Redundant OLT Electronic Modules for Optical Transceivers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical access networks face challenges in achieving redundancy due to their branched topology, making it costly and difficult to ensure service reliability for critical services, as a single failure in the Central Office electronics can disrupt service to multiple customers.
Innovation Solution
An optical access communications system with a Multi-Service Access and Aggregation Platform (MSAP) that includes a redundant Optical Line Terminal (OLT) electronic module, a Mux/Demux module, and a system controller to switch traffic between active and standby modules, allowing seamless failover without interrupting service, and separating the OLT optical transceiver from the electronic modules to reduce replacement costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full network redundancy is implemented in a branched PtMP topology, then service reliability is improved, but system cost increases significantly (3.5 times higher)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the OLT into two independent parts: the optical transceiver (which remains single and non-redundant) and the electronic module (which is made redundant). This segmentation allows redundancy to be applied only where needed (electronic control functions) while avoiding redundancy in expensive optical components, thereby reducing overall system cost while maintaining service reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the electronic module from the integrated OLT and separates it from the optical transceiver. This extraction enables the electronic module to be replaced or replicated independently, allowing cost-effective redundancy of the electronic control plane without duplicating the expensive optical hardware, thus resolving the cost-reliability contradiction.
2Reliability
If redundant OLT modules are implemented, then service continuity is improved during failures, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase due to branched topology
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the OLT into separable electronic and optical components, the patent simplifies the implementation of redundancy. The electronic module can be independently replicated and hot-swapped without affecting the optical transceiver or requiring complex reconfiguration of the branched PtMP network infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The standby electronic module is designed with universal functionality to fully replace the active module. Both modules share the same interface and control logic, allowing seamless failover without requiring complex topology changes or reconfiguration of the branched network, thus reducing implementation difficulty.
3Reliability
If critical electronic components are made redundant, then service availability is improved, but the complexity of managing redundant systems increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a control plane that acts as an intermediary to manage the redundant electronic modules. This control plane handles module status monitoring, failover detection, and switchover coordination, simplifying the management of redundancy by centralizing control logic and abstracting the complexity from the operational level.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the control plane continuously monitors the health status of active and standby electronic modules. When a failure is detected, the feedback loop triggers automatic failover to the standby module, enabling self-managing redundancy that reduces operational complexity and manual intervention requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical communications system includes a MSAP and an optical transceiver mounted at the MSAP that communicates over an optical network to at least one optical network terminal (ONT). A first electronic module is operatively connected to the optical transceiver and configured to control the optical transceiver and mounted at the MSAP separate from the optical transceiver. A redundant second electronic module is supported within the MSAP and mounted separate from the optical transceiver. A Mux/Demux module interconnects and supports the first and second electronic modules to form an integral unit and mounted at the MSAP separate from the optical transceiver. The Mux/Demux module is configured to switch the second electronic module into communication with the optical transceiver upon failure of the first electronic module.