Passive optical networking (PON) is an in-building optical fiber application that is capable of distributing voice, video, and data to the desktop over one single-mode fiber.   The three main components to a Passive optical networking (PON) implementation are the:

1. passive optical networking line terminal (OLT) located in the building or campus entrance facility,
2. passive optical networking splitters located in the telecommunications closet on each floor, and
3. passive optical networking terminals (ONT) located in end-user work areas

While PON equipment may be connected using point-to-point cabling, the flexibility of the system is greatly enhanced if the network is deployed over a TIA and ISO/IEC compliant structured cabling system.  These advantages include:

• ease of upgrades to new technologies,
• the ability to replace equipment with minimal service disruption,
• support of moves, adds, and changes (MACs),
• the ability to change equipment vendors,
• enhanced administration and labeling capability, and
• support of back-up and redundant connections

To ensure compliance with ANSI/TIA-568-C.1 and ISO/IEC 11801 Edition 2.2, a minimum of two permanent links shall be provided for each work area.  For an infrastructure anticipated to support PON technology, Siemon recommends that a minimum of one 2-fiber single-mode permanent link supported by duplex SC or LC connectivity and one category 6A or higher balanced twisted-pair permanent link be provided at each work area.  The availability of a category 6A copper cabling link supports future adoption of remote powering (e.g. Power over Ethernet or PoE) technology and 10GBASE-T transmission speeds with minimal need to upgrade or replace existing PON equipment.

The figure below depicts Siemon’s recommended minimum PON-ready backbone and horizontal cabling topology for buildings having a main cross connect  and a horizontal cross connect only.  This recommended minimum topology may also be applied to larger build outs that support Cabling Subsystem 2 and 3 runs and an intermediate cross connect or configurations where the PON splitter is housed in a zone box.

Recommended Standards Compliant PON Deployment Topology