A smooth evolution scheme from legacy time division multiplexing passive optical network to the next generation wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network using polarization shift keying/amplitude shift keying orthogonal modulation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Clear eye diagrams and bit‐error‐rate performance show crosstalk is small. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:2598–2601, 2014