A survey on access technologies for broadband optical and wireless networks

The bandwidth demand of telecommunication network is growing rapidly due to the increasing number of technology-intelligent end-users. The emerging optical and wireless access networks are continuously competing with each other to provide these requirements for the end-users. The optical access networks provide huge data rate and long-distance link, but it is less ubiquitous. The wireless access networks provide flexible and ubiquitous communication with a low deployment cost. However, its deployment scalability is limited by the spectrum and range limitations. The hybrid wireless optical broadband access network (WOBAN) is a powerful combination of optical backhaul and wireless front-end to contribute to a good scalability, cost effective and flexible communication system. This paper reviews the key enabling access technologies and progress advancements of these networks. The emerging optical and wireless access technologies are also presented and compared.