Network test, monitoring and analytics specialist EXFO has released what it believes is the industry’s first ‘PON-aware’ power meter for testing next-generation and legacy passive optical network (PON) technologies.
The PPM-350D PON Power Meter automatically detects and adapts test parameters to suit the PON technology in use at the customer premises. These new capabilities eliminate costly guesswork by field technicians during the critical service activation phase.
This need to service multiple technologies is becoming more important as optical access technology evolves. Each home, school, or business has different requirements for their upstream and downstream broadband speeds. To provide the right speeds to the right customers, communications service providers (CSP) are deploying multiple PON technologies by overlaying multiple new wavelengths on existing fibres.
“With next-gen PON upgrades underway in every region, seamless upgrades require the overlaying of new wavelengths on existing fibres as operators combine existing PON with next-gen PON solutions,” said Julie Kunstler, principal analyst, Ovum’s Next-Gen Infrastructure Practice. “EXFO’s PON meter enables technicians to accurately test and thereby fix any customer connections during service activation for legacy and next-gen PON technologies such as GPON, EPON, XG-PON1, XGS-PON, 10G-EPON and NG-PON2, without needing to know an operator’s specific upgrade roadmap.”
The PPM-350D PON Power Meter is compatible with all variants and generations of PON technology including GPON, EPON, 10G-capable and NG-PON2 networks as well as deep fibre architectures used in cable networks, like radio frequency over glass (RFoG).
“We developed the PON-aware power meter to tackle two key challenges for CSPs dealing with multiple legacy and next-gen technologies,” said Stéphane Chabot, EXFO's vice president, test and measurement. “First, field technicians can’t fix problems that older power meters can’t see. Second, it can be difficult to select the right test parameters for the technology, which increases the risk of meaningless test results and false positives. By using automation to solve both problems, the PPM-350D helps CSPs avoid the high costs of sending tech teams back to fix problems for frustrated new customers.”