Prepare for what’s next, today with Ciena’s 6500 RLS and its innovative capabilities from edge to core.
The photonic layer forms the backbone of modern networks, laying the foundation needed to support fast-evolving demands and capacity growth. To stay ahead, networks need to be innovative, adaptable, and ready for anything – including AI-driven, data-hungry applications.
That’s why leading service providers, cloud operators, and hyperscalers are turning to Ciena’s 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS). But what sets RLS apart? Here we’ll count down the top five reasons RLS is the photonic layer of choice for building future-ready networks.
#5). Easily scale and adapt to changing traffic demands and applications
If you can’t easily add capacity to your network to support new services and applications, then you can’t grow your business. With RLS you can quickly react to new traffic demands and easily scale nodal connectivity. New data centers and locations can be inserted into the network by adding ROADM degrees and more add/drop capacity can be added for new applications and services. RLS ensures you can add routes and reroute traffic without issues by using separate software control per degree. And with layer 0 control plane, you can automate wavelength turn-up to further speed up time to revenue. If there’s ever a problem, the network can rapidly adapt to minimize service impact.
Another aspect of scalability is carrying different speeds and sources of wavelength traffic. Need to light high-performance coherent optics to maximize capacity and spectral efficiency? RLS does that. Perhaps a line system designed for power and footprint optimized coherent plugs is more your style. RLS does that too. Furthermore, it’s a powerful open line system that treats all wavelengths alike, so you get the same behavior for every channel. RLS transports native and foreign wavelengths seamlessly across the network, allowing the use of any modem technology and helping you avoid lock-in to a specific architecture.
Traffic isn’t static; it grows and changes – sometimes quickly. Not only do you need scalability, but you also need stability. With RLS, you get constant, predictable optical layer performance from the first lit channel all the way to full-fill capacity, even in C&L-band networks. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) loading is the technology behind it. Think of it like filling unused channels with noise, so the system performs as if it is fully filled from day one, even if you only need to light a handful of wavelengths initially. With ASE loading, if your traffic profile grows or changes, the photonic layer isn’t affected. It continues to perform the same across the system’s lifetime.
RLS maintains constant performance regardless of fill by loading unused spectrum with ASE
#4) Extract more network data from embedded instrumentation for improved visibility
Snapshots of the network every month, week, or day cannot provide the information needed to get an accurate picture of your network’s health and performance. To understand what’s happening in the network, you need more data from more sources. RLS provides all the built-in tools and data so you can turn up the network with confidence and then monitor vital, real-time information about the network’s health via streaming telemetry.
The key to getting access to all of this data is embedded instrumentation. Imagine having a network with built-in test equipment functionality, like a high-resolution optical channel monitor (OCM), a bi-directional OTDR, and more. With RLS, you get detailed information to help characterize your fiber plant and calculate key parameters needed for link budgeting – even if you have a mix of fiber types. It also measures the exact fiber length and loss on a per-span basis.
Once the network is up and running, RLS continuously monitors power levels and other telemetry parameters, all of which are available in real time through streaming telemetry. When there is an issue, its built-in bi-directional OTDR helps you zero in on the exact location of the problem.
Embedded instrumentation can also help you launch new services with confidence. If you want to offer spectrum leasing services, you’ll need enhanced power and spectral monitoring, and RLS provides just that. It’s optimized for spectrum services, today. Each customer’s spectrum can be monitored and policed at every ingress and egress point across the network. And, of course, RLS works with Ciena’s intelligent Liquid Spectrum apps to help you optimize capacity and extract even more value from your deployed photonic line system.
3). Automate. Automate. Automate.
Getting your network up and running smoothly can be a real pain point if you don’t have a modern photonic line system that’s highly automated and programmable.The RLS is geared for automation, enabling widescale deployment and eliminating the manual steps of platform commissioning and provisioning so you can easily grow your business's foundation.
Whether you need to turn up a single site or hundreds of nodes in parallel, RLS has the automation built-in to get the job done fast. Commissioning scripts are automatically generated by Ciena’s network planning tool, PlannerPlus, when you plan the network. From there, commissioning a new node couldn’t be easier. With zero touch provisioning and declarative configuration, network automation takes care of loading the scripts and applying the provisioning configuration automatically. Then the system calibrates itself so that it’s ready for wavelength traffic.
Furthermore, when new cards are added, RLS verifies all the fiber patches to make sure fibers are clean and fiber patches are in the correct location. This way, installers know the node is ready before leaving the site. If some connections are pre-fibered for growth, installers won’t need to waste time with truck rolls and troubleshooting when they are lit, because they get validated during installation too.
The software architecture of the RLS was designed from day one for automation, with open APIs and standard data models so that it can be integrated into existing management systems and operational tools. System commands and performance data are available through its north-bound interface, so you can automate more capabilities in the network. For turnkey management, RLS can be managed with Navigator Network Control Suite (NCS), Ciena’s multi-layer, multi-vendor network control and lifecycle optimization software.
#2) Seamlessly connect from edge to core
Capacity constraints aren’t limited to a single part of the network. You want to seamlessly connect applications and customers from the edge through to the core. RLS delivers cost, space, and power efficiencies for edge and metro ROADM through component miniaturization and space-saving innovation. Imagine a pizza box ROADM tailored for the edge, or a high-density, two-slot ROADM for sites in the metro. RLS offers both and more, with footprint-efficient chassis options designed for both 300mm and 600mm depth environments.
RLS offers edge to core connectivity with different form-factors and configurations
Being able to seamlessly connect from the edge to core isn’t just about hardware. You also need a consistent, end-to-end operational model across the entire network. That means not having to give up key features that make the RLS popular, even when the platform is right sized for the metro or edge. RLS offers the same operational model with open API programmability and built-in instrumentation for all parts of the network.
Furthermore, RLS can be tailored for different network applications. If L0 control plane or optical layer restoration is needed, then full colorless, directionless, contentionless (CDC) ROADM is the answer. But for networks that don’t need that level of flexibility, colorless direct attach (CDA) may be the architecture of choice. For point-to-point data center interconnect (DCI) networks, low-cost fixed filters can be used to trade off flexibility for cost and simplicity. It even supports 400ZR and 800ZR for DCI applications with an innovative fixed filter mux/demux architecture that can accommodate both on the same system.
RLS supports amp, ROADM, and DCI configurations
#1) Continuous platform innovation
And the number one reason that the RLS is the photonic layer of choice by hyperscalers and service providers today is…. innovation!
Without a strong roadmap to introduce new features and functionality, your network can quickly be left behind. But with RLS, innovation is always on your side, ensuring the platform evolves with your needs.
Take C&L-band support, for example. Back in 2020, when RLS first introduced C&L-band, many network operators were considering the L-band, but some were unsure if they would need to light it right away. With RLS, operators could eliminate complex L-band upgrade processes and truck rolls and delay deployment of the L-band WSS until needed.
Fast-forward to 2024, and L-band was a must-have from day one. The RLS was the first platform to launch an integrated C&L-band ROADM to reduce costs for networks with L-band. It combined two ROADM cards into one, leveraging a single WSS for both C- and L-bands. Now, as per channel rates have increased to 1.6T per wavelength, channel widths have also increased. Large cloud providers and hyperscalers have huge point-to-point bandwidth flows driving an architecture change to CDA ROADM. Ciena has responded by adding a new iC&L ROADM for CDA applications with full add/drop for both bands to maximize capacity and further reduce network costs. It eliminates the need for a separate colorless mux/demux and reduces footprint in L-band networks.
Looking ahead, Ciena is shaping RLS to continue powering future hyperscaler networks. With the need to move from terabits of wavelengths to multiple fiber overlays per route, amplifier hut locations will become space-constrained and under pressure to support more capacity.Upcoming RLS innovations will dramatically improve power and space efficiencies for multi-rail amplifier sites.
Ciena’s RLS is ready for what’s next, today
Ciena’s RLS takes the worry out of network deployment and evolution. It’s ready for what’s next for the photonic layer, today. With its high-performance, programmable photonics, RLS is being deployed globally to support next-generation optical networks for top service providers, cloud providers, and hyperscalers. It delivers the innovation your photonic network needs to be future proof for years to come, not only for the demands of today, but also to handle whatever comes next.
Interested in learning more? Join us at OFC 2025 in San Francisco booth #2443.