A Rate-Adaptive MAC Protocol for Flexible OFDM-PONs

The practical deployment of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Networks (OFDM-PONs) is hindered by the lack of a Medium Access Network (MAC) protocol capable of managing their flexible, distance-dependent data rates, despite their high spectral efficiency. This paper proposes and validates a novel rate-adaptive, Time Division Multiplexing ( TDM )-based MAC protocol for OFDM-PON systems. A key contribution is the design of a three-layer header frame structure that supports multi-ONU data scheduling with heterogeneous rate profiles. Furthermore, the protocol incorporates a unique channel probing mechanism to dynamically determine the optimal transmission rate for each Optical Network Unit (ONU) during activation. The proposed Optical Line Terminal (OLT) side MAC protocol has been fully implemented in hardware on a Xilinx VCU118 FPGA platform, featuring a custom-designed ring buffer pool for efficient multi-ONU data management. Experimental results demonstrate robust upstream and downstream data transmission and confirm the system’s ability to achieve flexible net data rate switching on the downlink from 8.1 Gbit/s to 32.8 Gbit/s, contingent on the assigned rate stage.