Systems and methods for coordinating an optical layer and a packet layer in a network, include a Software Defined Networking (SDN) Internet Protocol (IP) application configured to implement a closed loop for analytics, recommendations, provisioning, and monitoring, of a plurality of routers in the packet layer; and a variable capacity application configured to determine optical path viability, compute excess optical margin, and recommend and cause capacity upgrades and downgrades, by communicating with a plurality of network elements in the optical layer, wherein the SDN IP application and the variable capacity application coordinate activity therebetween based on conditions in the network. The activity is coordinated based on underlying capacity changes in the optical layer and workload changes in the packet layer.

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for computing a launch power for an optical node by collecting data for an optical network segment and inputting the collected data and first power spectral density values into a machine learning model which are used to compute a first non-linear interference value. A first generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio value is computed using the computed first non-linear interference value and amplified spontaneous emission values. At least one second generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio value is computed using at least one second non-linear interference value, computed using at least one second power spectral density values, and the amplified spontaneous emission values. A highest generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio value is determined by comparing the first generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio value and the at least one second generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio value. A launch power is computed using the power spectral density values associated with the highest generalized-optical signal-to-noise ratio.

A communication apparatus includes a plurality of devices, each of the plurality of devices includes a monitoring unit configured to monitor at least one other device to detect an error that has occurred in the other device, and each of the plurality of devices is monitored by at least one other device.

A network or system in which a hub or primary node may communicate with a plurality of leaf or secondary nodes. The hub node may operate or have a capacity greater than that of the leaf nodes. Accordingly, relatively inexpensive leaf nodes may be deployed to receive data carrying optical signals from, and supply data carrying optical signals to, the hub node. One or more connections may couple each leaf node to the hub node, whereby each connection may include one or more spans or segments of optical fibers, optical amplifiers, optical splitters/combiners, and optical add/drop multiplexer, for example. Optical subcarriers may be transmitted over such connections, each carrying a data stream. The subcarriers may be generated by a combination of a laser and a modulator, such that multiple lasers and modulators are not required, and costs may be reduced. As the bandwidth or capacity requirements of the leaf nodes change, the number of subcarriers, and thus the amount of data provided to each node, may be changed accordingly. Each subcarrier within a dedicated group of subcarriers may carry OAM or control channel information to a corresponding leaf node, and such information may be used by the leaf node to configure the leaf node to have a desired bandwidth or capacity.

A network or system in which a hub or primary node may communicate with a plurality of leaf or secondary nodes. The hub node may operate or have a capacity greater than that of the leaf nodes. Accordingly, relatively inexpensive leaf nodes may be deployed to receive data carrying optical signals from, and supply data carrying optical signals to, the hub node. One or more connections may couple each leaf node to the hub node, whereby each connection may include one or more spans or segments of optical fibers, optical amplifiers, optical splitters/combiners, and optical add/drop multiplexer, for example. Optical subcarriers may be transmitted over such connections, each carrying a data stream. The subcarriers may be generated by a combination of a laser and a modulator, such that multiple lasers and modulators are not required, and costs may be reduced. As the bandwidth or capacity requirements of the leaf nodes change, the number of subcarriers, and thus the amount of data provided to each node, may be changed accordingly. Each subcarrier within a dedicated group of subcarriers may carry OAM or control channel information to a corresponding leaf node, and such information may be used by the leaf node to configure the leaf node to have a desired bandwidth or capacity.

Disclosed are an apparatus and testing methods for performing testing operations over multiple types of links and through multiple potential points of failure to segment sources of problems, which may relate to reported or actual instances of service disruption in a network communication environment. The apparatus may perform service layer testing directly via an optical link, in addition to via Ethernet service layer testing. The apparatus may further conduct tests on other layers as well, including the physical layer, the network layer, and the link layer. To facilitate efficient testing, the apparatus may integrate programmable workflow profiles that specify tests to be conducted, and may interface with a cloud platform for sharing results of the tests, providing end-to-end testing of various components and types of links (whether optical or electrical, including wired and wireless links). Results of the tests may provide guidance to resolve detected problems.

Techniques for identifying sources of degradations within a PON include detecting that an optical profile of a segment of the PON is outside of a designated operating range, and comparing the drift over time of the segment's optical profile with respective drifts over time of optical profiles of other PON segments, each of which shares an OLT or a last mile termination unit with the segment as a common endpoint. Each segment's optical profile corresponds to characteristics of optical signals delivered over the segment (e.g., attenuation, changes in frequencies, changes in power outputs, etc.). The differences between the segments' drift(s) over time are utilized to determine the source of a degradation within the PON, and may be utilized to identify a particular component of the segment (e.g., the OLT, the last mile termination unit, or an optical fiber included in the segment) as being the source of the degradation.

An OLT 110 includes an optical transmission/reception unit 111 to transmit and receive optical signals by time division; an abnormal-light-emission detection unit 112 to monitor the received optical signals, and detect a state in which the optical signals are being received for a predetermined period or longer as abnormal light emission in which the optical signals from one or more of the ONUs 130 are not received; an optical-communication control unit to sequentially select an ONU 130 one at a time from the plurality of ONUs 130 other than the one or more ONUs 130 as a target ONU 130, test whether the abnormal light emission is resolved by stopping transmission of the optical signal from each target ONU 130, and, if the abnormal light emission is resolved, specifies the target ONU 130 being tested as an ONU 130 that is a source of the abnormal light emission.

Allocating network resources to one or more signals that are to be conveyed over the network by calculating a transport capacity for a sublink of the network based on a spectral efficiency of at least one subpath included in the sublink, and allocating the sublink to at least one signal based on the calculated transport capacity.

The invention provides a protection method against failure of AI-based QoT prediction, comprising calculating a first number of frequency slots and a consumable margin for a working lightpath that meet the traffic demand according to a method for allocating an OSNR margin for a working lightpath; calculating a second number of frequency slots and a consumable margin for the protection lightpath that meet the traffic demand according to a method for allocating an OSNR margin for the protection lightpath; and evaluating utilization of spectrum resource based on the first number of frequency slots and the second number of frequency slots and evaluating reliability of lightpath based on the consumable margin for the working lightpath. The method of the invention is more stable in practical network applications.