dynamic bandwidth allocation software including an image representing firmware configured for determining bandwidth allocation requirements;

a first processor that interprets said firmware for facilitating determination of bandwidth allocation settings for a plurality of optical network termination units of a Passive Optical Network system;

a second processor interpreting said software for managing information upon which said bandwidth allocation settings are dependent, determining revised bandwidth allocation parameters for altering the bandwidth allocation settings, and configuring the revised version of said bandwidth allocation parameters for said firmware prior to loading said firmware,

wherein said revised bandwidth allocation functionality includes one of: adjusting a bandwidth recalculation time interval, calculating a bandwidth adjustment amount, calculating a number of idle cells to be received for initiating a bandwidth recalculation operation, and calculating a buffer zone size;

first memory from which a current version of said firmware is accessible by the first processor; and

second memory from which said software is accessible by the second processor, wherein said second memory is different than said first memory.