A system and method for generating, based on optical network topology information, an optical model to represent an optical network; provisioning a new optical connection within the optical network: determining, using the optical model, a first bit error rate (BER) of the new optical connection; determining, using the optical network providing the new optical connection, a second BER of the new optical connection; determining, based on the first and the second BER, a BER excursion parameter of the new optical connection; training a margin allocator based on the BER excursion parameter of the new optical connection, and the first BER of the new optical connection; comparing the first BER of the new connection and a required optical margin to a threshold to determine a reliability of the new optical connection; and allocating, using the margin allocator, the required optical margin for additional optical connections of the optical network.

A vast contiguous network comprises a large number of three-stage networks, each constituent three-stage network interconnecting a group of access nodes to a group of distributors. The three-stage networks are mutually fused where each pair of three-stage networks shares a respective distributor so that each distributor of the entire network is common in exactly two three-stage networks. Consequently, each access node has multiple parallel paths, each traversing one distributor, to each access node of a same access group and a path traversing one distributor, in addition to numerous compound paths, to each access node of a different access group. Each access node of the contiguous network has a cyclic time-limited dedicated dual control path to each distributor of a respective distributor group as well as a dedicated end-to-end control path, configured as a reserved time-limited path or a contention-free path, to each other access node of the contiguous network.

A system and method for of pre-provisioning recovery paths in a mesh network including creating i) a working path between a head end NE and a tail end NE of the mesh network and ii) a recovery path between the head end NE and the tail end NE, wherein the working path and the recovery path include one or more intermediate NEs; provisioning the working path in an activated state, including establishing cross connects of each of the NEs of the working path; provisioning the recovery path in a pending state, including establishing cross connects of each of the NEs of the recovery path; after provisioning the recovery path, detecting a failure along the working path, and in response, allocating and reserving link resources along the recovery path; and activating, by the NEs along the recovery path, cross connects of the recovery path into respective hardware associated with the NEs.

A regenerator system is provided for dynamic and asymmetric bandwidth capacity adjustment when exchanging data between a first remote network device and a second remote network device. The regenerator includes first and second couplers in communication with the first and second remote network devices, respectively, using a first communication medium that provides multiple communication channels, and at least one redirecting device operable to selectively configure at least one of the channels for either transmission of a signal from the first remote network device to the second remote network device, or transmission of the signal from the second remote network device to the first remote network device.

A system and method for generating, based on optical network topology information, an optical model to represent an optical network; provisioning a new optical connection within the optical network: determining, using the optical model, a first bit error rate (BER) of the new optical connection; determining, using the optical network providing the new optical connection, a second BER of the new optical connection; determining, based on the first and the second BER, a BER excursion parameter of the new optical connection; training a margin allocator based on the BER excursion parameter of the new optical connection, and the first BER of the new optical connection; comparing the first BER of the new connection and a required optical margin to a threshold to determine a reliability of the new optical connection; and allocating, using the margin allocator, the required optical margin for additional optical connections of the optical network.

A vast contiguous network comprises a large number of three-stage networks, each constituent three-stage network interconnecting a group of access nodes to a group of distributors. The three-stage networks are mutually fused where each pair of three-stage networks shares a respective distributor so that each distributor of the entire network is common in exactly two three-stage networks. Consequently, each access node has multiple parallel paths, each traversing one distributor, to each access node of a same access group and a path traversing one distributor, in addition to numerous compound paths, to each access node of a different access group. Each access node of the contiguous network has a cyclic time-limited dedicated dual control path to each distributor of a respective distributor group as well as a dedicated end-to-end control path, configured as a reserved time-limited path or a contention-free path, to each other access node of the contiguous network.

Systems and methods are in a node in a network utilizing a control plane for triggering mesh restoration due to intra-node faults, and include monitoring at least one channel at a degree at a plurality of degrees associated with the node; detecting a fault on the at least one channel, wherein the fault is an intra-node fault upstream of the degree; and transmitting a channel fault indicator downstream of the fault to at least one downstream node along a path of the faulted channel, wherein restoration is triggered based on the channel fault indicator.

A multi-layer network planning system can determine a set of regenerator sites (RSs) that have been found to cover all paths among a set of nodes of an optical layer of a multi-layer network and can determine a set of candidate RSs in the optical layer for use by the links between a set of nodes of an upper layer, wherein each RS can be selected as a candidate RS for the links. The system can determine a binary path matrix for the links between the set of nodes of the upper layer. The system can determine a min-cost matrix that includes a plurality of min-cost paths. The system can determine a best RS from the set of candidate RSs and can move the best RS from the set of candidate RSs into the set of RSs for the links. The system can then update the binary path matrix.

A method and apparatus for optimizing optical transport using a software defined network (SDN) controller are disclosed herein. The SDN controller may define a margin optimization function based on at least one optical system performance metric. The function may include at least one related initiation criterion. Further, the SDN controller may collect at least one measurement for the performance metric. The measurement may include an assessment of deployed carriers not carrying client data. The SDN controller may determine whether the initiation criterion is met based on at least one collected measurement. The SDN controller may select a system margin optimization mechanism and define a system margin optimization threshold criterion on a condition that the initiation criterion is met. The SDN controller may determine whether the optimization threshold criterion is met. The SDN controller may implement one or more optimization events on a condition that the optimization threshold criterion is met.

The present disclosure includes methods and systems in which idle tones are added at an ingress and terminated at an egress of a given fiberoptic communication link between ROADM nodes. An equalization process can be performed across the spectrum of available wavelength channels and then a determination can be made of a number of channels that can be added or dropped at a given time that meet a maximum threshold for change in power of the channels in the available wavelength. As channels without information-carrying signals are filled with idle tones, the stability of the optical system can be improved as there is less variability in power change when all of the channels have a substantially similar nominal power and a signal on one or more of those channels are added or removed.