Integrated FTTH and In-Building Fiber-Coax OFDM Field Trial

Abstract

The performance of multi-service provisioning employing orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signals in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks integrating hybrid fiber-coax in-building distribution is evaluated with a field trial in Towercom FTTH network in operation in Bratislava, Slovakia. The optical link budget performance is evaluated on an FTTH link of 35.8 km of standard single-mode fiber including hybrid 100-m fiber and 20-m coax in-building distribution transmitting a five-in-one multi-service bundle. The multi-service OFDM bundle includes LTE for phone service provision, WiMAX for wireless data and home security, DVB-T and UWB for TV and HD video broadcasting, and a custom OFDM signal providing wired gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connectivity. The specific optical power level requirements for both downstream and upstream directions to achieve successful bi-directional communication are evaluated in a WDM-PON configuration. The experimental results indicate that multi-service downstream provision with <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">${-}{\rm 5}\hbox{-}{\rm dBm}$</tex></formula> optical power arriving to customer premises is required. In the upstream, the optical power power requirement at the central office is <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">${-}{\rm 9}~{\rm dBm}$</tex></formula> for return communication. The optical attenuation level that can be supported by the network is investigated to evaluate the splitting ratio and the maximum capacity (number of users) of the network. Final application was confirmed experimentally with the transmission of multi-service OFDM signals in Towercom FTTH network including a 1:8 passive splitter.