Planning for success – AI insights drive coordination and optimization of IP and optical network designs

IP and optical network teams each have their own domain technical expertise and at no time is that more obvious than during the capacity planning phase. Forecasting and analysis of customer demands at the IP layer trickle down to the optical layer, and designs get iterated, but holistic visibility is lacking, often leading to suboptimal results. Ciena’s Erik McLaughlin describes how Ciena’s Navigator Network Control Suite helps in coordinating planning across layers, achieving optimized network designs with shorter lead times.

IP and optical networks have been converging for CAPEX and OPEX efficiency reasons for several years now. Not only does this involve tighter integration of hardware platforms – with coherent pluggables being hosted in routers – but also integration of the management systems that control them; however, capacity planning has remained largely separate. Multi-layer network capacity planning can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, yet not achieve the optimal state across the transport layers. This results in unnecessary network upgrades and/or excess capex.

Ciena’s Navigator Network Control Suite (Navigator NCS) AI-powered capabilities help coordinate the planning of IP demands over optical infrastructure, significantly accelerating the overall process. Furthermore, crucial insights based on key performance indicators and automated capacity growth analysis can identify the optimal way to satisfy future demands to ensure network resilience across multiple failure scenarios while minimizing the cost per bit in the network. This includes deciding whether to deploy coherent pluggables, deploy transponders, build a new line system, or optimize utilization of existing photonic assets to maximize capacity. This holistic approach ensures that network designs are optimized across the layers.

Why change?

Existing IP and optical planning tools are inadequate in handling the complex calculations required to meet the current business needs. Addressing questions such as "How can I confirm IP service diversity in my network?" and "Am I effectively maximizing the optical spectrum across my fiber infrastructure?" has become progressively more intricate. The advancement in modem technologies, which now support speeds up to 1.6Tbps, along with the increased significance of spectral efficiency and photonic costs, have further amplified the complexity.

Previously, minimizing IP ports provided a solution that was close to optimal. However, in the present landscape, topology design must also account for optical resource efficiency.

Network planning involves designing, engineering, and optimizing networks based on various factors such as traffic patterns, capacity requirements, service level agreements, diversity, and topology constraints. Traditionally, these functions have been performed by separate organizational teams, each with their own planning application. The Optical Transport team and the IP Routing organization must work closely to achieve the desired outcomes—maximizing performance while minimizing costs. However, optimizing for IP links without considering optimization of the optical layer can lead to sub-optimal costs for network infrastructure. In addition, information exchange between teams typically happens using spreadsheets, which is quite error-prone.

Figure 1. A multi-layer approach to capacity planning enables optimized network designs

It starts with good data

For accurate and efficient multi-layer planning, the planning application must have access to near real-time data from both the IP and optical domains. This is achieved through a feed from the respective domain controllers or, in the case of Navigator NCS, a single controller with a comprehensive multi-layer view. Navigator NCS provides up-to-date information on multi-layer network topology, capacity, and performance metrics which are essential for making informed planning decisions. The integration of real-time data from Navigator allows the planning application to:

• Ensure a consistent and holistic view of the network by both the IP and optical planner
• Identify potential bottlenecks or areas requiring capacity upgrades
• Simulate various planning scenarios based on the latest network conditions
• Incorporate optical layer diversity risks into IP capacity planning application
• Place forecasted IP traffic demands on the multi-layer network – which resources need to be expanded?

Figure 2. Example visualization of a multi-layer network within the planning application

It involves getting the most from current assets

One of the key features of Navigator NCS is its ability to perform what-if tradeoff analyses, allowing planners to evaluate different scenarios and make informed decisions. This capability is crucial for placing forecasted IP traffic demands on the multi-layer network and determining which resources need to be expanded. Navigator’s intelligent optical route placement assignment considers diversity requirements and can also optimize usage of existing spectrum to maximize capacity of fiber infrastructure. Optical modem and photonic line system metrics are analyzed in real-time and fine-tuned to ensure peak optical performance and transmission efficiency.

It ends with an optimized network design

With a real-time view of the network, Navigator NCS can constantly measure and simulate where there are potential chokepoints in the network so the planner can assess how to address them. The automation of the tasks between the IP and optical planner with Navigator’s consolidated planning application realizes time savings and the benefits of adopting a converged approach:

• Multi-layer topology planning and optimization: Considering IP and optical costs jointly to minimize hardware and fiber expenditure across layers.
• Clear visibility of IP and photonic layer relationships: Providing a comprehensive view of the network map.
• Evaluation of optical express links based on IP traffic matrix: Ensuring that the network design is optimized for current and future demands.
• Architectural tradeoff analysis: Providing clear recommendations on most efficient equipment needs: coherent technology generation, pluggable or transponder, or line system expansion.
• Optimized global spectrum assignment for optical channels: Maximizing the efficiency of spectrum usage through intelligent optical channel placement and optimization of existing spectrum with Spectrum Defragmentation.
• Multi-layer failure simulations and analysis: Ensuring resiliency and shared risk diversity across all layers.

Figure 3. Tradeoff analysis comparing optical technology choices

Planning ahead

The convergence of IP and optical networks is not just a matter of hardware integration and software orchestration. It requires a shift in the planning process, focusing on multi-layer topology planning and optimization, clear visibility of IP and photonic layer relationships, and multi-layer failure simulations and analysis. By adopting a converged IP/Optical approach, telecom operators can streamline their planning processes, reduce costs, and ensure that their networks are optimized to meet the demands of AI, cloud, IoT, and 5G.

Automation and AI-driven tools like Ciena’s Navigator NCS are essential for modern network planning. And it’s becoming even easier to use advanced capabilities, through the use of GenAI technologies, which enable natural language interfaces. With the necessary insights and capabilities to coordinate network planning and optimization across IP and optical layers, operators can ensure that networks are designed to be efficient, resilient, and capable of meeting future demands.