Network engineers from more than 30 companies gathered at LAN’s Digital Applications Laboratory in Tauxigny, France to test the performance and interoperability of ITU-T’s new 10-gigabit symmetrical passive optical networking XGS-PON standard.
XGS-PON has emerged quickly as a global industry standard that is to co-exist with current generation GPON “Fiber To The Home” (FTTH) broadband infrastructure.
Organized by the Broadband Forum and the Full Service Access Network Group (FSAN), the inaugural ITU-T XGS-PON Plugfest aimed to pave a common fiber-FTTH migration path for industry participants across the value chain. The event drew the likes of ADTRAN, Broadcom, Calix, Huawei, Nokia, ZTE and others, the organizers highlight in a news release.
“We’re really pleased with the success of the Plugfest, in particular the number of engineers in attendance from an impressive breadth of companies,” commented Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh.
“As networks converge and technologies become increasingly dependent on each other to deliver a high-quality service, interoperability is essential. Working with LAN and FSAN on events such as the Plugfest is absolutely crucial to the Broadband Forum as we continue to look at the next generation of fiber access and build upon the success of our G-PON BBF.247 Certification program.”
XGS-PON Standard Development
Orange SVP Strategy, Architecture & Standardization Philippe Lucas highlighted, and applauded, the speed at which the ITU-T XGS-PON working groups have been able to advance development of the new PON standard.
“XGS-PON offers an evolution path within the PON infrastructure and covers a number of anticipated use cases beyond GPON,” he explained.
“Interoperability Plugfests are considered a major achievement in assessing technology maturity, and that helps to bring confidence to operators before they consider any significant deployments.”
A new generation of wireless broadband technology is giving fiber a run for its money even as industry players continue to invest in fiber R&D and new infrastructure.
AT&T Labs on Sept. 20 introduced new AirGig technology that it says has tremendous potential to transform Internet access globally. Using hybrid powerline-wireless transmission AirGig can transport digital communications at multi-gigabit speeds, according to the company.
