A passive optical network includes a central office and a subscriber-side
apparatus connected with the central office through an optical fiber
link. The subscriber-side apparatus performs communication with the
central office based on wavelength-division-multiplexed optical signals.
The central office has a routing section, provided with first to fourth
multiplexing ports, for demultiplexing multi-wavelength light inputted
from the fourth multiplexing port into a plurality of channels. Each of
the demultiplexed channels is amplified and multiplexed for output
through the first multiplexing port. Optical signals inputted through the
third multiplexing port are demultiplexed and outputted upstream. The
routing section also multiplexes channels for downstream optical signals,
outputting the multiplexed channels through the second port. A splitting
section, provided with first to third splitting ports and arranged on a
loop optical waveguide connects the first and fourth multiplexing port
with each other. The splitting section causes some of multi-wavelength
light inputted into the first splitting port to be outputted through the
second splitting port and causes the remainder of multi-wavelength light
to be outputted through the third splitting port connected with the
fourth multiplexing port. A circulator causes the multi-wavelength light
inputted through the second splitting port to be transmitted to the
subscriber-side apparatus and causes upstream optical signals received
from the subscriber-side apparatus to be outputted to the third
multiplexing port.