Passive optical networks (PONs) are point-to-multipoint networks where a single Central
Office (CO) is connected to a number of downstream Optical Network Units (ONUs)
via a single optical fiber by splitting the optical signal with passive splitters. Due to
technology advances and increasing bandwidth requirements, these networks have
moved to last mile deployment, also known as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH).
The planning of these PONs are traditionally done by hand, but automated methods
can be used to decrease deployment costs and planning time. Even though a number
of methods have been proposed to address this problem through the solving of integer
linear programming (ILP) models, they suffer from limited availability, inaccuracies
and limited scalability due to the problem complexity.
This dissertation focusses on improving the accuracy of these models as well as improving
scalability to a point where large-scale problems can be solved feasibly. To address
this, a basic model is implemented to capture the network structure and verified
accordingly. Results show this model can be solved quickly, but has large discrepancies
with real-world plans.
Refinements in the form of fiber duct sharing, network constraints, multiple splitter
types and economies of scale among others are then incorporated into a refined model
and solved. Analysis of the experimental results indicates improved accuracy and
lower deployment costs, at the expense of increasing computation effort considerably.
Heuristic techniques are then examined to improve computational performance, including
an elementary heuristic (ELEM), the Branch Contracting Algorithm (BCA) and
problem decomposition. It is demonstrated that through the use of k-means clustering,
the refined model can be solved in a fraction of the time while keeping deployment
costs comparably low. / Thesis (MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/9538 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Van Loggerenberg, Samuel Pieter |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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