Survivable WDM-PON with self-protection and in-service fault localization capabilities

In this paper, we analyze the survivability of wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) passive optical network (PON). We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel survivable WDM-PON architecture with self-protection and in-service fault localization capabilities. Two WDM-PONs are combined together and multiple sub-ring architecture is formed. Protection switching is achieved automatically at optical network units (ONUs) when failure occurs. Fiber loss, fiber fault localization and automatic protection switching in each ONU are real-time monitored in central office (CO) without interrupting customer service. No signaling for failure notice or protection switching is required for either CO or ONUs. Extra fibers required for protection are minimized compared with previous protection schemes. The self-protection and in-service fault localization capabilities of the proposed WDM-PON architecture are experimentally verified.