Optical Link Channel Bundling for Fast Capacity Swaps
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power control techniques for optical networks are slow, leading to inefficient capacity changes in optical links, particularly when swapping channels, which can take up to 190-380 seconds for adding 95 channels, and cause significant power transitions that affect in-service channels.
Innovation Solution
An interleaved bundling approach is used to divide the optical spectrum into slots and perform capacity changes in multiple steps, swapping channel holders with traffic signals in interleaved bundles to minimize amplifier tilt, ripple, and hole burning effects, allowing each OADM node to operate independently without coordination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional power control techniques are used for capacity changes, then optimization can be performed, but the capacity change time is slow (190-380 seconds for adding 95 channels)
Solution Approach 1:
The optical spectrum is divided into multiple slots, and capacity changes are performed in N steps with interleaved bundles. Each step handles a subset of channels (M/N slots), allowing parallel processing and reducing total capacity change time from minutes to seconds.
Solution Approach 2:
Channel holders are pre-positioned in the optical spectrum to maintain full-fill loading conditions. This preliminary arrangement allows capacity changes to be performed by simple switching operations rather than requiring slow optimization routines when channels are added or removed.
2Productivity
If channel holders are used to maintain full-fill loading conditions, then capacity changes can be handled digitally by switching, but significant power transitions occur that affect in-service channels
Solution Approach 1:
The interleaved bundling approach applies different treatment to different parts of the spectrum. By dividing slots into bundles and applying power control locally to each bundle rather than globally, the impact on in-service channels is minimized while still enabling efficient capacity changes.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing complete power optimization across all channels, the system performs partial power control on subsets of channels (bundles) during each step. This partial action reduces the magnitude of power transitions affecting in-service channels while maintaining sufficient efficiency.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If one channel is swapped at a time, then power transitions are minimized, but the capacity change process is inefficient (190-380 seconds for 95 channels)
Solution Approach 1:
The spectrum is segmented into slots and bundles, allowing multiple channels to be swapped in parallel across different bundles while controlling power transitions within each bundle. This achieves both efficiency and minimal power impact.
Solution Approach 2:
Capacity changes are performed in periodic steps (N steps) with interleaved bundles. Each step handles a subset of channels, creating a rhythmic pattern of switching that maintains power stability while achieving high overall throughput.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods of capacity changes in an optical network having a plurality of optical sections include, responsive to a request for a capacity change for a plurality of channels, bundling the plurality of channels into different steps such that all of the plurality of channels are assigned to a step of the different steps; and causing implementation of the different steps across the plurality of optical sections, wherein each section performs the implementation and the bundling between corresponding Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (OADM) nodes independently and asynchronously from one another.