First Broadband Vendors Pass Interoperability Testing

Testing for vOMCI standard (TR-451)

From June to September of 2023 the first three broadband network vendors have finished interoperability testing for the Broadband Forum’s vOMCI standard (TR-451) at the Virtualized ONU Management and Control Interface (vOMCI) Plugfest. Altice Labs, Nokia, MT2, and Radisys Corporation all took place in the plugfest and remotely tested the interoperability of their products.

The University of New Hampshire’s InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL) “hosted the vendors’ physical equipment as well as vOMCI software in an on-premises cloud, and provided an anonymous report of the plugfest to the Broadband Forum to help the industry assess the state of vOMCI interoperability and plan for future work and testing”.

How this affects customers

The Optical Network Unit (ONU) is located close to the end-user. It is the device or part of equipment for fiber deployment that change an optical connection into the more commonly used Ethernet connection that customers’ routers usually support. Service providers using the OMCI protocol which provides services such as data, video, and voice onto the ONU. “The Optical Line Terminal (OLT) is the operator’s equipment that connects with the ONUs and helps to manage the end-user connections.”

“The TR-451 standard de-couples the ONU and OLT by visualizing the OMCI software and allows operators to more easily deploy new services or ONU devices.”

This testing of interoperability creates a foundation for network operators to simplify the delivery of new services inside customer homes and have more “freedom to work with vendors with products that have been certified and tested”.