In order to create a complete system specification for telecommunications equipment, it is necessary to detail the managed entities and their scope as well as degree of interaction. For the APON specifications, OAM (operations, administration and maintenance) functionality is specified in two areas. First, we have Recommendation G.983.2 (‘ONT management and control interface specification for ATM PON’), and second, we have G.983.7 (‘ONT management and control interface specification for dynamic bandwidth assignment (DBA) B-PON system’). These are complementary specifications.

The ATM-PON element management system will only manage ONTs as part of the ATM-PON system through the OLT using the ONT management and control interface.

The OAM requirements present requirements for the ONT management and control interface. First, it specifies managed entities of a protocol-independent management information base (MIB) that models the exchange of information between the OLT and ONT. Second, it covers the ONT management and control channel, protocol, DBA protocol, and detailed messages. Refer to the ITU-T specifications for more detailed information. For point-to-point systems, the situation is not so far advanced and no common specifications exist for OAM applications. 9.7