Abstract: In a gigabit-capable passive optical network (GPON) and a method for bandwidth allocation in the GPON system, when an optical network unit (ONU) requests a bandwidth less than its preset minimum bandwidth, the requested bandwidth is allocated to the ONU. When there are traffic-container (T-CONT) classes of ONUs not allocated bandwidth after the requested bandwidth allocation, a spare bandwidth after the requested bandwidth allocation is dynamically allocated to the T-CONT class of each ONU according to a weight of each T-CONT class and a percentage of each T-CONT buffer queue. Thus, in the short term, upstream channel transmission according to T-CONT priority in a congested state can be ensured, and, in the long run, network traffic congestion can be prevented.

Abstract: In a gigabit-capable passive optical network (GPON) system and in a method for bandwidth allocation in a passive optical network (PON) system, a minimum bandwidth is allocated to optical network units (ONUs) for minimal transmission assurance dependent on a traffic characteristic of each ONU, and when there is a traffic-container (T-CONT) class of an ONU not allocated bandwidth after minimum bandwidth allocation to all ONUs, an extra bandwidth remaining after minimum bandwidth allocation is dynamically allocated to each T-CONT class according to a weight of the T-CONT class. Thus, efficient bandwidth allocation, considering fairness between ONUs and priority of each T-CONT, is realized.