a passive optical network which employs multiple wavelengths to increase overall system bandwidth , with each wavelength being shared by multiple optical network units according to a time division multiple access protocol . the upstream tdma traffic therefore includes multiple tdma data streams at different wavelengths . an optical line terminal preferably receives the multiple tdma data streams and separates them to different detectors before ultimately combining all data into a single data stream using a multiplexer after performing clock and data recovery functions . in this manner , the upstream bandwidth in a passive optical network can be markedly increased without requiring an increase in data transmit speeds , and while using low cost / low speed detectors in the olt , and low cost / low speed transceivers in the onus . system bandwidth can be further improved by using higher cost , higher speed components .