Automated Spectrum Control in Submarine Optical Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In submarine optical networks, managing shared optical spectrum among multiple users is challenging due to the lack of automated coordination and compliance enforcement, leading to potential propagation penalties and errors when one user's changes affect others.
Innovation Solution
A spectrum partitioning device that assigns optical spectrum slices to users, monitors compliance with constraints such as spectrum width and total output power, and adds power management signals to maintain compliance, preventing access to unauthorized spectrum and ensuring minimal impact on other users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual coordination is used for spectrum sharing among multiple users, then commercial agreements can be established, but coordination complexity and compliance enforcement become increasingly challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central controller as an intermediary that automatically manages spectrum allocation and monitors compliance for multiple users. This controller acts as a mediator between users, replacing manual coordination with automated decision-making, thereby reducing coordination complexity while maintaining adaptability in spectrum sharing
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous monitoring of user transmissions against agreed constraints with automatic feedback mechanisms. The central controller receives status information from users, evaluates compliance, and adjusts allocations accordingly, creating a closed-loop system that simplifies coordination through automated enforcement rather than complex manual agreements
2Adaptability or versatility
If passive coupling is used to provide optical access to users, then spectrum sharing is enabled, but users cannot be ensured to honor their agreements regarding launch power and power spectral density
Solution Approach 1:
The central controller continuously monitors each user's actual transmission parameters including launch power and power spectral density. This real-time feedback allows the system to detect deviations from agreed constraints and take corrective action, ensuring reliable compliance enforcement that passive coupling alone cannot provide
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the passive mechanical/optical coupling system with an active control system that uses electronic monitoring and feedback. Instead of relying on passive optical components alone, the system incorporates active sensing and control mechanisms that can detect and correct compliance violations, substituting passive physics-based coupling with active electronic enforcement
3Ease of operation
If one user disconnects traffic or removes optical power, then that user's needs are met, but remaining users experience propagation penalties and potential failures
Solution Approach 1:
The central controller monitors the optical power levels and transmission status of all users continuously. When one user disconnects or changes their transmission, the controller detects this change through feedback and automatically adjusts the allocations of remaining users to compensate, maintaining network stability while preserving user autonomy
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-establishes compensation mechanisms and contingency plans through automated algorithms. When a user disconnects, the controller has pre-programmed responses to reallocate spectrum and adjust power levels for remaining users, preventing propagation penalties before they occur rather than reacting after failures happen
4Productivity
If optical spectrum is provided as the end product instead of fixed bandwidth, then commercial advantage is achieved, but automated provisioning and control must be implemented
Solution Approach 1:
The central controller serves as an intermediary that handles the complexity of automated spectrum provisioning, allowing the network to offer flexible optical spectrum as a product without requiring complex distributed control. The controller centralizes the automated decision-making logic, making the system manageable while enabling commercial-grade service delivery
Solution Approach 2:
The central controller is designed as a universal platform that performs multiple functions including spectrum allocation, compliance monitoring, dynamic reconfiguration, and user management. This multi-functional approach consolidates automated control complexity into a single system that can handle diverse provisioning scenarios, making the transition to spectrum-as-a-product commercially viable
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods of sharing optical spectrum between a plurality of users of a submarine optical system 10 includes receiving one or more optical signals from the plurality of users 60 of the submarine optical system, wherein each of the plurality of users are assigned a slice of optical spectrum 40 on the submarine optical system; monitoring each of the one or more optical signals to determine compliance with one or more constraints; and adding the one or more optical signals to the submarine optical system if compliant with the one or more constraints.