optical line terminal (OLT)

optical line terminal (OLT)

An optical line terminal (OLT) is the endpoint hardware device in a passive optical network (PON).

An OLT has two primary functions:

  1. Converting the standard signals used by a FiOS service provider to the frequency and framing used by the PON system.
  2. Coordinating the multiplexing between the conversion devices on the optical network terminals (ONTs) located on the customers’ premises.

The OLT contains a central processing unit (CPU), passive optical network cards, a gateway router (GWR) and voice gateway (VGW) uplink cards.  It can transmit a data signal to users at 1490 nanometers (nm). That signal can serve up to 128 ONTs at a range of up to 12.5 miles by using optical splitters.