Shared Protection Transponders in ROADM Mesh Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mesh network protection methodologies, such as 1+1 dedicated protection, require equal numbers of protection transponders to working transponders, leading to high equipment redundancy and increased costs, while also not efficiently utilizing network capacity.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a preconfigured protection cycle (p-cycle) that allows sharing of protection transponders among multiple working transponders, reducing the total number of protection transponders needed and enabling efficient traffic rerouting during failures, with a switch fabric and control plane to manage traffic switching between working and protection transponders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If 1+1 dedicated protection methodology is employed, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple protection transponders are merged and shared among different working paths. Instead of having dedicated protection transponders for each working path, the patent implements a shared protection transponder that can serve multiple working paths simultaneously, reducing the total number of protection transponders needed while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The protection transponder is designed with multi-functionality to serve multiple working paths. The control plane enables the protection transponder to dynamically switch between different working paths based on failure conditions, making a single protection transponder capable of providing protection to multiple different traffic streams
2Reliability
If 1+1 dedicated protection is implemented, then protection coverage is improved, but network capacity utilization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges protection resources across multiple working paths by implementing a shared protection transponder. This allows the same protection transponder to be reused for different working paths, thereby reducing redundant protection resources and improving overall network capacity utilization while maintaining full protection coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the operational parameters of the protection transponder based on failure conditions. The control plane adjusts the protection transponder's working state according to which working path has failed, enabling efficient resource allocation and preventing capacity waste when no failures are present
Data Source
AI summary
Example embodiments of a method and corresponding apparatus for sharing protection resources in a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) based mesh network are presented. The use of dedicated 1+1 methodologies for protection in a mesh network is reliable, but requires a large amount of equipment redundancy, as well as a large associated cost. According to the embodiments of the present method and apparatus, the total number of protection transponders needed to support single failures in a mesh network is reduced by implementing a preconfigured protection cycle (p-cycle) in the mesh network and configuring nodes along the p-cycle to share protection transponders. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present method and apparatus allow for reliable protection against single failures while lessening the amount of equipment redundancy and reducing the associated cost.