Optical communication system and gateway

Abstract

To provide a gateway capable of inhibiting wasteful power consumption caused by access from the Internet.SOLUTION: An optical communication system 100 comprises an HGW 130 and an ONU 110. The HGW 130 changes an operation mode between a first mode and a second mode in which power consumption is lower than that in the first mode and, in changing the operation mode from the first mode to the second mode, transmits a second mode transition request showing a transition to the second mode to the ONU 110. When receiving the second mode transition request from the HGW 130, the ONU 110 discards Internet communication data that is communication data from the Internet 104.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to optical communication systems and gateways. [Background technology]

[0002] Gateways are used to connect to the Internet, etc., and in recent years, gateways equipped with functions for saving power have been developed. For example, Non-Patent Document 1 describes a gateway that saves power by transitioning to a power-saving mode that limits the operating clock speed or the number of operating CPU (Central Processing Unit) cores when a no-communication state is detected, and returning to a normal mode when the start of communication is detected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication standardization sector) G.987.3 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional gateways return from power-saving mode to normal mode when they detect communication data, so they also return to normal mode in the event of unauthorized access, such as a Denial of Service (DoS) attack from the Internet, resulting in unnecessary power consumption.

[0005] Therefore, one or more aspects of the present disclosure aim to enable a gateway to reduce unnecessary power consumption caused by access from the Internet. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An optical communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is an optical communication system including a gateway and an optical line terminal, wherein the gateway includes a first communication interface for communicating with the optical line terminal, and a control unit for switching an operation mode of the gateway between a first mode and a second mode consuming less power than the first mode, and for sending a second mode transition request indicating a transition to the second mode via the first communication interface to the optical line terminal when switching the operation mode from the first mode to the second mode, and the optical line terminal includes a second communication interface for communicating with the gateway, an optical communication unit for communicating with an optical line, and a processing unit for discarding Internet communication data, which is communication data from the Internet and received by the optical communication unit, upon receiving the second mode transition request via the second communication interface.

[0007] A gateway according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises an optical line termination unit for connecting to an optical line, and a control unit that switches an operating mode between a first mode and a second mode consuming less power than the first mode, and that sends a second mode transition request indicating a transition to the second mode to the optical line termination unit when switching the operating mode from the first mode to the second mode, wherein the optical line termination unit comprises a connection interface that communicates with the control unit, an optical communication unit that communicates with the optical line, and a processing unit that, upon receiving the second mode transition request via the connection interface, discards Internet communication data, which is communication data from the Internet received by the optical communication unit. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress unnecessary power consumption in a gateway due to access from the Internet. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an optical communication system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ONU according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a HGW according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation when switching from a normal mode to a power saving mode in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] 10 is a sequence diagram showing a switching operation from a power saving mode to a normal mode when communication data is received from a user terminal in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6] 4 is a sequence diagram showing a switching operation from a power saving mode to a normal mode when an ONU receives communication data from a communication carrier network in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an optical communication system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a HGW according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an optical communication system 100 according to the first embodiment. The optical communication system 100 includes an ONU (Optical Network Unit) 110 as an optical line terminal, and a home gateway (hereinafter, referred to as HGW) 130 as a gateway.

[0011] The HGW 130 connects a user terminal such as a telephone 101, a smartphone 102, or a PC 103 to the Internet 104 or the like. The user terminal is connected to, for example, the Internet 104 and a carrier service 107. The HGW 130 can connect to the Internet 104 via, for example, an ONU 110, a communication carrier network 105, and an ISP (Internet Service Provider) 106. The HGW 130 can also connect to a carrier service 107 via, for example, the ONU 110 and the communication carrier network 105. The carrier service 107 is a service provided by a communication carrier such as a telephone.

[0012] The HGW 130 has a normal mode and a power saving mode as operation modes. The power saving mode is an operation mode that consumes less power than the normal mode. The normal mode is also called a first mode, and the power saving mode is also called a second mode.

[0013] The Internet 104 is an information and communication network that interconnects computer networks around the world using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol). The Internet 104 may be a source of DOS attacks and the like by malicious users.

[0014] The ISP 106 is a facility that provides a service for connecting to the Internet 104 . The carrier service 107 is a facility through which a communication carrier that provides telephone services, etc. The carrier service 107 is separated from the Internet 104 and provides secure data communication.

[0015] A communication carrier network 105 is a facility that provides optical lines for high-speed communication with an ISP 106 and a carrier service 107 .

[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the ONU 110. As shown in FIG. The ONU 110 includes an optical transceiver 111, a large scale integration (LSI) 112, a buffer memory 113, and a wired local area network interface (LANI / F) 114. The ONU 110 converts between optical and electrical signals to connect the HGW 130 to the communication carrier network 105 .

[0017] The optical transceiver 111 is an optical communication unit that communicates with the communication carrier network 105, which is an optical line. For example, the optical transceiver 111 receives an optical signal from the communication carrier network 105, converts the optical signal into an electrical signal, and provides the electrical signal to the LSI 112. The optical transceiver 111 also converts an electrical signal from the LSI 112 into an optical signal, and transmits the optical signal to the communication carrier network 105.

[0018] The LSI 112 is a processing unit that executes processing in the ONU 110. For example, the LSI 112 manages transition of the operation mode of the HGW 130. The LSI 112 analyzes packets received by the optical transceiver 111 or the wired LAN I / F 114. The LSI 112 manages the buffer memory 113. The LSI 112 controls processing for transmitting and receiving Ethernet OAM (Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance). "Ethernet" is a registered trademark.

[0019] For example, the LSI 112 cooperates with the HGW 130 to manage transition of the operation mode of the HGW 130. Specifically, when the HGW 130 transitions to the normal mode, the LSI 112 receives a power-save mode transition request indicating transition to the power-save mode from the HGW 130 via the wired LAN I / F 114 using Ethernet OAM, the LSI 112 recognizes that the HGW 130 will transition to the power-save mode, and uses Ethernet OAM to send a power-save mode transition response, which is a response to the power-save mode transition request, to the HGW 130 via the wired LAN I / F 114. The power-save mode transition request is also referred to as a second mode transition request, and the power-save mode transition response is also referred to as a second mode transition response.

[0020] When the LSI 112 receives the power saving mode transition request via the wired LAN I / F 114, it discards the communication data received from the Internet 104 by the optical transceiver 111. The communication data from the Internet 104 is also called Internet communication data. In other words, when the HGW 130 is in the power saving mode, the LSI 112 discards communication data that is to be sent from the Internet 104 to the HGW 130 via the ISP 106 .

[0021] Whether or not the data is communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 can be determined by the presence or absence of a PPPoE header when the connection method of the ISP 106 is PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet). The presence or absence of a PPPoE header can be determined by the type number of a MAC (Media Access Control) header, etc. Also, whether or not the data is communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 can be determined by the next header value of an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) header when the connection method is MAP-E (Mapping of Address and Port with Encapsulation) or DS-Lite (Dual-Stack Lite).

[0022] On the other hand, the LSI 112 determines that communication data other than the communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 is communication data from the carrier service 107. When the HGW 130 is in the power saving mode, the LSI 112 temporarily stores the communication data from the carrier service 107, in other words, the communication data other than the communication data from the Internet 104, in the buffer memory 113, and uses Ethernet OAM to cause the wired LAN I / F 114 to transmit a normal mode transition request indicating a transition to the normal mode to the HGW 130. The communication data other than the communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 is also referred to as target communication data. The normal mode transition request is also referred to as a first mode transition request.

[0023] Then, when the LSI 112 receives the normal mode transition response via the wired LAN I / F 114, it transmits the communication data stored in the buffer memory 113 to the HGW 130 via the wired LAN I / F 114. The normal mode transition response is also referred to as a first mode transition response. Then, when the HGW 130 returns to the normal mode, the LSI 112 releases the hold on transmission to the HGW 130 and resumes transmission of communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 and communication data from the carrier service 107 .

[0024] In addition, when the HGW 130 is in the power saving mode, if a normal mode transition request using Ethernet OAM is received from the HGW 130, the LSI 112 unconditionally resumes transmission of communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 and communication data from the carrier service 107.

[0025] The buffer memory 113 is a buffer unit that temporarily stores communication data received from the communication carrier network 105 or communication data to be transmitted to the communication carrier network 105 . The wired LAN I / F 114 is a network communication unit that communicates with the HGW 130. The wired LAN I / F 114 is also referred to as a second communication interface.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the HGW 130 according to the first embodiment. The HGW 130 includes a wide area network interface (WANI / F) 131, a wake-up circuit 132, a CPU 133, a telephone interface (I / F) 134, a wireless LAN interface (LANI / F) 135, and a wired LAN interface (LANI / F) 136. The wake-up circuit 132 and the CPU 133 are connected by a main data communication line D1 and an interrupt signal line S1. The telephone I / F 134 and the CPU 133 are also connected by a main data communication line D2 and an interrupt signal line S2, the wireless LAN I / F 135 and the CPU 133 are also connected by a main data communication line D3 and an interrupt signal line S3, and the wired LAN I / F 136 and the CPU 133 are also connected by a main data communication line D4 and an interrupt signal line S4.

[0027] The HGW 130 performs data transfer processing such as NAT (Network Address Translation) or routing between the ONU 110 and a user terminal which is a LAN side terminal. In Fig. 1, the user terminal is shown as a telephone terminal 101, a wireless LAN terminal 102, or a wired LAN terminal 103, but the user terminal is not limited to these.

[0028] The WANI / F 131 is a communication interface that communicates with the ONU 110. For example, the WANI / F 131 performs connection termination processing with the ONU 110, and enables a user terminal to be connected to the communication carrier network 105 via the ONU 110. The WANI / F 131 is also referred to as a first communication interface.

[0029] The wake-up circuit 132 cooperates with the ONU 110 and the CPU 133 to manage the transition of the operation mode of the HGW 130 between the normal mode and the power saving mode. The wake-up circuit 132 exchanges information required to manage the transition of the operation mode with the ONU 110 using Ethernet OAM or the like, and exchanges information required to manage the transition of the operation mode with the CPU 133 using an interrupt signal line S1. Here, examples of information required to manage the transition of the operation mode include a power saving mode transition request, a power saving mode transition response, a normal mode transition request, and a normal mode transition response.

[0030] The CPU 133 controls the processing in the HGW 130. For example, the CPU 133 performs fault management, setting management, memory management, etc. of the HGW 130. The CPU 133 also performs data transfer processing between the ONU 110 and the user terminal.

[0031] Specifically, when the CPU 133 detects a no-communication state in which no communication is taking place between the ONU 110 and a user terminal for a certain period of time in the normal mode, the CPU 133 notifies the wake-up circuit 132 of a power saving mode transition request via the interrupt signal line S1. Then, when the CPU 133 receives a power saving mode transition response from the ONU 110 via the wake-up circuit 132, it transitions to the power saving mode.

[0032] In the power saving mode, the CPU 133 controls the power consumption of the HGW 130 to be less than that in the normal mode. For example, in the power saving mode, the CPU 133 limits at least one of the operating clock frequency and the number of CPU cores of the CPU 133 to suppress power consumption of the HGW 130. Furthermore, when the CPU 133 is notified of a normal mode transition request via interrupt signal lines S2 to S4 from a user-side communication interface, which is an interface for connecting a user terminal, such as the telephone I / F 134, the wireless LAN I / F 135, or the wired LAN I / F 136, during the power saving mode, the CPU 133 notifies the wake-up circuit 132 of the normal mode transition request using the interrupt signal line S1 and performs a process of returning to the normal mode.

[0033] Furthermore, when the CPU 133 receives a normal mode transition request from the wakeup circuit 132 using the interrupt signal line S1, the CPU 133 returns a normal mode transition response to the wakeup circuit 132 and performs processing for returning to the normal mode.

[0034] Here, the wake-up circuit 132 and the CPU 133 are also referred to as a control unit 137 . The control unit 137 switches the operation mode of the HGW 130 between a normal mode and a power saving mode that consumes less power than the normal mode. Furthermore, when switching the operation mode of the HGW 130 from the normal mode to the power saving mode, the control unit 137 sends a power saving mode transition request to the ONU 110 via the WAN I / F 131 .

[0035] When the control unit 137 receives the normal mode transition request via the WAN I / F 131, it switches the operation mode of the HGW 130 from the power saving mode to the normal mode. In addition, the control unit 137 sends a normal mode transition response, which is a response to the normal mode transition request, to the ONU 110 via the WAN I / F 131.

[0036] Furthermore, when any of the telephone I / F 134, the wireless LAN I / F 135, and the wired LAN I / F 136 receives communication data from a user terminal in the power saving mode, the control unit 137 switches the operation mode from the power saving mode to the normal mode. Then, the control unit 137 sends a normal mode transition request to the ONU 110 via the WAN I / F 131.

[0037] The telephone I / F 134 is an interface for connecting the telephone 101 and communicating with the telephone 101, and performs connection termination processing with the telephone 101. Furthermore, when the telephone I / F 134 receives data from the telephone 101, it sends a normal mode transition request to the CPU 133 via the interrupt signal line S2.

[0038] The wireless LAN I / F 135 is an interface for connecting a wireless user terminal such as the smartphone 102 and communicating with the user terminal, and performs connection termination processing with such a user terminal. In addition, when the wireless LAN I / F 135 receives data from the connected user terminal, it sends a normal mode transition request to the CPU 133 via an interrupt signal line S3.

[0039] The wired LAN I / F 136 is an interface for connecting a wired user terminal such as the PC 103 and communicating with the user terminal, and performs connection termination processing with such a user terminal. Furthermore, when the wired LAN I / F 136 receives data from the connected user terminal, it sends a normal mode transition request to the CPU 133 via an interrupt signal line S4.

[0040] Here, each of the telephone I / F 134, the wireless LAN I / F 135, and the wired LAN I / F 136 is also referred to as a user-side communication interface for communicating with a user terminal.

[0041] Next, an operation when the operation mode is changed in the HGW 130 will be described. First, the operation in the normal mode will be described. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation when switching from the normal mode to the power saving mode in the first embodiment. When the CPU 133 of the HGW 130 detects a non-communication state for a predetermined period of time, the CPU 133 notifies the wake-up circuit 132 of a request to transition to a power saving mode via the interrupt signal line S1 (S10).

[0042] Upon receiving such a notification, the wake-up circuit 132 notifies the ONU 110 of a power saving transition request via the WAN I / F 131 using Ethernet OAM (S11).

[0043] Upon receiving such a notification, the LSI 112 of the ONU 110 recognizes that the HGW 130 will transition to the power saving mode, and stops transmission of frames other than Ethernet OAM frames from the ONU 110 to the HGW 130 . Then, the LSI 112 uses the Ethernet OAM to return a power saving mode transition response to the wakeup circuit 132 (S12).

[0044] Upon receiving the power saving mode transition response, the wakeup circuit 132 of the HGW 130 notifies the CPU 133 of the power saving mode transition response via the interrupt signal line S1 (S13).

[0045] Upon receiving the power saving mode transition response, the CPU 133 limits at least one of the operating clock frequency and the number of cores, thereby transitioning the HGW 130 to the power saving mode.

[0046] Next, the operation in the power saving mode will be described. First, the operation when communication data is received from a user terminal during the power saving mode will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a switching operation from the power saving mode to the normal mode when communication data is received from a user terminal in the first embodiment. Here, a case will be described in which the smartphone 102 is used as the user terminal, but similar operations are performed even if another user terminal is used.

[0047] When the wireless LAN I / F 135 receives communication data from the smartphone 102, the wireless LAN I / F 135 notifies the CPU 133 of a normal mode transition request via the interrupt signal line S3 (S20).

[0048] When the normal mode transition request is received, the CPU 133 releases the restrictions on at least one of the operating clock frequency and the number of cores, thereby transitioning the HGW 130 to the normal mode. Furthermore, the CPU 133 notifies the wakeup circuit 132 of the normal mode transition request via the interrupt signal line S1 (S21).

[0049] Upon receiving the normal mode transition request, wakeup circuit 132 notifies ONU 110 of the normal mode transition request via WAN I / F 131 using Ethernet OAM (S22).

[0050] Upon receiving the normal mode transition request, the LSI 112 of the ONU 110 uses the Ethernet OAM to return a normal mode transition response to the wake-up circuit 132 via the wired LAN I / F 114 (S23). Then, the LSI 112 resumes transmission of communication data from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 and communication data from the carrier service 107.

[0051] Upon receiving the normal mode transition request, the wakeup circuit 132 notifies the CPU 133 of a normal mode transition response (S24).

[0052] Next, an operation will be described when the ONU 110 receives communication data from the communication carrier network 105 while the HGW 130 is in the power saving mode.

[0053] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a switching operation from the power saving mode to the normal mode when the ONU 110 receives communication data from the communication carrier network 105 in the first embodiment.

[0054] While the HGW 130 is in the power saving mode, the LSI 112 of the ONU 110 discards all communication data received from the Internet 104 via the ISP 106 (S30). On the other hand, the LSI 112 temporarily stores the communication data from the carrier service 107 in the buffer memory 113 (S31).

[0055] After storing the communication data in the buffer memory 113, the LSI 112 sends a normal mode transition request to the HGW 130 via the wired LAN I / F 114 by using the Ethernet OAM (S32).

[0056] Upon receiving the normal mode transition request, the wakeup circuit 132 of the HGW 130 notifies the CPU 133 of the normal mode transition request via the interrupt signal line S1 (S33).

[0057] Upon receiving the normal mode transition request, the CPU 133 releases the restrictions on at least one of the operating clock frequency and the number of cores, thereby transitioning the HGW 130 to the normal mode. Furthermore, the CPU 133 returns a normal mode transition response to the wakeup circuit 132 via the interrupt signal line S1 (S34).

[0058] Upon receiving the normal mode transition response, wakeup circuit 132 sends the normal mode transition response to ONU 110 via WAN I / F 131 by using Ethernet OAM (S35).

[0059] When the normal mode transition response is received, the LSI 112 of the ONU 110 sends the communication data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 113 to the HGW 130 via the wired LAN I / F 114 (S36).

[0060] When such communication data is received, in ONU 110, the communication data is sent to CPU 133 via WAN I / F 131 and wake-up circuit 132 (S36), and depending on its destination, it is output from at least one of telephone I / F 134, wireless LAN I / F 135, and wired LAN I / F 136.

[0061] Thereafter, the LSI 112 of the ONU 110 transfers the communication data from the communication carrier network 105, including the communication data that has passed through the ISP 106 (S37 to S40).

[0062] Embodiment 2 FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an optical communication system 200 according to the second embodiment. The optical communication system 200 includes a HGW 230 .

[0063] The HGW 230 is a gateway that connects a user terminal such as the telephone 101, the smartphone 102, or the PC 103 to the Internet 104 etc. The user terminal is connected to the Internet 104 and the carrier service 107. In the first embodiment, the HGW 130 is connected to the communication carrier network 105 via the ONU 110, but the HGW 230 in the second embodiment has the function of the ONU 110 in the first embodiment and is directly connected to the communication carrier network 105.

[0064] For example, the HGW 230 in the second embodiment has the function of the ONU 110 in the first embodiment built in as an SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable) module instead of the WAN I / F 131 of the HGW 130 in the first embodiment. Therefore, the HGW 230 can be connected to the Internet 104 via the communication carrier network 105 and the ISP 106. In addition, the HGW 230 can be connected to a carrier service 107 via the communication carrier network 105.

[0065] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the HGW 230 in the second embodiment. The HGW 230 includes an ONU 210 , a wake-up circuit 132 , a CPU 133 , a telephone I / F 134 , a wireless LAN I / F 135 , and a wired LAN I / F 136 .

[0066] The wake-up circuit 132, CPU 133, telephone I / F 134, wireless LAN I / F 135 and wired LAN I / F 136 of the HGW 230 in embodiment 2 are similar to the wake-up circuit 132, CPU 133, telephone I / F 134, wireless LAN I / F 135 and wired LAN I / F 136 of the HGW 130 in embodiment 1. However, the wake-up circuit 132 and the CPU 133 in the second embodiment are connected to the ONU 210 .

[0067] The ONU 210 includes an optical transceiver 111 , an LSI 112 , a buffer memory 113 , and an SFPI / F 215 . Here, the ONU 210 is also called an optical line termination unit for connecting to an optical line.

[0068] The optical transceiver 111, the LSI 112, and the buffer memory 113 of the ONU 210 in the second embodiment are similar to the optical transceiver 111, the LSI 112, and the buffer memory 113 of the ONU 110 in the first embodiment. However, the LSI 112 in the second embodiment is connected to the SFPI / F 215 .

[0069] The SFPI / F 215 is a functional unit provided in place of the wired LAN I / F 114 of the ONU 110 in the first embodiment, and is a module to which devices can be connected in accordance with the SFP format. Here, the SFPI / F 215 is connected to the wakeup circuit 132 and the CPU 133 and can communicate with them. In other words, the SFPI / F 215 is a connection interface that communicates with the control unit 137. Therefore, the control unit 137 transmits and receives a power saving mode transition request, a power saving mode transition response, a normal mode transition request, a normal mode transition response, or communication data to and from the LSI 112 via the SFPI / F 215.

[0070] For example, as in the second embodiment, when ONU 210 is built into HGW 230 as an SFP module, information indicating a mode transition may be notified by implementing multi-function such as changing control signals, such as LOS or Txdisable, specified in the SFP module at regular intervals to increase the amount of information. Specifically, the necessary information can be transmitted by setting the power saving mode transition request to "0000", the power saving mode transition response to "0001", the normal mode transition request to "0010", and the normal mode transition response to "0011".

[0071] In addition, by making the control signal of the SFP module multi-function, instead of notifying the mode transition, the mode transition may be set in the internal register of ONU 210 via I2C for accessing the internal register of the SFP module, or the mode transition may be notified by periodic monitoring.

[0072] As described above, since communication data from the Internet 104 is discarded while the HGWs 130 and 230 are in the power saving mode, the HGWs 130 and 230 can continue in the power saving mode even if there is unauthorized access such as a DOS attack or a port scan, etc. Therefore, the average power consumption of the HGWs 130 and 230 can be suppressed.

[0073] In addition, by separating the wake-up circuit 132 from the CPU 133 and buffering communication data from the carrier service 107 during power saving mode in the ONUs 110 and 210, the CPU 133 does not need to wait for incoming calls for telephone services, etc., and the average power consumption can be further reduced. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 100,200 Optical communication system, 110,210 ONU, 111 Optical transceiver, 112 LSI, 113 Buffer memory, 114 Wired LAN I / F, 215 SFPI / F, 130,230 HGW, 131 WANI / F, 132 wake-up circuit, 133 CPU, 134 telephone I / F, 135 wireless LAN I / F, 136 wired LAN I / F, 137 control unit.

Claims

1. An optical communication system including a gateway and an optical line terminal, The gateway, a first communication interface for communicating with the optical line terminal; a control unit that switches an operation mode of the gateway between a first mode and a second mode consuming less power than the first mode, and that sends a second mode transition request indicating a transition to the second mode to the optical line terminal via the first communication interface when switching the operation mode from the first mode to the second mode; The optical line terminal comprises: a second communication interface for communicating with the gateway; An optical communication unit that communicates with an optical line; a processing unit that, when receiving the second mode transition request via the second communication interface, discards Internet communication data that is communication data from the Internet received by the optical communication unit. An optical communication system comprising:

2. The optical line terminal further includes a buffer unit that temporarily stores communication data, the processing unit, when the optical communication unit receives target communication data, which is communication data other than the Internet communication data, after receiving the second mode transition request via the second communication interface, temporarily stores the target communication data in the buffer unit, and sends a first mode transition request indicating a transition to the first mode to the gateway via the second communication interface; when the control unit receives the first mode transition request via the first communication interface, the control unit switches the operation mode from the second mode to the first mode, and sends a first mode transition response, which is a response to the first mode transition request, to the optical line terminal via the first communication interface; When the processing unit receives the first mode transition response via the second communication interface, the processing unit transmits the target communication data stored in the buffer unit to the gateway via the second communication interface.

2. The optical communication system according to claim 1,

3. The gateway further comprises a user-side communication interface for communicating with a user terminal; when the user-side communication interface receives communication data from the user terminal in the second mode, the control unit switches the operation mode from the second mode to the first mode, and transmits a first mode transition request indicating a transition to the first mode to the optical line terminal via the first communication interface; When the processing unit receives the first mode transition request via the second communication interface, the processing unit transmits communication data received by the optical communication unit to the optical line terminal via the second communication interface.

2. The optical communication system according to claim 1,

4. an optical line termination unit for connecting to an optical line; a control unit that switches an operation mode between a first mode and a second mode consuming less power than the first mode, and that sends a second mode transition request indicating a transition to the second mode to the optical line termination unit when switching the operation mode from the first mode to the second mode; The optical line termination unit includes: A connection interface for communicating with the control unit; an optical communication unit that communicates with the optical line; a processing unit that, when receiving the second mode transition request via the connection interface, discards Internet communication data that is communication data from the Internet received by the optical communication unit. A gateway featuring:

5. The optical line termination unit further includes a buffer unit that temporarily stores communication data, When the optical communication unit receives target communication data, which is communication data other than the Internet communication data, after receiving the second mode transition request via the connection interface, the processing unit temporarily stores the target communication data in the buffer unit, and sends a first mode transition request indicating a transition to the first mode to the control unit via the connection interface; when the control unit receives the first mode transition request, the control unit switches the operation mode from the second mode to the first mode, and sends a first mode transition response, which is a response to the first mode transition request, to the optical line termination unit; When the processing unit receives the first mode transition response via the connection interface, the processing unit transmits the target communication data stored in the buffer unit to the control unit via the connection interface.

5. The gateway according to claim 4,

6. The gateway further comprises a user-side communication interface for communicating with a user terminal; when the user side communication interface receives communication data from the user terminal in the second mode, the control unit switches the operation mode from the second mode to the first mode and sends a first mode transition request indicating a transition to the first mode to the optical line termination unit; When the processing unit receives the first mode transition request via the connection interface, the processing unit transmits communication data received by the optical communication unit to the control unit via the connection interface.

5. The gateway according to claim 4,

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