International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON) 2018

 Metro-Haul have the following INVITED TALKs;

By L. Velasco, M. Ruiz from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [GOWN I (Mo.B2.3), 10:40-12:40 Monday, July 2];

• Title: Flexible Fog Computing and Telecom Architecture for 5G Networks
• Abstract: We review a novel, secure, highly distributed and ultra-dense fog computing infrastructure, which can be allocated at the extreme edge of a wired/wireless network for a Telecom Operator to provide multiple unified, cost-effective and new 5G services, such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), and services for third parties (e.g., smart cities, vertical industries or Internet of Things (IoT)). The distributed and programmable fog technologies are expected to strengthen the position of the Mobile Network and cloud markets; key benefits are the dynamic deployment of new distributed low-latency services. The architecture consists of three main building blocks: a) a scalable node, that is seamlessly integrated in the Telecom infrastructure; b) a controller, focused on service assurance, that is integrated in the management and orchestration architecture of the Telecom operator; and c) services running on top of the Telecom infrastructure.

By A. Eira, N. Costa, and J. Pedro from A. Eira, N. Costa, and J. Pedro from Criant Portugal [Flex-ON (Mo.B3.5), Monday, July 2, 11:00-12:55];

• Title: On the capacity and scalability of metro transport architectures for ubiquitous service delivery
• Abstract: The underlying architectures of 5G services impose a wide array of requirements on the transport networks of the future. On one hand, edge functions are progressively being offloaded onto data-centers in the cloud, while on the other the data-centers themselves are increasingly more distributed in re-purposed central offices. As a result, transport networks in the metro space face traffic requirements increasing in scale and dynamism. As traffic engineering becomes intertwined with storage and compute resource dimensioning, it is important to put into question which type of metro architectures are able to cost-efficiently address these requirements. This paper presents a comparative analysis of reconfigurable/fixed optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM/FOADM) and filterless architectures in metro ring scenarios, evaluating how the raw capacity requirements, coupled with the more complex traffic patterns induced by virtual network function placement towards the network edge, respond in terms of scalability and flexibility.

By Danish Rafique, from Adva Optical Networking [ICTON I (Mo.B1.4), Monday, July 2, 11:00-12:40];

• Title: Interplay of Pulse Shaping and Pre-Emphasis for High Symbol Rate Coherent Transmission Systems
• Abstract: Digital pre-emphasis (DPE) in optical communications has been proposed to counteract transceiver bandwidth limitations, enabling higher symbol rate transmission with low bandwidth optoelectronic components. However, system design trade-offs for diverse regimes of weak and strong pre-emphasis largely remain unexplored. In this paper, we model 32Gbaud commercial transceivers’ component behavior to enable DPE-aided 64Gbaud operation, as opposed to high bandwidth components’ utilization.

By R. Casellas, R. Martínez, R. Vilalta, and R. Muñoz from Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) [NetOrch (Mo.C3.5) Monday, July 2, 14:25-16:15];

• Title: Metro-Haul: SDN Control and Orchestration of Disaggregated Optical Networks with Model-Driven Development
• Abstract: SDN solutions for optical transport networks are often associated to single-vendor optical domains, managed as single entities, in a deployment model that is commonly referred to as fully aggregated. Such controllers do export and expose interfaces for the limited control of abstracted resources and operations via north-bound interface (NBI) to operations/business support systems (OSS/BSS), but such APIs are often vendor specific and internal control aspects related to provisioning, monitoring and resource management remain proprietary and not disclosed.
  Disaggregation of optical networks refers to a deployment model of optical systems, by composing and assembling open, available components, devices and sub-systems. This disaggregation is driven by multiple factor (the mismatch between the needs of operators and the ability to deliver adapted solutions by vendors or the increase in hardware commoditization) and disaggregated networks are an excellent use case for open and standard interfaces, showing the benefits of a unified, model-driven development.
  In this paper, we address the SDN control of a disaggregated optical networks and its role in a wider Control Management and Orchestration (COM) architecture to offer ETSI NFV Network Services in a metropolitan infrastructure, characterized by multiple geographical locations and NFVI. We highlight the main use cases and the implemented extensions to the ONOS Platform for the aforementioned purpose. We detail the design of the controller (core systems and applications); the approach taken for model driven-development, including the YANG modelling language for the different optical devices and the NETCONF protocol to remotely configure the devices and, finally, the experimental validation of the approach and implementation with selected scenarios.

By Daniel King, from Old Dog Consulting [GOWN II (Mo.C2.3), Monday, July 2, 14:30-16:25];

• Title: A comparative analysis of community developed resource models for the optical transport network: A series of findings from the field
• Abstract: The TOUCAN and Metro-Haul projects are deploying smart optical metro infrastructure able to support traffic originating from heterogeneous radio access networks, addressing the anticipated capacity increase and its specific characteristics, e.g., mobility, low latency, low jitter etc. This infrastructure requires suitable optical transport models to support a wide variety of services and use cases with special emphasis on services from various industries vertical to the ICT. The comparative analysis discusses the suitability of various community developed resource models and their subsequent strengths and weaknesses when evaluated for the TOUCAN and Metro-Haul projects.

By A. P. Vela, M. Ruiz, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO I (Mo.D3.2), 16:25-18:05 Monday, July 2];

• Title: Examples of Machine Learning Algorithms for Optical Network Control and Management
• Abstract: Machine learning (ML) offers a great variety of algorithms that can be used in the context of optical networks. In particular, ML algorithms might be applied for classification and to detect patterns, among others. Both, can help to facilitate improving its performance, as well as to understand the behavior of optical networks. In this paper, we review two of these ML algorithms, one for classification and the other for clustering. Illustrative examples of the application of such supervised and unsupervised ML algorithms applied to optical networks are presented.

By Danish Rafique from Adva Optical Networking [BigNeO II (Tu.A3.5), Tuesday, July 3, 8:30-10:10];

• Title: Machine Learning based Optimal Modulation Format Prediction for Physical Layer Network Planning
• Abstract: Machine learning allows for data-driven model development and consequent transmission quality prediction. While network planning is an extensive topic, in this paper, we focus on neural network based modulation format classification.

By S. Troia, R. Alvizu, Y. Zhou, G. Maier, and A. Pattavina from Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) [BigNeO II (Tu.A3.3), Tuesday, July 3, 8:30-10:10];

• Title: Deep learning-based traffic prediction for network optimization
• Abstract: In recent years, researchers realized that the analysis of traffic datasets can reveal valuable information for the management of mobile and metro-core networks. That is getting more and more true with the increase in the use of social media and Internet applications on mobile devices. In this work, we focus on deep learning methods to make prediction of traffic matrices that allow us to proactively optimize the resource allocations of optical backbone networks. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) are designed for sequence prediction problems and they achieved great results in the past years in tasks like speech recognition, handwriting recognition and prediction of time series data. We investigated a particular type of RNN, the Gated Recurrent Units (GRU), able to achieve great accuracy (<7.4 of mean absolute error). Then, we used the predictions to dynamically and proactively allocate the resources of an optical network. Comparing numerical results of static vs dynamic allocation based on predictions, we can estimate a saving of 66.3% of the available capacity in the network, managing unexpected traffic peaks.Keywords: Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Internet Traffic Prediction, Network Optimization.

By R. Casellas, R. Martínez, L. Velasco, R. Vilalta, P. Pavón, D. King, and R. Muñoz, from Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), versitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), Old Dog Consulting (ODC) [BigNeO II (Tu.A3.2), Tuesday, July 3, 8:30-10:10];

• Title: Enabling Data Analytics and Machine Learning for 5G Services within Disaggregated Multi-Layer Transport Networks
• Abstract: Recent advances, related to the concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and with applications across multiple technology domains, have gathered significant attention due, in particular, to the overall performance improvement of such automated systems when compared to methods relying on human operation. Consequently, using AI/ML for managing, operating and optimizing transport networks is increasingly seen as a potential opportunity targeting, notably, large and complex environments.Such AI-assisted automated network operation is expected to facilitate innovation in multiple aspects related to the control and management of future optical networks and is a promising milestone in the evolution towards autonomous networks, where networks self-adjust parameters such as transceiver configuration.To accomplish this goal, current network control, management and orchestration systems need to enable the application of AI/ML techniques. It is arguable that Software-Defined Networking (SDN) principles, favouring centralized control deployments, featured application programming interfaces and the development of a related application ecosystem are well positioned to facilitate the progressive introduction of such techniques, starting, notably, in allowing efficient and massive monitoring and data collection.In this paper, we present the control, orchestration and management architecture designed to allow the automatic deployment of 5G services (such as ETSI NFV network services) across metropolitan networks, conceived to interface 5G access networks with elastic core optical networks at multi Tb/s. This network segment, referred to as Metro-haul, is composed of infrastructure nodes that encompass networking, storage and processing resources, which are in turn interconnected by open and disaggregated optical networks. In particular, we detail subsystems like the Monitoring and Data Analytics or the in-operation planning backend that extend current SDN based network control to account for new use cases.

By Rui Manuel Morais and João Pedro from Coriant Portugal [BigNeO II  (Tu.A3.4), Tuesday, July 3, 8:30-10:10)];

• Title: Evaluating Machine Learning Models for QoT Estimation
• Abstract: This work evaluates the effectiveness of various machine learning (ML) models when used to predict the Quality of Transmission (QoT) of an unestablished lightpath, speeding up the process of lightpath provisioning. Three network scenarios to efficiently generate the knowledge database used to train the models are proposed as well as an overview of the most used ML models. The considered models are: K nearest neighbors (KNN), logistic regression, support vector machines (SVM), and artificial neural networks (ANN). Results show that, in general, all ML models are able to correctly predict the QoT of more than 95% of the lightpaths. However, ANN is the model presenting better generalization, correctly predicting the QoT of up to 99.9% of of the lightpaths.

By O. Ayoub, S. Shehata, F. Musumeci, and M. Tornatore from  Politecnico di Milano (Polimi) [Access I (Th.A1.2), Thursday, July 5, 8:30-9:50];

• Title: Filterless and semi-filterless solutions in a Metro-HAUL network architecture
• Abstract: Filterless optical networks based on broadcast-and-select nodes have been proven to be a cost-effective alternative to active photonic network solutions in core networks. However, due to the emergence of novel metro-based high-bandwidth cloud-based services (e.g., Virtual Reality, 4K Video-on-Demand, etc.), filterless solutions have started to attract research attention also in the metro area. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of fully-filterless and semi-filterless (i.e., hybrid solutions between fully-filterless and active photonic architectures) optical-network architectures in terms of cost of network elements and spectrum utilization, in a metro-network scenario. Our evaluations show that, due to the ring-based hierarchical nature of metro networks, fully-filterless architectures tend to require excessive spectrum utilization as the broadcast effect spreads among all hierarchical rings. On the contrary, semi-filterless network architectures seem more promising due to the presence of filters that fend off the propagation of unfiltered channels. The results also show that it is more advantageous to deploy filters at nodes of the lower network levels than at nodes of higher network levels.

By L. Gifre, M. Ruiz, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO III (Tu.B3.1), Tuesday, July 3, 10:40-12:00];

• Title: CASTOR: A Monitoring and Data Analytics Architecture to Support Autonomic Domain and Slice Networking
• Abstract: Network slices combine resource virtualization with the isolation level required by future 5G applications. In addition, the use of Monitoring and Data Analytics (MDA) helps to maintain the required network performance, while reducing total cost of ownership. In this paper, we present CASTOR, an architecture to enable autonomic domain and slice networking. MDA agents use data analytics to make local decisions close to network devices, whereas MDA controllers collate and export metered data transparently to customer controllers, all of them leveraging customizable and isolated data analytics processes. Discovered knowledge can be applied for both proactive and reactive network slice reconfiguration, triggered either by service providers or customers, thanks to the interaction with state-of-the-art software-defined networking controllers and planning tools.

By J. K. Fischer, M. Cantono, V. Curri, R.-P. Braun, N. Costa, J. Pedro, E. Pincemin, P. Doaré, C Le Boüetté, and A. Napoli from Fraunhofer HHI [BigNeO III (Tu.B3.3), Tuesday, July 3, 10:40-12:00];

• Title: Maximizing the capacity of installed optical fiber infrastructure via wideband transmission
• Abstract: Optical wideband communication systems aim at transmitting over several, if not all, of the low-loss windows of single-mode fibre, i.e. the O-, E-, S-, C-, and L-band. Recently,there has been a clear trend in the industry to support additional bands beyond C-band.While C+L-band solutions are close to commercialization and first products are emerging, theresearch focus is shifting to supporting also the S-band and, finally, the whole O- to L-band(resulting in a total transmission bandwidth of 365 nm). This contribution highlights theperspectives of wideband communication systems for optical networks, providing a realisticroadmap for their deployment. Particular emphasis is paid on a first analysis to estimate themaximum transmittable capacity over these systems.

M. Svaluto Moreolo, J. M. Fàbrega, L. Nadal, and L. Martín from Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) [ICTON V (Tu.B1.4), Tuesday, July 3, 10:40-12:35];

• Title: Optical Technology Options for Programmable S-BVT
• Abstract: Optical technology options for programmable sliceable bandwidth/bitrate variable transceivers (S-BVT) arepresented, reviewing our proposals based on adaptive multicarrier modulation. Special attention will be devotedto data plane solutions with high degree of (re)configurability and flexibility for the optical metro networksegment. We propose transceiver architectures based on modular design in order to target grow-as-neededapproach and optical domain disaggregation, identifying data plane elements that can be considered as separatemanagement and functional entities, as well as functionalities that can be moved to software.Our work in this direction is presented, focusing on the S-BVT features and capabilities, taken into account the optical system and its interrelationship with other elements of the network.

By B. Andrus, A. Autenrieth, S. Pachnicke, S. Zou, J.J. V. Olmos, and I. T. Monroy, from Adva Optical Networking [FiWiN5G (Tu.C2.1), Tuesday, July 3, 12:45-14:25];

• Title: Performance evaluation of NETCONF-based low latency cross-connect for 5G C-RAN architectures
• Abstract: The development of 5G wireless technology is in progress looking to cope with the increasing demands for high capacity, low latency, and ubiquitous mobile access. Cloud/Centralized Radio Access Networks (C-RAN) has been proposed as a promising approach to address the 5G benchmarks. C-RAN is a rising mobile network architecture based on the centralization and pooling of baseband processing elements, with the scope of increasing resource utilization efficiency and air-interface performance gains with fast scaling multi-cell coordination. In this paper we focus on proposing and evaluating a flexible low-latency cross-connect (XC) switch that allows a dynamic scheduling of networking resources between baseband units (BBUs) and remote radio heads (RRHs) in C-RAN deployments. On the one hand, we develop a control plane mechanism for manipulating the XC configuration and state data based on a custom YANG model and Network Configuration (NTCONF) protocol. Using a standard open NETCONF interface, automation of heterogeneous C-RAN resource assignment can be facilitated for 5G architectures. Secondly, we evaluate the performance of our XC in relation to the C-RAN stringent requirements and show that the latency and jitter introduced have negligible influence compared to radio interface limits. The impact of switching delay on the performance of a live system has yet to be tested however, a measured average switching time of 252 ms could still disrupt the ongoing connections.Keywords — low latency XC, C-RAN, NETCONF, 5G.

By A. P. Vela, M. Ruiz, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO IV (Tu.C3.2), 13:10-14:45 Tuesday, July 3];

• Title: Anticipating BER Degradation in Optical Networks
• Abstract: Optical connections support virtual links in MPLS-over-optical multilayer networks and therefore, errors in the optical layer impact on the quality of the services deployed on such networks. Monitoring the performance of the physical layer allows verifying the proper operation of optical connections, as well as detecting bit error rate (BER) degradations. Anticipating BER degradation facilitates self-decision making to keep committed service level. In this paper, we analyze several failure causes affecting the quality of optical connections and propose the BANDO algorithm focused on detecting significant BER changes in optical connections. BANDO runs inside the network nodes to accelerate degradation detection and sends a notification to the centralized controller. Results show significant improvement anticipating maximum BER violation.

By A.P. Vela, B. Shariati, M. Ruiz, J. Comellas, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO IV (Tu.C3.4), 13:10-14:45 Tuesday, July 3]

• Title: Soft Failure Localization in Elastic Optical Networks
• Abstract: Soft failure localization to early detect service level agreement violations is of paramount importance in elastic optical networks (EONs), while it allows anticipating possible hard failure events. Nowadays, effective and automated solutions for soft failure localization during lightpaths’ commissioning testing and operation are still missing. In this paper, we focus on presenting soft failure localization algorithms based on two different active monitoring techniques. First, the Testing optIcal Switching at connection SetUp timE (TISSUE) algorithm is proposed to localize soft failures during commissioning testing phase by elaborating the estimated bit-error rate (BER) values provided by low-cost optical testing channel (OTC) modules. Second, the FailurE causE Localization for optIcal NetworkinG (FEELING) algorithm is proposed to localize failures during lightpath operation using cost-effective optical spectrum analyzers (OSAs) widely deployed in network nodes. Results are presented to validate both algorithms in the event of several soft failures affecting lasers and filters.

By F. Morales, M. Ruiz, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO V (Tu.D3.3), 15:05-17:05 Tuesday, July 3];

• Title: Metro-Flow Traffic Modelling for Cognitive Adaptation of Core Virtual Network Topologies
• Abstract: A successful use case of cognitive networking consists in the reconfiguration of core virtual network topologies (VNTs) based on traffic predictive models obtained by applying data analytics to monitored traffic data. This use case entails long times (several days) to collect enough traffic monitoring samples data at core nodes to allow traffic modelling algorithms (usually at the core controller) to produce accurate models. Notwithstanding, that requirement could not be achieved in the case that metro controllers re-route metro-flows for metro-scope re-optimization purposes. In that case, some metro-flows suddenly change its node entering the core VNT, which drastically impacts on core traffic behaviour. In this paper, we present core-flow traffic models based on the aggregation of metro-flow traffic models. We consider that metro controllers generate traffic models based on monitoring the traffic of the metro-flows and those models are available in a shared repository for the core controller to access them. Moreover, the announcement of metro-flows re-routing from metro controllers to the core controller is assumed to allow fast core-flows models adaptation. Such aggregated models are then used to generate inputs for cognitive core VNT re-optimization purposes.

By F. Morales, P. Festa, M. Ruiz, L. Velasco from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [BigNeO V (Tu.D3.4), 15:05-17:05 Tuesday, July 3];

• Title: Performance Evaluation of the VNT Reconfiguration Algorithm Based on Traffic Prediction
• Abstract: In a previous work, the Virtual Network Topology Reconfiguration problem based on Traffic Prediction (VENTURE) was proposed as a means of efficiently adapting core virtual network topology (VNT) to the near-future traffic. Although the benefits obtained by the VENTURE algorithm compared to using a purely reactive VNT reconfiguration approach seems to be clear, margin for improvement still remain and alternative solving methods for the VENTURE problem need to be considered. In this paper, the original VENTURE algorithm is compared against two state-of-the-art metaheuristics for combinatorial network optimization. The two metaheuristics are first presented and then adapted for the VENTURE problem. Finally, the performance of the VENTURE algorithm and the two proposed metaheuristics is numerically evaluated using an exact solving method as reference.

By Adrian Farrel, from Old Dog Consulting (ODC) [5GT I (We.A2.3), Wednesday, July 4, 8:30-10:10];

• Title: Recent Developments in Service Function Chaining (SFC) and Network Slicing in Backhaul and Metro Networks in Support of 5G
• Abstract: In this invited paper we examine the role of Service Function Chaining (SFC) and Network Slicing in providing support for emerging 5G services as data is carried across backhaul and metro networks.
  The way in which backhaul and metro networks are managed and operated affects the ability of those networks to support a wide range of services that will be enabled by 5G connectivity. Those services will place exacting demands on the bandwidth, delay bounds, and jitter delivered to users, but may vary significantly over relatively short time periods. SFC and Network Slicing offer opportunities for software-driven coordination of network resources to marshal them so as to best deliver the network behaviour that will support the demands of the services.
  We present the latest proposals towards standardisation of SFC and Network Slicing in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and discuss how these concepts are applied in optical networks through the Metro-Haul project.

By J. Comellas, L. Vicario, G. Junyent from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) [WAOR I (We.B3.2), 10:40-12:20 Wednesday, July 4];

• Title: Periodic Defragmentation in Elastic Optical Networks
• Abstract: The main weakness of Elastic Optical Networks (EON) stems from spectrum fragmentation. An analysis of periodic defragmentation in EONs under dynamic traffic conditions is carried out. The effects of different defragmentation parameters on the EON performance are evaluated, and appropriate values, guaranteeing suitable network performance while keeping the network control complexity at a reasonable point, are obtained through simulations. Different network topologies as well as traffic conditions are simulated to assess the validity of the obtained results.

By R. Alvizu, V. Soto, S. Troia, and G. Maier from Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) [WAOR II (We.C3.4), Wednesday, July 4, 13:30-15:05];

• Title: Enabling multipath optical routing with hybrid differential delay compensation
• Abstract: Historically, Internet traffic has been routed over the shortest path: that was convenient for best-effort data traffic, but it is not always suitable for today’s scenario where applications can require bandwidth higher than what is available in a single link, even when provided by an optical wavelength-channel. Multi-path (MP) routing is a network functionality that provides more capacity, reduces the probability of link congestion and increases the availability of the transport service.This paper elaborates on techniques to mitigate the differential delay in all optical networks, recognized as the main problem of multi-path (MP) routing. This work shows how hybrid differential delay compensation (H-DDC) can greatly reduce the use of expensive reconstruction buffers in all optical networks implementing MP optical routing. A novel mixed integer linear programming formulation is proposed for the novel wavelength + H-DDC assignment problem: distributed fiber delay lines (FDL)s combined with electronic reconstruction buffers collocated at optical regeneration points. Numerical results based on commercially available (and rack mountable) FDLs demonstrate the effectiveness of H-DDC in medium size transport networks.

By Young Lee, R. Vilalta, R. Casellas, R. Martínez, and R. Muñoz from Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) [DCN II (We.C4.2),Wednesday, July 4, 13:50-15:40];

• Title: Auto-Scaling Mechanism in the ICT converged Cross Stratum Orchestration Architecture for Zero-Touch Service and Network Management
• Abstract: This paper is aimed to provide a novel approach for an auto-scaling mechanism that are applied in the ICT converged cross stratum orchestration (CSO) architecture. CSO refers to an end-to-end orchestration across Application orchestration, Data Center SDN orchestration, and WAN SDN orchestration so that applications can be created seamlessly and optimally for operators and their customers. The auto-scaling mechanism presented in this paper is built on active monitoring of both DC compute/storage/network resources and DCI Transport network resources and then provides dynamically configurable auto-scaling and resource re-allocation. This mechanism will help tremendously the operators to control and manage their networks in an automated fashion.

By M. Garrich, A. Bravalheri, from Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), University of Bristol [WAOR III (We.D3.4), 15:30-17:10 Wednesday, July 4];

• Title: Overview of South-Bound interfaces for software-defined optical networks
• Abstract: In SDN-enabled networks, the control plane and data plane interaction relies on open SouthBound Interfaces (SBIs) so that the SDN controller exercises direct control over the data plane elements. In this paper, we review current initiatives of SBI to control optical components which include ad-hoc extensions of OpenFlow and YANG modelling proposals combined with the NETCONF / RESTCONF protocols. Then we overview different tools and frameworks available for quick prototyping and deployment of software services that are compliant with such interfaces. Finally, we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the reviewed initiatives considered key enablers for standardized end-to-end network programmability.

By R. Martínez, R. Casellas, J. M. Fàbrega, R. Vilalta, R. Muñoz, F. J. Vilchez, L. Nadal, M. Svaluto Moreolo, A. Villafranca, and P. Sevillano, from Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) [RONEXT I (We.D2.4), Wednesday, July 4, 16:30-18:10]

• Title: Integrated OAM and Transport SDN Architecture for Automatic and Dynamic Restoration of Signal-Degraded Connections within Flexi-Grid Optical Networks
• Abstract: The programmability of upcoming transport optical networks is handled by a centralized Transport SDN (T-SDN) controller. The T-SDN controller dynamically computes and selects the resources to automatically accommodate optical connection requests by configuring the involved network elements and devices (i.e., optical switches and transceivers). Additionally, the T-SDN controller should provide management functions to ensure high reliability and correct service status in terms of QoS, QoT, failure detection, etc. during the whole connection duration. These management functions are typically addressed by the operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) Handler. Thereby, the OAM Handler interacts with the monitoring system to gather notifications about connection failures or degradations and trigger the required actions to preserve / recover the services. This work first overviews the designed and implemented architecture integrating required OAM functions into a deployed T-SDN controller for flexi-grid optical networks. Next, two restoration routing approaches are presented, which are compared with respect to the blocked bandwidth ratio (BBR), restorability and average number of used sub-transceivers. The experimental performance is made varying both the traffic load and the generation of signal degraded events of existing connections, forcing their automatic restoration.

Metro-Haul Presentations;

By Rui Manuel Morais and João Pedro from Coriant Portugal [BigNeO IV (Tu.C3.5), Tuesday, July 3, 13:50-15:25];

• Title: Impact of selected input features for lightpath feasibility validation using artificial neural networks
• Abstract: The new advents of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) will impact the traffic, both in volume and dynamicity, at unprecedented rates. As a result, optical transport networks should become more responsive to the traffic changes as well as to operate more closely to optimality. Therefore, the implementation of a self-driving network is being proposed as a way to achieve these targets. One of the key challenges in this environment is the automatic rovisioning of lightpaths. In order to provision a lightpath, Quality of Transmission (QoT) needs to be estimated, which involves complex and time consuming computations. This work proposes the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) to speed up lightpath feasibility validation without performing full validation per request (slow) nor keeping a full database of feasible lightpaths (memory consuming). Moreover, we evaluate the impact of input features selection and number of neurons in the obtained accuracy.

By M. Shehata, O. Ayoub, F. Musumeci, and M. Tornatore from [5GT II (We.B2.4), Wednesday, July 4, 10:30-12:25];

• Title: Survivable BBU placement for C-RAN over optical aggregation networks
• Abstract: Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is a novel mobile network architecture, designed to effectively support the challenging requirements of future 5G mobile networks. Unlike Distributed RAN (D-RAN), in C-RAN, baseband units (BBUs) are located in a single physical location, called “BBU pool”, connected to several Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) via the so-called “fronthaul” network. Following this centralization, designing a survivable C-RAN becomes crucial as BBU pool failures might cause service outage for large number of users. In this paper, we introduce the survivable BBU pool placement problem for C-RAN deployment over an optical aggregation network and formalize it by Integer Linear Programming (ILP). The ILP objective is to minimize the number of BBU pools, the number of used wavelengths and the computational resources. The results compare the aforementioned objectives and show the effect of the latency and of the transport-network capacity on the optimal solution.

20th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks

The scope of the Conference is focused on the applications of transparent and all-optical technologies in telecommunications, computing and novel applications. Special sessions on superresolution light microscopy techniques and image processing will be included in the conference program.Conference topics include:

The conference will take place at Central Library of University Politehnica Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independentei, 060042, sector 6, Bucharest.