Fiber to the Home Optical Network Architecture Choices

This document is a technical report that outlines various architecture choices for deploying Fiber to the Home (FTTH) optical networks. It begins by addressing the common question of which architecture is best for service providers delivering fiber broadband services, emphasizing that the answer depends on specific criteria and trade-offs. The report details four primary architectures: Home Run, Centralized Split, Distributed Split, and Distributed TAP. Each architecture is described in terms of its deployment method, advantages, and disadvantages. The Home Run architecture is noted for its fiber-rich deployment, while the Centralized Split architecture utilizes a single optical splitter to serve multiple homes. The Distributed Split architecture employs multiple splitters, making it suitable for lower population areas, and the Distributed TAP architecture combines unbalanced and balanced splitters but can complicate network management. The report concludes that the choice of architecture depends on the service provider's priorities, balancing cost, speed of deployment, and operational considerations.