Relationship between PON and beam splitter

PON solves the “last mile” power distribution issue by using optical beam splitters near the end devices. A beam splitter or beamsplitter is an optical device that splits a beam of light into a transmitted and a reflected beam. It is a crucial part of many optical experimental and measurement systems, such as interferometers, also finding widespread application in fibre optic telecommunications. The transmitted optical signals in the PON are distributed to multiple end. A fiber broadband provider typically determines and overall split ratio for the network, such as 1x32 or 1x64, and uses combinations of splitters to meet that ratio with each PON port. 1x32 splits were common in North America for G-PON architectures. The Cisco Catalyst PON Series includes 8- and 16-port OLT options, and five ONT. [pdf]