Why Ai Traffic Growth Demands Optical Network Automation Now

Demand for bandwidth continues to surge pinch expanding usage of AI, high-definition video streaming, unreality and 5G mobile applications. In response, optical services request to go much move and meet stricter service-level requirements. Consequently, metro-based networks owned by communications work providers (CSPs) and utilized for mobile transport, endeavor services aliases broadband entree services look caller demands relating to power, multiservice aggregation, security, AI integration and web slicing. Figure 1 shows a rich | group of applications successful a emblematic metro network.

As AI usage grows, it will create a unit multiplier that will thrust important postulation to transport networks. But nan challenging throughput, latency and reliability requirements of AI workloads are already taking web standard and complexity to different level. CSPs are facing unprecedented unit to present more, faster and better.

Figure 2 shows nan effect of AI postulation maturation based connected a caller Nokia Bell Labs study. This maturation tin scope from 14% to 31%.

Despite this growth, CSPs are expected to accelerate work turn-up and mean clip to repair to trim OPEX and maximize returns connected infrastructure investments.

Manual processes utilized for configuring and monitoring mostly fixed optical networks can’t present nan move connectivity that AI demands. AI-ready optical networks require rapid, businesslike work fulfillment and elasticity to connection services that meet circumstantial requirements, specified arsenic latency aliases resilience. Webscalers person addressed these needs done web automation, paving nan measurement for nan broader manufacture to follow.

The opportunity is clear: Automation tin trim errors, simplify operations, accelerate consequence times and unlock caller efficiencies. CSPs tin simplify operations, heighten web capacity and unlock caller monetization opportunities by pairing automation pinch mature enabling technologies that make carrier networks much configurable, specified as:

• Reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs)
• Coherent pluggables that connection aggregate statement complaint modes
• Timing and wave synchronization
• Line rate-capable encryption.

The Growing Adoption of Automation

A 2024 Heavy Reading survey highlights nan increasing value of network automation. Increasing web complexity and standard thrust nan request for precocious automation that abstracts underlying infrastructure specifications and simplifies web operation. A number of CSPs surveyed proceed to run successful a afloat manual fashion. Most picture their level of web automation arsenic ranging from “assisted management” to “partial automation,” pinch systems making meaningful recommendations utilizing real-time information and precocious analytics. Many are readying to move toward highly autonomous networks complete nan adjacent 3 years.

Open Industry Models

For years, web automation was held backmost by fragmented guidance systems, proprietary interfaces and workflows, and constricted visibility into web performance. Today, these barriers are being lowered pinch automation frameworks that support standardization from well-known manufacture forums successful connection networks.

Multiple manufacture forums attraction connected driving standardization successful carrier networks, including OpenConfig, OpenROADM, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Linux Foundation, TMForum, Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) Global Forum. The forums are dedicated to processing architectures and software-abstracted interface layers that beforehand multivendor ecosystems.

This activity helps reside a communal problem for CSPs:Their brownfield deployments often see instrumentality from respective vendors crossed each segments of their network. These instrumentality assets are designed to run for a agelong play of clip wrong networks, truthful CSPs leverage nan exertion strengths of different vendors to execute their business outcomes. Consequently, they request compelling reasons to switch equipment, which intends they seldom trust connected a azygous vendor.

The manufacture forums supply nan information modeling connection aliases absurd unfastened API protocols required to pass straight pinch nan web domain furniture via web configuration (NETCONF) aliases representational authorities transportation configuration (RESTCONF). The modularity of these standards ensures reusability, truthful automation tin standard arsenic caller usage cases emerge. The exemplary guarantees that authorities changes and configuration information tin beryllium publication from and written to nan network, enabling developers to create insightful functional logic crossed nan resources that transportation services. The emblematic modeling stack (Figure 3) promotes inclusivity by letting developers usage their preferred programming language.

These standards are now fresh for automation because they support operations, administration, maintenance, provisioning and reporting, on pinch precocious features specified arsenic photonic impairment modeling for multivendor instrumentality planning, refined web furniture models for analyzable topologies and nan emerging IP complete dense wavelength section multiplexing (IPoDWDM) paradigm.

Recent updates to nan standards see improved siren and capacity KPI monitoring, streaming telemetry, elaborate beingness routing accusation and resiliency way constraints that alteration protection-based work requests, each of which tin beryllium utilized for premium, monetizable services. Together, these developments heighten nan personification acquisition while gathering nan increasing capacity demands of applications crossed multivendor ecosystems.

Standards specified arsenic OIF validate nan interoperability of multivendor coherent technologies, routers and web elements crossed multispan networks. They minimize limitations pinch specifications that guarantee automation usage cases will execute their business outcomes without further testing for validating vendor-specific technologies.

At nan aforesaid time, precocious web controllers characteristic modular package architectures designed astir modular information models and unfastened APIs. These architectures facilitate seamless connection southbound into nan web and northbound into divers automation environments. Instead of relying connected fixed web snapshots and constricted measurements, teams tin now pat into real-time capacity metrics from devices crossed networks. If this influx of information becomes overwhelming, AI/ML techniques tin thief them analyse monolithic datasets, observe anomalies and foretell behaviors.

Many usage cases successful nan web domain tin beryllium automated. CSPs should adopt an incremental approach, starting pinch elemental usage cases that reside day-to-day logistics specified arsenic inventory and work guidance successful nan carrier network. This is simply a emblematic symptom constituent for CSPs because it affects maintenance, proviso chains and web creation arsenic they summation web capacity aliases grow nan web into caller geographical areas.

Next, CSPs tin reside intermediate operational usage cases specified arsenic commissioning, configuring and provisioning connections wrong nan network. For many, clip to marketplace is often slow for end-subscriber services because of nan process of delivering instrumentality betwixt endpoint locations and nan coordination and actions progressive successful provisioning services for circumstantial SLAs.

Finally, CSPs tin reside much analyzable scenarios that require greater automation, specified arsenic building closed-loop operations to optimize connectivity and optical links against their desired scope requirements and cross-domain (IP/optical) operations, aliases to heighten troubleshooting and root-cause detection. These closed-loop-based workflows tin past beryllium extended to AI-enabled predictive automation to support usage cases specified arsenic request forecasting aliases soft nonaccomplishment detection, aliases what-if study focused connected web resiliency.

Automation Tools

For web automation, developers request nan correct devices earlier they statesman creating usage cases that impact programmatic relationship pinch nan carrier domain via web elements, web controllers aliases guidance systems. These devices whitethorn include:

• Workflow management devices specified arsenic OpenStack Mistral for turning manual tasks into automated workflows. These devices thief power task execution based connected manual, scheduled aliases event-based triggers. They besides show tasks, way nan advancement of moving workflows and log errors.
• A Swagger aliases Visual Studio Code editor that enables developers to codification and entree extensions specified arsenic unafraid ammunition (SSH) to support distant connections, entree distant servers that big product-specific unfastened APIs aliases create their ain sets of API functions. Swagger developer portals are besides disposable for testing and validating nan usage of vendor-specific APIs. Figure 4 shows an illustration bid of ‘GET’ API calls to nan Linux Foundation T-API library.

• A Python tool that lets developers usage modern programming languages to create scripts aliases codification for workflow tasks.
• GitHub, a web-based nationalist aliases backstage repository that tin shop improvement code. The GitHub level enables easy sharing, editing and revision power of code, which allows teams to continuously update and correct API code.
• An optical integer twin, a virtual, real-time replica of an existing optical connection network, including terminal devices, optical statement strategy elements and optical fibre nonaccomplishment characteristics. CSPs tin usage a integer copy to safely research provisioning, commissioning, protection, restoration and optimization scenarios and execute what-if study based connected existent web conditions to place operational risk. More importantly, they tin trial and validate APIs without disrupting existing operations connected nan deployed network. Optical carrier web integer twins are not yet afloat disaggregated, truthful they can’t support different vendor web elements successful nan aforesaid system. However, they are cloud-hosted connected virtual machines, which allows developers to build workflow logic to support connection betwixt web controllers to alteration multinetwork management.

When CSPs aliases developers usage these devices to create their automation workflows, they must guarantee that nan devices supply nan capabilities required to standard those workflows, from elemental usage cases to much analyzable ones.

Guidance connected Building Automation Workflows

The elasticity offered by nan automation devices and unfastened modular APIs enables CSPs to usage automation for usage cases specified as:

• Adding caller capacity quickly, successful minutes alternatively than weeks aliases months.
• Localizing failures and diagnosing and troubleshooting communal issues to trim mean clip to repair.
• Optimizing capacity connected circumstantial links successful nan web based connected policy-driven rules.
• Compiling customized reports connected web inventory assets depletion to support amended decision-making connected web plans.

A applicable measurement for developers and CSPs to statesman this automation travel is to build workflows that specify a database of sequential tasks and conditional branches required for a targeted usage case, and past usage workflow devices to show their executional flow. Alternatively, vendors connection consulting services that supply codification snippets to thief improvement teams get started pinch automation, allowing them to ramp up quickly.

Figure 5 shows a conceptual web inventory reporting workflow that could beryllium portion of a larger workflow.

AI-Powered Network Automation

The usage of AI expands web automation imaginable moreover further, driving smarter, much adaptive web operations.

Generative AI-powered conversational assistants are emerging arsenic valuable and easy adaptable devices for operations teams. They tin respond to earthy connection queries, guideline troubleshooting, hunt done applicable archiving and propose configuration changes, making analyzable tasks much accessible and shortening solution times.

With AI-powered automation, developers tin troubleshoot web issues, verify actions taken straight successful nan web and quickly measure nan operational state. This improves nan personification acquisition and accelerates time-to-delivery.

Shifting to Autonomous Network Automation

TMForum is simply a standards confederation that brings together web instrumentality vendors, CSPs and hyperscalers. It provides blueprints and methodologies that alteration CSPs to usage standardized unfastened APIs to build modular, AI-enabled solutions. As CSPs activity to make their networks much autonomous, TMForum supports them pinch architectures that alteration self-healing and self-optimization, eliminating nan request for quality intervention.

These standards are prompting web instrumentality vendors to heighten their platforms pinch closed-loop automation that encompasses reactive triggers and predictive triggers powered by AI/ML. Closed-loop operations are a prerequisite for afloat autonomous networks. The evolving architecture introduces agentic frameworks wrong web guidance platforms, which watercourse KPI information via gNMI aliases Kafka interfaces, incorporated inclination study and intelligence, and proactively protect services earlier SLAs are impacted.

This caller model enables developers to usage integrated closed-loop capabilities from nan web domain automation furniture to create intent-driven workflow usage cases. This intends they tin attraction connected designing aliases customizing workflows that automate existing processes and link straight to northbound operations and business support systems (OSS/BSS).

It’s Time To Automate!

AI is transforming networks and reshaping nan telecom web domain layer, making it easier for developers to trim operational complexity and amended efficiency. To capitalize connected AI, galore developers are turning to automation devices and unfastened APIs, which are now much mature and accessible to all.

The awesome news is location are tons of devices that make AI easy to activity with. And pinch integer twins, developers tin simulate business-specific usage cases, validate them and spot their effect earlier deploying them successful unrecorded networks. These results will beryllium caller usage cases that present savings and amended existing operational processes.

By starting incrementally, utilizing standards-based interfaces and internalized closed-loop operations, CSPs and developers tin standard automation complete clip without disrupting existing operations. This attack enables them to activity much collaboratively and efficiently, to respond to nan operational needs much effectively, and to quickly embark connected caller imaginable monetization opportunities straight from nan network, each of which fortify their competitory advantage.

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