US Patent 7499651 Upgradeable passive optical network

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, an upgradeable passive optical network is provided. In a particular embodiment, an upgradeable optical network includes an upstream terminal and a distribution node. The upstream terminal is operable to forward a downstream signal comprising traffic in a first wavelength, the traffic in the first wavelength transmitted by a first transmitter at the upstream terminal. The distribution node is communicatively coupled to the upstream terminal and is operable to communicate the downstream signal from the upstream terminal to a first plurality and a second plurality of downstream terminals. The distribution node comprises a primary power splitter configured to create a plurality of copies of the downstream signal for communication to the downstream terminals. The distribution node is configured to facilitate the addition of a wavelength router at a section of the distribution node such that the wavelength router may be added to the distribution node without interrupting the communication of traffic through the network and such that the addition of the wavelength router allows for routing of traffic in a second wavelength transmitted by a second transmitter to be added at the upstream terminal, the traffic destined for the first plurality of downstream terminals; and routing of traffic in a third wavelength transmitted by a third transmitter to be added at the upstream terminal, the traffic destined for the second plurality of downstream terminals.