Partial Survivability for Multi-Carrier Optical Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
In high-bandwidth optical transport networks, existing standards consider a failure of any single optical carrier or module as a failure of the entire interface, leading to unnecessary service disruptions and increased bandwidth requirements for restoration, which affects reliability and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing partial survivability mechanisms in network elements that allow for the identification of affected services and the rerouting or adjustment of these services to non-failed optical carriers, using signaling protocols like partial Alarm Indication Signals and Backward Defect Indications to manage overhead and maintain service integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire interface is considered failed upon single carrier failure, then compliance with existing standards is maintained, but service reliability and bandwidth efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the interface failure response by identifying and isolating only the affected services rather than treating the entire interface as failed. This allows selective restoration of only the impacted services (e.g., 150G out of 600G) while maintaining operational services, thereby improving reliability without requiring complete interface shutdown.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial failure handling where only the necessary portion of the interface is taken down for restoration, rather than the entire interface. This partial action approach restores services more efficiently by affecting only the minimal necessary bandwidth, improving both reliability and bandwidth efficiency.
2Reliability
If the entire interface is taken down for restoration, then service restoration is ensured, but bandwidth consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments service restoration by identifying which specific services are affected by the carrier failure and restoring only those services rather than the entire interface. This segmentation reduces bandwidth consumption from 600G to only the necessary 150G for affected services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and isolates only the affected services from the total interface capacity for restoration purposes. By separating affected services (150G) from operational services (450G), the system restores only the necessary portion, significantly reducing bandwidth consumption while ensuring service restoration for impacted traffic.
3Ease of operation
If all services are treated equally in failure scenarios, then simplicity is maintained, but priority-based service continuity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by treating different services differently based on their priority and impact. High-priority services are restored first or maintained on alternative carriers, while lower-priority services are restored later or sacrificed. This differentiated approach ensures priority service continuity while maintaining operational simplicity through automated policy-based decision making.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods include determining which services in a single Optical Transport Unit Cn (OTUCn) that is transmitted in an optical network via a plurality of optical carriers are affected by failed one or more optical carriers of the plurality of optical carriers; continuing to operate the single OTUCn with unaffected one or more optical carriers of the plurality of optical carriers; and adjusting some or all of the services from the failed one or more optical carriers to the unaffected one or more optical carriers.