PMC-Sierra announces industry’s first EPON ONU SoC with integrated optical analog front end technology

SUNNYVALE, USA: PMC-Sierra Inc. announced the industry’s most advanced EPON ONU devices with integrated Optical Analog Front End (OAFE) technology optimized for the rapidly growing Fiber To The Home (FTTH) market segment.

PMC-Sierra’s PAS6500 family consists of three devices – the PAS6502 System-on-Chip (SoC) for data and voice-over-IP (VoIP) Single-Family Units (SFUs), the PAS6500 SoC for data SFUs, and the PAS6501 SoC for Multiple Dwelling Units (MDUs). The PAS6500 devices are the first to integrate an EPON OAFE consisting of a burst mode laser driver, a limiting amplifier and a receiver control processor.

By connecting to an on-board Bi-directional Optical Sub Assembly (BoSA) instead of an optical transceiver, the PAS6500 solutions reduce the cost, size and power of the ONU, while adding improved diagnostic capabilities. The high level of integration, which also includes a VoIP processor, helps OEMs to significantly reduce the cost of ONU equipment. All three devices feature PMC-Sierra’s field-proven GigaPASS™ architecture that achieves sustained gigabit and greater data rates, and is already used in more than 15 million PON devices deployed worldwide.

PMC-Sierra’s PAS6500 family integrates a programmable networking engine that provides enhanced Quality of Service (QoS), complying with China Telecom specification version 2.1, including IPv6 protocol support. The unique power saving algorithms implemented within PAS6500 devices reduce ONU power consumption by up to 80 percent.

This product family adds mobile backhaul over EPON support with the integration of Synchronous Ethernet and Time of Day delivery, wire-speed throughput at all packet sizes, queueing, filtering and advanced QoS. These solutions reuse PMC-Sierra’s widely deployed EPON software packages and preserve field-proven interoperability in worldwide EPON deployments.

“OEMs worldwide are constantly looking for ways to offer new, advanced services, reduce costs and lower power consumption,” said Raphael Sankar, vice president and co-general manager of PMC-Sierra’s FTTH division. “Our third generation EPON ONU SoC addresses all three objectives by embedding a programmable networking engine, offering unique power saving algorithms and featuring innovative silicon integration.”

“EPON deployments continue to grow in China and Japan, and are now expanding to the U.S. markets,” said Jag Bolaria, senior analyst, The Linley Group. “OEMs need to be able to reduce power consumption and equipment costs while increasing functionality in order to meet the service provider requirements for new deployments.”

PMC-Sierra’s SFU and MDU reference designs are available for a range of user interfaces, including Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and POTS. The reference designs reduce the cost and increase the energy efficiency of EPON networks. These solutions offer a complete EPON ONU software package, which is compatible with the PAS6301 software and supports low footprint OS and Linux featuring an EPON protocol stack and networking drivers, IEEE 802.3ah OAM protocol, including operator-specific stacks, integrated peripheral drivers and a complete VoIP software solution.