The most recent Broadband Forum “Plugfest” focused on 50G-PON and 25GS-PON interoperability.
The Plugfest was conducted with LANPARK and AT&T Labs at the latter’s Plano, TX facility. LANPARK is an independent laboratory located in Tours, France.
It was the first time 50G-PON had been assessed for interoperability in the Plugfest series, and the second time for 25GS-PON.
Other participants were Adtran, Broadcom, Calix, CIG, Cortina Access, Gemtek, Lambda Networks, MT2, Nokia, Sagemcom, and Vantiva.
The Plugfests are open to vendors of optical line terminals (OLTs) and optical network units (ONUs), PON chipsets and software stacks, residential gateway devices directly incorporating a PON interface, and test and measurement equipment.
“During the Plugfest, AT&T Labs emphasized the importance of interoperability in diverse operator networks to enable a multivendor broadband ecosystem,” Sumithra Bhojan, the Director-Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Labs, said in a press release.
“This is critical as PON technologies evolve. The Broadband Forum plays a key role in fostering collaboration among operators, silicon, optics, software, and equipment suppliers, ensuring seamless integration and innovation across the ecosystem.”
LANPARK will host the next Plugfest from July 7-10. It will test XGS-PON, 25GS-PON, and 50G-PON. In October, an event — the press release doesn’t specifically call it a Plugfest —will be hosted by The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) from October 6-10.
Different PON capacity levels must coexist with equipment from different vendors. Last November, Adtran announced it was collaborating with Sonic Fiber Internet on symmetrical 50G PON technology deployments in California.
The technology will support both business and residential customers and work alongside GPON and XGS-PON. It will also be used in “combo PON” setups, in which multiple generations of technology are integrated. The announcement provided no information on rollout locations, timing, or other details.
