As the telecoms landscape continues to shift and evolve, communications service providers (CSPs) and other network operators face new imperatives. From the race to secure promising new revenue opportunities and increase capacity, to the urgent need to reduce costs and simplify operations, operators are seeking innovative new ways to deploy, manage, and optimize networks. Intelligent automation of optical transport networks is an important catalyst to spur this innovation.
Spark of intelligence
The evolution to cloud-based, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) architectures has enabled CSPs to build more flexible, programmable networks with the goals of speeding service delivery and reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Openness and automation have been central to realizing these goals.
Now, new automation technologies and capabilities available in Open Optical Line Systems (OLS) can further advance these goals. These features empower CSPs to significantly improve network performance and reliability while taming complexity and reducing operational expenses. Today’s top CSP priorities for reduced human error and increased reliability are driving even greater urgency in optical transport network automation.
Why automate optical transport?
Next-generation optical transport automation provides valuable operational benefits across four broad areas, including node cabling and turn-up; fiber characterization and testing; wavelength planning; and fault management. With the right next-generation solution, such as the Fujitsu 1FINITY L900 Series OLS platform, these innovative new automation capabilities help to reduce errors, speed up operations, and simplify manual tasks to improve efficiency.
Taming cabling complexity
As network cabling complexity grows, errors tend to multiply. This not only increases costs and impacts quality of service (QoS), but it also slows down node installation and commissioning, and delays service delivery. Advanced OLS automation reduces network complexity and eliminates the need for manual turn-up. Plus, an innovative smart cabling system greatly simplifies fiber mapping within the chassis and across chassis, dispensing with the need for external cables and speeding OLS configuration to a fraction of the time needed for traditional ,ethods. As a result, node installation and commissioning can be done in hours instead of days, and require up to 92 percent fewer cables.
Faster fiber characterization
The typical outside fiber plant comprises various fiber types deployed over the course of years with different transmission characteristics. Since fiber plant records often may be incomplete or nonexistent, most CSPs tend to conduct separate testing of fiber plant in the field prior to deploying a new OLS or each time more fiber paths are added to an existing OLS. With real-time fiber characterization integrated into the OLS, CSPs save valuable time with automated validation of fiber plant characteristics. Moreover, real-time automated fiber discovery and characterization also improve wavelength planning, reduce opex, and boost reliability by eliminating human error.
Optimize performance
By incorporating sophisticated testing based on optical channel monitoring into next-generation OLS, automation also enables continuous monitoring, allowing primary and secondary route options to be updated in real time for greater service availability and reliability. Furthermore, with the ability to leverage the latest advanced intelligence, CSPs can take advantage of powerful analytics enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies to simplify and optimize OLS architecture.
Simply balance cost, reach & capacity
Open optical networking unleashes crucial flexibility, scalability, and cost reduction for faster speed to market with improved profitability. Yet, growing network complexity threatens to slow the pace of innovation, introducing greater human error that leads to reduced reliability and poor QoS.
With the right next-generation solutions, such as the Fujitsu 1FINITY L900 Series OLS platform, advanced automation features empowered by AI/ML analytics shorten the timeframe from turn-up to next-generation service delivery—in most cases from days to hours. Automation also drastically reduces or eliminates human error, reducing opex through labor savings and improving network performance and reliability with simplified, streamlined processes and real time optimization.
