GPON ONT Management Ways: OMCI, TR069, U2000 or XML?

ONT Management

GPON terminals are managed using one of these protocols: optical network terminal management and control interface (OMCI), Extensible Markup Language (XML), or Technical Report 069 (TR069).

The optical network terminal management and control interface (OMCI) protocol is defined by ITU-T G.984.4, which applies to managing optical network terminals (ONTs) in a GPON system. Huawei ONTs comply with OMCI. OMCI messages are transmitted between an optical line terminal (OLT) and an ONT over a dedicated permanent virtual channel (PVC) in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or a GPON encapsulation mode (GEM) port. The OMCI protocol manages and provides O&M for the ONT.

Figure 1 GPON Protocol Stacks

OMCI Position in GPON Protocol Stacks

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a text format used for message interaction between devices. The iManager U2000 Unified Network Management System (U2000) uses XML to manage ONTs in a Huawei FTTx system. XML is also a management mode extended from OAM because not all voice and Layer 3 gateway services are defined in the OAM.
Technical Report 069 (TR069) is a network management protocol defined by the DSL Forum. The full name of TR069 is CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP). CPE is the acronym for customer premises equipment and WAN is the acronym for wide area network. TR069 defines a new network management structure consisting of management models, interaction interfaces, and basic management parameters. In the network management structure, the management server functions as an Auto-Configuration Server (ACS) and is responsible for managing the CPE. The ACS and CPE use Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to communicate with each other. The ACS serves as an HTTP server and the CPE serves as a client. Management operations are implemented using XML-based remote procedure call (RPC).

Optical network terminals (ONTs) are classified into three types: bridge type, bridge+voice type, and gateway type.

A bridge-type ONT provides Layer 2 data and multicast services.
A bridge+voice-type ONT provides Layer 2 data, Layer 2 multicast services, and voice over IP (VoIP) services.
A gateway-type ONT provides Layer 3 data, Layer 3 multicast services, and VoIP services.

Each different type of terminal management protocol has a unique service management scope. Based on terminal types, provides the following GPON terminal management solutions: OMCI+U2000, OMCI+U2000+XML, OMCI+U2000+TR069. T

he advantages and disadvantages of each solution as well as the recommended solution for each type of ONT are listed at the end of this chapter.

The OMCI+U2000 protocol manages Layer 2 services, voice services and the PON link layer. This protocol cannot manage Layer 3 services.

Table 2 General principles of the OMCI+U2000 solution

General principles of the OMCI+U2000 solution

The OMCI+U2000+XML protocol manages Layer 3 services and voice services. Using OMCI+XML enables you to manage Layer 2, voice, and Layer 3 services.

Table 3 General principles of the OMCI+U2000+XML solution

General principles of the OMCI+U2000+XML solution

The OMCI+U2000+TR069 protocol manages Layer 3 services and voice services, and identifies remote faults. When this protocol is used, OMCI is still used to manage Layer 2 services and the PON link layer.

Table 4 General principles of the OMCI+U2000+TR069 solution

General principles of the OMCI+U2000+TR069 solution

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Terminal Management Solutions

Bridge type, bridge+voice type, and gateway type ONTs provide different types of services. Therefore, different solutions are used to manage these ONTs.

Table 5 lists the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
ONT Management Way	Advantage	Disadvantage
OMCI+U2000	A unified interface is used for ONT service management.	The OLT and ONT are closely coupled with on each other. New services on the ONT require the OLT's support, adding to the difficulty in deploying new services.
	The OLT and ONT communicate with each other using OMCI-associated standards.	The OMCI standard is not fully developed. If a new service requirement is not defined in the OMCI, a new OMCI entity must be defined.
	The ONT does not require a management IP address.

OMCI+U2000+XML	The ONT does not require a management IP address.	This is a Huawei's proprietary solution and cannot interact with devices from other vendors.
	The OLT and ONT are not closely coupled with each other to certain extent.	Voice and Layer 3 services cannot be configured using a command on the OLT.
	A unified management server is used for swift service deployment.

OMCI+U2000+TR069	An OLT version and an ONT version are not bound to each other. In other words, an OLT upgrade does not require an ONT upgrade; the opposite is also true.	TR069 is based on the IP protocol and requires an extra IP management network.
	TR069 provides an enhanced definition and deployment scenario for the IP-based customer premises equipment (CPE) service management model. Therefore, ONT vendors can easily deploy new gateway and voice services.	Different interfaces are used to manage the ONT. The network management system (NMS) manages the link layer and the ACS manages IP-based services.

Table 6 lists the recommended solution for each type of ONT.
Terminal Type	Optional Solution	Recommended Solution
Bridge type	OMCI+U2000 or OMCI+U2000+XML	OMCI+U2000
Bridge+voice type	OMCI+U2000 or OMCI+U2000+XML	OMCI+U2000+XML (NMS provisions services)

		OMCI+U2000 (OLT is connected to the third-party ONT)
Gateway type	OMCI+U2000+XML or OMCI+U2000+TR069	If only the U2000 server is deployed: OMCI+U2000+XML

		If the U2000 and TR069 servers are deployed: OMCI+U2000+TR069

In this first GPON terminal major management solution, we explained OMCI, TR069, U2000 and XML ways. If you have more questions about ONT, please email us at sales@xponshop.com