In an era where high-speed internet is a basic necessity, fixed and mobile broadband networks are the main means for communities and internet service provider companies. Fixed broadband is an internet service provided over fixed or wired lines, while mobile broadband is an internet service provided over mobile or wireless networks, such as 4G LTE or 5G that allows users to connect to the internet using mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, or USB modems.
To support high-quality connectivity, GPON plays an important role in delivering broadband services through Fibre to the Home (FTTH). However, in implementing GPON as a backhaul to support 5G technology, issues related to signal latency or delay arise. To ensure GPON meets the standards, Gunadi Dwi Hantoro, a doctoral student in Electrical Engineering, raised this issue as the topic of his dissertation entitled “Optimisation of Fiber Optic Network Based on Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) to Support 5G Technology, Fixed Broadband, and Fixed Mobile Convergence”.
“International standards state that latency on the network should be a maximum of 5 milliseconds. Therefore, the maximum capacity of GPON should not exceed 72% in order not to cause a delay of more than 5 milliseconds. In addition, the customer capacity per port on GPON devices can also be increased to make it more efficient by increasing the splitter capacity to 1:64, which allows one port to serve up to 64 customers,” said Gunadi at an open Doctoral promotion session at FTUI (27/11).
Gunadi’s test results show that increasing the subscriber capacity to 64 per PON port is still possible with a maximum attenuation of 28 dB and in terms of bandwidth with the remaining 1,308 Mbps. Although the addition of splitter capacity is not common, this solution can be implemented without reducing service quality although the distance between devices in the network must be closer, which is in the range of 3.2 – 4.2 km.
“Latency optimisation below 5 ms can also be improved by setting the traffic load threshold at 70% of the maximum capacity of the PON port of each Optical Line terminal (OLT). Furthermore, this solution also supports Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services that are being developed in Indonesia by combining fixed and mobile communication services into one platform or infrastructure,” said Gunadi.
In FMC’s research, Gunadi successfully tested the unbreakable or failover functionality of services between 5G and Fixed Broadband with a failover time of about 30 seconds, showing a significant improvement from the previous time of 3-4 hours. This helped improve Quality of Service (QoS) and drastically reduced downtime to only 0.0002%.
Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering UI (FTUI) said, “This fibre optic network optimisation can make an important contribution in overcoming latency problems in GPON which can improve service quality, support the development of 5G technology, and become a solution for FMC implementation in Indonesia. In addition to bridging the need for high-quality connectivity, this research is also in line with FTUI’s vision in producing research that has an impact on society.”
Gunadi Dwi Hantoro’s dissertation on fibre optic network optimisation has earned him a doctorate. Gunadi was recorded as the 164th doctoral graduate of the Department of Electrical Engineering and the 522nd doctoral graduate of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia. The promotion session was chaired by Prof. Ir. Mahmud Sudibandriyo, M.Sc., Ph.D. with promoter Prof. Ir. Gunawan Wibisono, M.Sc., Ph.D. and co-promoter Ir. Purnomo Sidi Priambodo, M.Sc., Ph.D. While the examination team consisted of Prof. Dr. Ir. Eko Tjipto Rahardjo M.Sc, Prof. Dr. Ir. Muhammad Asvial, M.Eng., Prof. Dr. Muhammad Suryanegara, ST., M.Sc., IPU, Ajib Setyo Arifin, ST., MT., Ph.D., and Prof. Dr. Bambang Widiyatmoko, M.Eng.
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