Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs) are considered one of the most promising architectures for Fiber-to-the-Home deployment. EPONs combine a point-to-multipoint fiber topology, variable-sized Ethernet packets, and a centralized in-band scheduling protocol to deliver subscriber′s traffic at low operational cost.
However, EPONs present network designers with several challenges. Large propagation delays, burst-mode operation, and specifics of access network environment do not allow easy adaptation of existing scheduling algorithms.