CHANNEL BONDING TECHNIQUES IN A NETWORK

• US 20170302379A1
• Filed: 03/23/2017
• Published: 10/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Calix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Calix Incorporated
• Inventors: Bernard, Christopher Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 10,461,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/272 Star-type networks or tree-type networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2865 Logical combinations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2885 Arrangements interfacing with optical systems optical network equipment H04B10/00; optical multiplexers H04J14/05 and H04J14/07
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/7453 using hashing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0067 Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0071 Provisions for the electrical-optical layer interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0064 Arbitration, scheduling or medium access control aspects

Abstract

A method of virtually bonding together at least two physical channels in an optical network terminal (ONT) of a passive optical network (PON) can include receiving, via the ONT, a plurality of frames from a network device, classifying, using a processor of the ONT, the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services, assigning the service to the at least two physical channels of the ONT, wherein each of the at least two physical channels is associated with a respective laser of the ONT to transmit at a respective wavelength, and transmitting, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels during an assigned time slot.

Claims

1. A method of virtually bonding together at least two physical channels in an optical network terminal (ONT) of a passive optical network (PON), the method comprising:

receiving, via the ONT, a plurality of frames from a network device;

classifying, using a processor of the ONT, the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services;

assigning the service to the at least two physical channels of the ONT, wherein each of the at least two physical channels is associated with a respective laser of the ONT to transmit at a respective wavelength; and

transmitting, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels during an assigned time slot.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes:

applying a hashing function to each of the plurality of received frames; and

assigning the plurality of received frames to the at least two physical channels based on a result of the hashing function.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein applying a hashing function to each of the plurality of received frames includes:

applying the hashing function to at least one of a media access control (MAC) address and an internet protocol (IP) address of each of the plurality of received frames.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes:

determining a level of congestion of each of the at least two physical channels; and

assigning each of the plurality of received frames to one of the at least two physical channels based on the determined level of congestion.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a level of congestion of each of the at least two physical channels includes:

determining a length of a queue backlog of each of the at least two physical channels.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of received frames, adding a sequence number to a field to indicate a position of the frame in a flow.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes:

assigning each of the plurality of received frames to one of the at least two physical channels using a round-robin strategy.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of received frames, adding a sequence number to a field to indicate a position of the frame in a flow.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein classifying, using a processor of the ONT, the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services includes:

adding, for each of the plurality of received frames in a classified service, a NG-PON2 encapsulation method (XGEM) port ID to identify the classified service, the method further comprising;

assigning the plurality of received frames to the at least two physical channels based on the XGEM port ID.

10. An optical network terminal (ONT) comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations to;

receive a plurality of frames from a network device;

classify the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services;

assign the service to the at least two physical channels of the ONT, wherein each of the at least two physical channels is associated with a respective laser of the ONT to transmit at a respective wavelength; and

transmit, toward an optical line terminal (OLT), the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels during an assigned time slot.

11. The ONT of claim 10, wherein the instructions to transmit, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes instructions to:

apply a hashing function to each of the plurality of received frames; and

assign the plurality of received frames to the at least two physical channels based on a result of the hashing function.

12. The ONT of claim 11, wherein the instructions to apply a hashing function to each of the plurality of received frames includes instructions to:

apply the hashing function to at least one of a media access control (MAC) address and an interne protocol (IP) address of each of the plurality of received frames.

13. The ONT of claim 10, wherein the instructions to transmit, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes instructions to:

determine a level of congestion of each of the at least two physical channels; and

assign each of the plurality of received frames to one of the at least two physical channels based on the determined level of congestion.

14. The ONT of claim 13. wherein the instructions to determine a level of congestion of each of the at least two physical channels includes instructions to:

determine a length of a queue backlog of each of the at least two physical channels.

15. The ONT of claim 13, including further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations to:

for each of the plurality of received frames, add a sequence number to a field to indicate a position of the frame in a flow.

16. The ONT of claim 10, wherein the instructions to transmit, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes instructions to:

assign each of the plurality of received frames to one of the at least two physical channels using a round-robin strategy.

17. The ONT of claim 16, including further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations to:

for each of the plurality of received frames, add a sequence number to a field to indicate a position of the frame in a flow.

18. The ONT of claim 10, wherein the instructions to classify, using a processor of the ONT, the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services includes instructions to:

add, for each of the plurality of received frames in a classified service, a NG-PON2 encapsulation method (XGEM) port ID to identify the classified service, the method further comprising;

assign the plurality of received frames to the at least two physical channels based on the XGEM port ID.

19. An optical line terminal (OLT) comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations to;

receive a plurality of frames from a network device;

classify the plurality of frames into one of a plurality of services;

assign the service to the at least two physical channels of the OLT, wherein each of the at least two physical channels is associated with a respective laser of the OLT to transmit at a respective wavelength; and

transmit, toward an optical network terminal (ONT), the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels during an assigned time slot.

20. The OLT of claim 19, wherein the instructions to transmit, toward an optical line terminal, the plurality of frames of the service using at least one of the at least two physical channels includes instructions to:

apply a hashing function to each of the plurality of received frames; and

assign the plurality of received frames to the at least two physical channels based on a result of the hashing function.