Thousands of building owners and residents in locations typically bypassed during fiber deployments will gain access to high-quality internet services, thanks to HomeGrid Forum member Positron Access.
Positron, a HomeGrid Forum member since July 2022, has designed a G.hn access multiplexer (GAM) capable of extending 10 Gigabit symmetrical passive optical networks (XGS-PON) to deliver Gigabit services to brownfield properties.
By harnessing existing wiring infrastructure, including legacy telephone pairs or coaxial cabling, operators can activate subscribers in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) at 20 percent of the typical cost of rewiring.
Brownfield MDUs often are located near an abundance of fiber yet often are overlooked because of the cost and complexity of rewiring these older buildings with fiber to each door. Another major roadblock with fiber extension solutions has been the complexity of provisioning subscribers and activating services.
MDUs regarded as ‘passed homes’ may never become paying subscribers or have access to the reliable, ubiquitous connectivity typical of single-family units.
Working in collaboration with Calix XGS-PON, the GAM supports native XGS-PON with full OMCI (G.988) compliance. This turns the solution into a multi-port optical network terminal (ONT). Combining XGS-PON and OMCI, with support from the Broadband Forum’s ‘fiber-to-the-extension-point’ standard (TR-419), the GAM already is used by innovative operators like United Fiber, Nuvera and Paul Bunyan to serve legacy properties with XGS-PON. These operators leverage the same flow-through provisioning and analytics capabilities of their XGS-PON vendor to serve MDUs.
The GAM offers the required layer-2 VLAN, QoS, bandwidth shaping, and security capabilities essential when deploying a managed Wi-Fi solution. Coupling G.hn technology with XGS-PON enables the delivery of Gigabit services without rewiring disruption for the lowest CAPEX and OPEX. Subscribers are provisioned using the same operations and business support systems, increasing operators’ market size, revenues, and traffic on the xPON network.
With a converged Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure inside their MDUs, ownership groups have the tools to address smart buildings and overcome future connectivity challenges for their residents. Operators that invested in deploying XGS-PON (or GPON) services can use the GAM to maximize their RoI and achieve higher adoption rates.
For more information on HomeGrid Forum, visit www.homegridforum.org, for more information on Positron, go to https://www.positronaccess.com/ .
