Flexible hybrid WDM/TDM PON architectures using wavelength selective switches

For building an optical access network, we propose some new hybrid WDM/TDM passive optical network (PON) architectures that use wavelength selective switches (WSSs) at the remote node to improve flexibility, data security and power budget. Through simulations we demonstrate that the switching capabilities of a WSS can provide additional gains in terms of wavelength usage by a better statistical multiplexing. Several WSS-based hybrid WDM/TDM PON variants are proposed and assessed. These architectures are also compared with the more commonly used hybrid WDM/TDM PONs consisting of power splitters and/or arrayed wavelength gratings (AWGs), in terms of cost and power budget.