A new broadband access platform from Wave7 Optics adds support for Ethernet First Mile technology and Gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) to the equipment vendor’s existing Ethernet PON (EPON) offering.

The new Trident7 line will support the same EPON technology used in Wave7’s existing “Last Mile Link” products, but it will also comply with the IEEE’s 802.3ah standard for point-to-multipoint “Ethernet First Mile,” which allows Ethernet traffic over copper lines, as well as the ITU’s emerging G.984 standard for GPON.

With a 180-Gb/s backplane, each Trident7 optical line terminal (OLT) supports up to 2304 customer-located optical network terminals (ONTs) and 18 PON interface modules of differing standards, allowing carriers to avoid committing to one technology even within a single chassis. With three OLTs to a standard rack, the platform will support up to 4,608 ONTs per shelf or 13,824 ONTs per rack.

The product line also includes an 8-Gb/s aggregation switch module that operates at Layer 2 or Layer 3 to manage virtual LANs and stacked VLANs with either link aggregation or spanning tree protocols.

The new platform has already been deployed by a competitive local exchange carrier in Colorado, Wave7 said.

The company is not marketing the new gear as a migration tool, it said, as it will continue to support and develop new features for its existing EPON gear. Each Trident7 OLT can support up to 8 EPON Last Mile Link modules, which in turn can each support up to 96 ONTs.