Optical line termination, passive optical network, and method and apparatus for performance monitoring

Abstract

A method of performance monitoring according to an embodiment of the invention includes, in a passive optical network (PON), sending system time of an optical line termination (OLT) to an optical network unit (ONU). The method further includes retrieving, by the OLT, network data collected at the ONU and associated with the sent OLT system time. The retrieved network data is stored at the OLT.

1 . A method of data transfer, the method comprising: 
 transmitting an indication of an optical line termination (OLT) system time to an optical network unit (ONU);    at the ONU, 
 maintaining an indicated system time synchronized to the OLT system time, and  
 collecting network data in intervals based on the indicated system time; and  
   storing the network data.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving, from a management system, a request for network data; and    in accordance with the request, transmitting, to the management system at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the request for network data pertains to a plurality of ONUs.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving a request to reset network data associated with the ONU; and    deleting at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stored network data includes a plurality of bins.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network data is received at the OLT in 15-minute intervals.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stored network data includes at least one daily counter.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising: 
 receiving a new indication of the OLT system time; and    resetting at least a portion of the stored network data if a difference between the newly indicated system time and currently indicated system time exceeds a predetermined value.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the stored network data includes a plurality of bins.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , resetting includes deleting selected ones of the plurality of bins.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising: 
 receiving, from a management system, a request for network data; and    transmitting, to the management system in accordance with the request, at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the request for network data pertains to a plurality of ONUs.  
     
     
         132 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising: 
 receiving a request to reset network data associated with the ONU; and    deleting at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the network data is collected and received at 15-minute intervals.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the stored network data includes at least one daily counter.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a flag indicative of a validity of the received network data.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ONU comprises an optical network termination (ONT).  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network data comprises performance data monitored at the ONU.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received network data is stored locally.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the time intervals are measured by at least one of the one or more counters.  
     
     
         21 . A method of data transfer, the method comprising: 
 receiving, from an optical line termination (OLT), an indication of an OLT system time;    collecting network data;    associating portions of the network data with corresponding time intervals at the ONU, wherein the time intervals are synchronized by the indication to the OLT system time; and    transmitting the collected network data to the OLT.    
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the network data are collected in at least one 15-minute bin.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein each 15-minute bin is associated with an interval end time that is substantially coincident with an identified point in system time.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising receiving, from the OLT, a request for network data.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 receiving, from the OLT, a request to reset network data; and    deleting the collected network data.    
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising maintaining a flag indicative of a validity of the collected network data.  
     
     
         27 . An optical line termination (OLT) configured to operate in a passive optical network, the OLT comprising: 
 a transmitter configured to transmit, to an optical network unit (ONU), indications of system time;    a receiver configured to receive network data collected at the ONU; and    a storage device configured to store the received network data, wherein    the network data are collected in a plurality of time intervals, and    the indication is for synchronizing each of the plurality of time intervals to a current system time.    
     
     
         28 . The OLT of  claim 27 , wherein: 
 the receiver is further configured to receive, from a management system, a request for network data, and    the transmitter is further configured to transmit, to the management system in accordance with the request, at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         29 . The OLT of  claim 28 , wherein the network data comprises performance data monitored at the ONU.  
     
     
         30 . The OLT of  claim 27 , wherein the stored network data includes at least one daily counter.  
     
     
         31 . An optical network unit (ONU) configured to operate in a passive optical network, the ONU comprising: 
 a receiver configured to receive, one or more indications of a time relative to a current system time maintained at an optical line termination (OLT);    a data collector configured to collect network data associated with intervals of the current system time, the intervals being synchronized by the one or more indications; and    a transmitter configured to transmit the collected network data to the OLT.    
     
     
         32 . The ONU of  claim 31 , wherein the ONU is configured to maintain a flag indicative of a validity of the collected network data.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of time intervals includes three or more different time intervals.  
     
     
         34 . A data storage medium having instructions executable by an array of logic elements, said instructions describing a method of data transfer, the method comprising: 
 maintaining a system time at an optical line termination (OLT);    transmitting an indication of the system time to an optical network unit (ONU);    collecting network data at the ONU in intervals synchronized with the indicated system time; and    storing the received network data.    
     
     
         35 . The medium of  claim 34 , the method further comprising: 
 receiving, from a management system, a request for network data; and    transmitting, to the management system in accordance with the request, at least a portion of the stored network data.    
     
     
         36 . A data storage medium having instructions executable by an array of logic elements, said instructions describing a method of data transfer, the method comprising: 
 receiving, from an optical line termination (OLT), an indication of an OLT system time;    collecting network data;    associating portions of the network data with corresponding time intervals at the ONU, wherein the time intervals are synchronized by the indication to the OLT system time; and    transmitting the collected network data to the OLT.    
     
     
         37 . The medium of  claim 36 , the method further comprising maintaining a flag indicative of a validity of the collected network data.