A techno-economic study of optical network disaggregation employing Open-Source Software business models for Metropolitan Area Networks

This work provides a techno-economic evaluation of optical disaggregation architectures in the context of metropolitan area networks. The study compares two optical disaggregation options (partial vs. total) against the legacy benchmark where optical equipment is subject to vendor lock-in, as it is deployed in most networks today. We show that emerging open source software projects within the software-defined networking ecosystem can potentially yield significant cost savings for medium- and large-size network operators, while they can introduce extra flexibility and agility to network operations and service deployments.This work has been supported by EU H2020 project Metro-Haul, grant no. 761727 (https://metro-haul.eu)

Experimental evaluation of a dynamic PCE-based regenerator-efficient IA-RWA algorithm in translucent WSON

We devise a novel dynamic PCE-based impairment-aware RWA algorithm in translucent GMPLS WSON that minimizes regenerator usage. Experimental evaluation carried out on the Open GMPLS/PCE control plane of CTTC ADRENALINE test-bed shows that significant improvements (>340%) are attained in terms of the offered traffic load.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Enabling data analytics and machine learning for 5G services within disaggregated multi-layer transport networks

Recent advances, related to the concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and with applications across multiple technology domains, have gathered significant attention due, in particular, to the overall performance improvement of such automated systems when compared to methods relying on human operation. Consequently, using AI/ML for managing, operating and optimizing transport networks is increasingly seen as a potential opportunity targeting, notably, large and complex environments.Such AI-assisted automated network operation is expected to facilitate innovation in multiple aspects related to the control and management of future optical networks and is a promising milestone in the evolution towards autonomous networks, where networks self-adjust parameters such as transceiver configuration.To accomplish this goal, current network control, management and orchestration systems need to enable the application of AI/ML techniques. It is arguable that Software-Defined Networking (SDN) principles, favouring centralized control deployments, featured application programming interfaces and the development of a related application ecosystem are well positioned to facilitate the progressive introduction of such techniques, starting, notably, in allowing efficient and massive monitoring and data collection.In this paper, we present the control, orchestration and management architecture designed to allow the automatic deployment of 5G services (such as ETSI NFV network services) across metropolitan networks, conceived to interface 5G access networks with elastic core optical networks at multi Tb/s. This network segment, referred to as Metro-haul, is composed of infrastructure nodes that encompass networking, storage and processing resources, which are in turn interconnected by open and disaggregated optical networks. In particular, we detail subsystems like the Monitoring and Data Analytics or the in-operation planning backend that extend current SDN based network control to account for new use cases.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A control and management architecture supporting autonomic NFV services

The proposed control, orchestration and management (COM) architecture is presented from a high-level point of view; it enables the dynamic provisioning of services such as network data connectivity or generic network slicing instances based on virtual network functions (VNF). The COM is based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles and is hierarchical, with a dedicated controller per technology domain. Along with the SDN control plane for the provisioning of connectivity, an ETSI NFV management and orchestration system is responsible for the instantiation of Network Services, understood in this context as interconnected VNFs. A key, novel component of the COM architecture is the monitoring and data analytics (MDA) system, able to collect monitoring data from the network, datacenters and applications which outputs can be used to proactively reconfigure resources thus adapting to future conditions, like load or degradations. To illustrate the COM architecture, a use case of a Content Delivery Network service taking advantage of the MDA ability to collect and deliver monitoring data is experimentally demonstrated.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Modulation format-aware re-optimization in flexgrid optical networks: concept and experimental assessment

A modulation format-aware algorithm to re-optimize resource utilization after a link repair is proposed. The proposed workflow implemented on an ABNO architecture and protocol extensions for SBVT and modulation format selection are experimentally assessed in a distributed test-bed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Creating a supportive regional infrastructure for life long learning (SuRILL) Final project report

Report produced under contract by the CONTACT Consortium, final report May 1998 - July 2000Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/45981 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Experimental validation of active frontend - backend stateful PCE operations in flexgrid optical network re-optimization

A PCE-based strategy for LSP re-optimization in flexgrid optical networks is experimentally validated. A front- and back-end stateful PCE architecture is deployed, wherein automatic and coordinated operations (e.g., computation delegation, database synchronization, etc.) are demonstrated using PCEP and BGP-LS protocols.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

First demonstration of multi-vendor and multi-domain EON with S-BVT and control interoperability over Pan-European testbed

The operation of multi-domain and multi-vendor EONscan be achieved by interoperable Sliceable Bandwidth Variable Transponders, a GMPLS/ BGP-LS -based control plane and a planning tool. This paper reports the first full demonstration and validation this end-to-end architecturePeer Reviewe

Experimental validation of active frontend - backend stateful PCE operations in flexgrid optical network re-optimization

A PCE-based strategy for LSP re-optimization in flexgrid optical networks is experimentally validated. A front- and back-end stateful PCE architecture is deployed, wherein automatic and coordinated operations (e.g., computation delegation, database synchronization, etc.) are demonstrated using PCEP and BGP-LS protocols.Peer Reviewe

Experimental evaluation of a dynamic PCE-based regenerator-efficient IA-RWA algorithm in translucent WSON

We devise a novel dynamic PCE-based impairment-aware RWA algorithm in translucent GMPLS WSON that minimizes regenerator usage. Experimental evaluation carried out on the Open GMPLS/PCE control plane of CTTC ADRENALINE test-bed shows that significant improvements (>340%) are attained in terms of the offered traffic load.Peer Reviewe