Evolution Scenario Toward WDM-PON [Invited]

In this paper we present and critically discuss different wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) architectures compatible with pre-existing gigabit PON (GPON) infrastructures. The concurrent use of the trunk fiber permits a hitless evolution from an existing time division multiplexing optical access network to a point-to-point wavelength division access network. System performance has been experimentally evaluated in terms of bit error rate.