Central Office Point of Delivery Cluster for Broadband Access Resilience
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional broadband access network architectures with multiple central office points of delivery operate as standalone entities, leading to challenges in maintenance, load-sharing, resiliency, and service orchestration, limiting flexibility and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method that clusters multiple central office points of delivery, utilizing software-defined network principles to couple control and management planes, enabling dynamic handover, load sharing, and enhanced resiliency through dual-homing access nodes and a centralized orchestrator, which controls and manages traffic within the cluster.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If multiple central office points of delivery operate as standalone entities, then each central office point can be independently managed and maintained, but load-sharing and resiliency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent groups multiple central office points of delivery into a cluster, where they share common resources including pool of access nodes, pool of service edge nodes, and centralized orchestrator. This merging enables load-sharing across the cluster and improves resiliency through redundant connections, while each central office point retains its identity and can be independently maintained when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates universal pools of resources that can serve multiple central office points. The pool of access nodes can be dynamically allocated to different central office points, and the pool of service edge nodes provides shared services across the cluster. This multi-functionality enables flexible load-sharing and improves overall system reliability.
2Reliability
If central office points of delivery are clustered with shared resources, then load-sharing and resiliency are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized orchestrator as an intermediary that manages the cluster of central office points. The orchestrator handles resource allocation, load-balancing, and coordination between central office points, abstracting the complexity of cluster management. This allows individual central office points to operate with reduced complexity while benefiting from cluster-level intelligence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the centralized orchestrator continuously monitors the state of central office points, access nodes, and service edge nodes. Based on this feedback, the orchestrator dynamically adjusts resource allocation and load-distribution, enabling automatic adaptation to changing conditions without manual intervention, thus managing complexity through intelligent control.
3Reliability
If access nodes are dual-homed to multiple central office points, then resiliency is enhanced, but connection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables access nodes to automatically manage their dual-homed connections to multiple central office points. The access nodes can autonomously select which central office point to connect to based on current conditions such as load, availability, and performance metrics. This self-service capability reduces the need for complex manual connection management while maintaining high resiliency through automatic failover.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates dynamic connections between access nodes and central office points, where the topology can change based on real-time conditions. Access nodes can dynamically switch between different central office points, and the centralized orchestrator dynamically adjusts connection routes. This dynamic behavior provides resiliency while the automation reduces the effective complexity of managing multiple connections.
4Productivity
If centralized orchestrator manages traffic across cluster, then service orchestration efficiency is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control functions by separating the centralized orchestrator from individual central office points. The orchestrator handles high-level service orchestration, resource allocation, and cluster-wide coordination, while individual central office points handle local operations and customer-specific functions. This segmentation allows efficient service orchestration at the cluster level while keeping individual node complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized orchestrator acts as an intermediary between the network resources and service requirements. It abstracts the complexity of managing multiple central office points, access nodes, and service edge nodes, providing a simplified interface for service deployment and management. This intermediary role improves service orchestration efficiency by centralizing intelligence while managing control complexity through abstraction.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for an operation of a broadband access network of a telecommunications network comprising a plurality of central office points of delivery and/or for an increased flexibility and/or resiliency within the telecommunications network and/or within or among the plurality of central office points of delivery, wherein each one of the plurality of central office points of delivery comprises a control functionality or control plane, a management functionality or management plane, a transport functionality or service, as well as an edge functionality or service, and has or is connected to an access functionality being realized by means of a plurality of access nodes that terminate physical subscriber lines serving end users of the telecommunications network, wherein at least a first central office point of delivery and a second central office point of delivery are related or combined or associated to form or to realize a central office point of delivery cluster, wherein the central office point of delivery cluster comprises or is associated or assigned to a cluster controller providing or comprising a cluster control functionality or cluster control plane, a cluster management functionality or cluster management plane, and a cluster transport functionality or service for the central office point of delivery cluster, wherein in order to more flexibly and/or more resiliently operate the access functionality associated with the central office point of delivery cluster, the method comprises the following steps: -- in a first step, a first access functionality primarily associated with the first central office point of delivery is also connected to the second central office point of delivery, and a second access functionality primarily associated with the second central office point of delivery is also connected to the first central office point of delivery, -- in a second step, the cluster controller, and both a first control functionality or control plane of the first central office point of delivery, and a second control functionality or control plane of the second central office point of delivery control whether the first and second access functionality are served by the first or second central office point of delivery.