Method and apparatus for planning network configuration in an optical network

• US 8,873,956 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2009
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Inventors: Leung, Dion Kwun Kit
• Primary Examiner(s): DOBSON, DANIEL G
• Application Number:
  US12/387,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20100040365A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,010 Days
• Field of Search: 398/97, 398/57, 398/160, 398/173, 398/175
• US Class Current: 398/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0227 Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0283 WDM ring architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0284 WDM mesh architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0062 Network aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0086 Network resource allocation, dimensioning or optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/009 Topology aspects

Abstract

Optical regenerators and amplifiers are expensive to implement and maintain. A method or corresponding apparatus in an example embodiment of the present invention relates to an optical planning tool that plans an optical network configuration by determining a plurality of costs for maintaining signal strength in corresponding network configurations including (i) a configuration of regenerators, (ii) a configuration of pre-or post-amplifiers, and (iii) a configuration of pre- and post-amplifiers in candidate locations and regenerator modules. The candidate locations for placing pre-or post-amplifiers are determined based on loss in each span, expected traffic patterns, and proposed regeneration locations along paths of expected traffic. The regeneration modules are located in locations determined based on the candidate locations. The example embodiment selects a configuration from among the network configurations as a function of the plurality of costs, helping reduce the cost of network deployment.

Claims

1. A method for planning a network configuration in an optical network using an electronic processing device, the method comprising:

in the electronic processing device, determining candidate locations for placing pre- or post-amplifiers along spans of the optical network as a function of loss in each span, expected traffic patterns, and proposed regeneration locations along paths of expected traffic;

in the electronic processing device, determining regeneration locations for placing regenerator modules based on the candidate locations;

in the electronic processing device, determining a plurality of costs for maintaining signal strength in a corresponding plurality of network configurations stored by the electronic processing device, the network configurations including (i) a configuration of regenerators, (ii) a configuration of pre- or post-amplifiers and no regenerators, and (iii) a configuration of pre- and post-amplifiers in the candidate locations and regenerator modules in the regeneration locations determined; and

in the electronic processing device, selecting a configuration from among the plurality of network configurations stored as a function of the plurality of costs determined.

2. The method of claim 1 further including repeatedly determining a set of additional candidate locations for placing additional pre- or post-amplifiers and, for each set, determining respective regeneration locations for placing additional regenerator modules and a corresponding cumulative cost for maintaining signal strength using the additional pre- or post-amplifiers and the additional regenerator modules.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein selecting a configuration includes selecting a configuration as a function of the plurality of costs and the cumulative cost.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein repeatedly determining a set of additional candidate locations includes repeatedly determining a set of additional candidate locations for a predetermined number of iterations or a predetermined length of time.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the candidate locations includes determining a number of regeneration locations along each path in the optical network and ranking the paths based on the number of regeneration locations along each path.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein determining the candidate locations includes ranking spans of each path according to the loss in each span.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein determining the candidate locations includes identifying candidate locations for placing the pre- or post-amplifiers along the paths as being spans along the paths having highest amount of loss.

8. The method of claim 1 further including measuring the loss in each span by measuring Optical Signal to Noise Ratio.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the candidate locations includes specifying a given number of locations to place the pre- or post-amplifiers based on a distribution of proposed regenerators of the configuration of regenerators.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the optical network includes ring, mesh, line, or chain network topologies, or combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting from among the plurality of network configurations includes selecting a smallest of the plurality of costs.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the pre- or post-amplifiers are Raman amplifiers.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein determining candidate locations includes determining that a total gain is greater than or equal to a total loss per each span or succession of spans.

27. The method of claim 8 wherein measuring the loss in each span by measuring Optical Signal to Noise Ratio is done on a wavelength-by-wavelength basis.

29. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the configuration selected to a user via a display device operatively coupled to the electronic device.

30. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining optimal locations for placing pre- and post-amplifiers such that a combined cost of regeneration and amplification is minimized.

13. An apparatus for planning network configuration in an optical network, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon a sequence of instructions which, when loaded and executed by the processor, causes the processor to implement;

a candidate determination module to determine candidate locations for placing pre- or post-amplifiers along spans of the optical network as a function of loss in each span, expected traffic patterns, and proposed regeneration locations along paths of expected traffic;

a regeneration location determination module to determine regeneration locations for placing regenerator modules based on the candidate locations;

a cost determination module to determine a plurality of costs for maintaining signal strength in a corresponding plurality of network configurations stored by the processor, the network configurations including (i) configuration of regenerators, (ii) a configuration of pre- or post-amplifiers and no regenerators, and (iii) a configuration of pre- and post-amplifiers in the candidate locations and regenerator modules in the regeneration locations determined; and

a selection module to select a configuration from among the plurality of network configurations stored as a function of the plurality of costs.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the candidate location determination module is configured to repeatedly determine a set of additional candidate locations for placing additional pre- or post-amplifiers and, for each set, determine respective regeneration locations for placing additional regenerator modules and a corresponding cumulative cost for maintaining signal strength using the additional pre- or post-amplifiers and the additional regenerator modules.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the selection module selects a network configuration as a function of the plurality of costs and the cumulative cost.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the candidate location determination module is configured to repeatedly determine a set of additional candidate locations for a predetermined number of iterations or a predetermined length of time.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the candidate determination module is arranged to determine a number of regeneration locations along each path in the optical network and rank the paths based on a total number of regeneration locations along each path.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the candidate determination module is arranged to determine the candidate locations as a function of ranking spans along the paths according to the loss in each span of.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein candidate determination module is arranged to identify candidate locations for placing the pre- or post-amplifiers along the paths as being spans along the paths having highest amount of loss.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 further including a measurement module to measure the loss in each span by measuring Optical Signal to Noise Ratio.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the candidate determination module is arranged to determine the candidate locations as a function of a specified number of locations for placing the pre- or post-amplifiers based on a distribution of proposed regenerators of the configuration of regenerators.

22. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the optical network includes ring, mesh, line, or chain network topologies, or combinations thereof.

23. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the selection module is arranged to select the configuration having the smallest of the plurality of costs.

24. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the pre- or post-amplifiers are Raman amplifiers.

28. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a display module that displays the selected configuration to a user, wherein a user interface connects the user to the apparatus.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable program codes embodied therein for planning network configuration in an optical network topology, the computer readable medium program codes including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

determine candidate locations for placing pre- or post-amplifiers along spans of the optical network as a function of loss in each span, expected traffic patterns, and proposed regeneration locations along paths of expected traffic;

determine regeneration locations for placing regenerator modules based on the candidate locations;

determine a plurality of costs for maintaining signal strength in a corresponding plurality of network configurations, the network configurations including (i) a configuration of regenerators, (ii) a configuration of pre- or post-amplifiers and no regenerators, and (iii) a configuration of pre- and post-amplifiers in the candidate locations and regenerator modules in the regeneration locations determined; and

select a configuration from among the plurality of network configurations as a function of the plurality of costs.