrical signal over each of a plurality of metallic drop cables to a respective one of a plurality of network terminals; and
providing at least one service implemented by the respective network terminals using the received electrical signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
providing power to the converter module over the plurality of metallic drop cables through the hybrid service terminal.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the electrical signal from the multi-line converter module over each of a plurality of electrical conductors comprises transmitting the electrical signal from the multi-line converter module over each of a plurality of twisted copper pairs.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the electrical signal from the multi-line converter module comprises transmitting the electrical signal according to Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) technology.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the electrical signal from the multi line converter module comprises transmitting the electrical signal according to G.Fast technology.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
replacing one of the metallic drop cables with an optical fiber drop cable on an individual port basis without interrupting service to other network terminals coupled to the hybrid service terminal.

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Ltd Uk
• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Tyco Electronics Raychem Bvba
• Brown David
• Mather David
• Shaddock Robert Neil
• Weeks William Atley
• Franckx Joris
• Erreygers Jan Jozef Julia Maria
• Commscope Connectivity Uk Ltd
• Commscope Technologies Llc
• CommScope Connectivity Belgium BVBA

Inventors

• Brown David
• Mather David
• Shaddock Robert Neil
• Weeks William Atley
• Franckx Joris
• Erreygers Jan Jozef Julia Maria

Classifications

• H04B10/272

  Star-type networks {or tree-type networks} · 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

• G02B6/3817 Primary

  containing optical and electrical conductors (cables including electrical and optical conductors H01B11/22; G02B6/3816 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B10/2504 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B10/27

  Arrangements for networking · CPC title