Stream traffic management over an ATM passive optical network

Several alternatives based either on wired or wireless infrastructures are considered for the provision of broadband services in the local loop. In th e field of wired solutions, Passive Optical Networks (PON) look very promis ing due to their bandwidth capacity. Also called APONs (ATM over PON), PON systems are designed in order to satisfy end-to-end ATM connections. Becaus e it is based on a point-to-multipoint optical tree configuration, a PON ac cess system requires a MAC protocol for the upstream traffic. Two approache s may be adopted for the design of an APON MAC protocol. The first approach considers a MAC protocol based on a work-conserving discipline combined wi th a stand-alone traffic shaper between the head of the optical tree and an ATM switch. The second approach consists in an integrated mechanism able t o reduce Cell Delay Variation (CDV) of CBR/VBR connections by means of non- work conserving disciplines at the MAC layer. After having described the ma in characteristics of APON systems, we propose a new APON MAC protocol with integrated shaping well suited to real time traffic management. The perfor mances of our protocol are investigated by means of both computer simulatio ns and analytical modeling. By extension of our analytical study, a Call Ad mission Control procedure is proposed for real time VER connections. (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.