Dynamic Power Management at the Access Node and Customer Premises in Point-to-Point and Time-Division Optical Access

In order to achieve the maximum power-saving performance in optical access networks, all network elements including the access node or optical line terminal (OLT) and the optical network unit should be considered. In this paper, appropriate power-saving mechanisms are determined for each network element in point-to-point (PtP) and time-division-multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON) systems to maximize the achievable power-saving performance while satisfying the quality-of-service requirements for different applications. By applying these power-saving mechanisms in PtP and TDM-PON systems, it is found that 1) the power consumption of OLTs in the central office is reduced by up to 51% and 38%, respectively, and 2) the total power consumption per subscriber is reduced by up to 61.5% and 67%, respectively. Using simulations, the most energy-efficient optical access network technology for different Internet applications is also identified.