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New Optical Transport Network Strategies That Cut Costs

Operators can deliver higher-capacity services more quickly and simplify their network infrastructures while controlling CAPEX/OPEX costs

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Long Haul Network

Typically the network comprises three major segments: metro, regional and core or long-haul

Subscribers insatiable appetite for broadband services is prompting operators around the world to invest heavily in the network changes necessary to satisfy that demand. They are transitioning their services from SONET/SDH technology to Ethernet technology. To deliver multi-service offerings, wireless backhaul and business services, operators are deploying optical transport networks, which use Ethernet interfaces to transport IP traffic. They also are increasing capacity in their access networks to provide faster throughput rates, not only to deliver high-speed Internet connectivity but also to support newer, bandwidth-intensive technologies. These include high-definition video, 10 Gbps passive optical networks (PONs), high-speed downlink packet access-plus (HSDPA+) and long-term evolution (LTE). As operators strive to satisfy subscriber demand and deliver better quality of experience (QoE), they are looking for networking solutions that can help them control the costs associated with these improvements. In response to that requirement, a new network

design has emerged, one that leverages access growth rates and the latest innovations in transport networking to help operators achieve four critical objectives:
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reach more customers cost-effectively, offer more higher-capacity services, simplify their infrastructures and strengthen their profit margins.

Cost Trade-Offs in Todays Transport Networks

In the past, operators have delivered most services at 2 Mbps (E1) access speeds. They have established several steps within their metro networks to groom and aggregate multiple E1 circuits into a transport wavelength. Operators typically have deployed STM-16 (2.4 Gbps) or STM-64 (10 Gbps) add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) to handle that traffic.

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Aggregation routers close to the network edge can save costs

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2 NEW OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK STRATEGIES THAT CUT COSTS

As operators have increased access speeds, they have been forced to deploy overlay transport networks to support these faster throughput rates. As a result, operators have experienced a linear increase in their transport network costs. In an effort to control costs associated with the optical transport segment, many operators have deployed aggregation routers closer to the network edge. This strategy is designed to have the aggregation routers handle some of the traffic locally, thereby eliminating the need to transport all the traffic back to the core gateways or central point-of-presence (POP) sites.

Is Router Distribution Still a Cost-Effective Strategy?

Recently, however, certain networking developments are causing operators to question whether this distributed-router strategy remains a cost-effective solution. For example, because operators today offer most services at 1 Gbps, they need only 10 services to cost-justify deploying a wavelength at the service edge. In addition, various technologies have improved optical transport networks to the point that wavelengths can travel 2,000 kilometers or more before they require costly optical-electrical-optical (OEO) signal regeneration. These technologies include reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs), forward error correction (FEC) and coherent detection technology for higher-speed optics. In the wake of these advances, operators are trying to determine if the distributed-router strategy still can reduce transport costs enough to justify the amount they spend on routers and caching devices.

Optical technology offers a lower cost-per-bit transport solution

The combination of all these factors means that operators no longer need to distribute their aggregation routers in the metro network; they can re-locate them at central gateway sites. In addition, direct interconnection of these routers and caching devices means they can share capacity which, in turn, enables the operator to use these resources more efficiently. Finally, with far fewer locations to maintain, troubleshoot and upgrade, operators can achieve tremendous OPEX savings. This new approach to metro networking not only helps operators reduce OPEX and CAPEX costs, but also enables them to deliver higher-bandwidth services and cloud-based services more effectively.

Transport Network Evolution Affects Transport Economics

With service speeds approaching multi-gigabit rates at the network edge, a single office today can require 10 Gbps capacity. When the demand for capacity approaches that amount, the operator can justify generating a wavelength. Further, because many transport network devices feature integrated Layer 2 aggregation capabilities, this equipment obviously can handle some aggregation chores. In addition, some offices and/or sites can share 10 Gbps of capacity quite easily. Thirdly, the fact that wavelengths now can travel 2,000-plus kilometers with no need for costly signal regeneration obviously means they no longer have to stop at intermediate sites. Indeed, distance has ceased to be a factor when it comes to determining the optimal architecture for metro networks today. Operators can establish service at the edge and transport it directly to the central destination and core gateway sites; services merely passing through nodes incur almost no cost. Finally, relative to other transport technologies, optical technology offers the lowest cost-per-bit-transported, the lowest latency and the lowest power consumption, making it even more attractive to operators.

More Cost Savings, Greater Flexibility

New network design concepts, made possible by evolving technology, are creating transport networks with dynamic optical networking capabilities and higher bit-rate transport. For example, directionless and colorless optical architectures now enhance the ability of ROADMs to reduce CAPEX/OPEX and maximize the efficient use of network resources. As the terms imply, directionless add/drop wavelengths at a node can go in any direction, and colorless add/drop ports are not wavelength specificoperators can connect any transponder to any physical port and tune any transponder to any wavelength. Operators can manage large numbers of wavelengths more easily than before, and given that a single wavelength can support throughput rates of 40 Gbps to 100 Gbps, the network can transport enough capacity to ensure its own literally unlimited growth. These dynamic optical architectures make the transport network far more flexible, efficient and reliable than before, thereby enabling operators to reduce transport costs and offer new services quickly, easily and cost-effectively.

See tellabs.com for more information about Tellabs Solutions

3 NEW OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK STRATEGIES THAT CUT COSTS

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Long Haul Network

1000km Lower cost per bit transport Decrease rack space Lower power consumption Simplify network infrastructure Make a more efcient use of resources

Reduce CAPEX and OPEX

Costs can be reduced while offering new revenue-generating services

Optical networkings restoration capabilities strengthen network reliability. For example, operators can create services to be always on and to survive multiple fiber failures. As a result, operators can ensure service availability which exceeds 99.9999 percent uptime.

Optical networkings meshed topologies increase flexibility even more, in terms of both actual deployment of the network and support of restoration capabilities.

Optical networking meshed topologies increase flexibility and restoration capabilities

See tellabs.com for more information about Tellabs Solutions

4 NEW OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK STRATEGIES THAT CUT COSTS

A Transport Network Designed to Deliver Long-Term Success

To sum up, the new network design is based on the following concepts:
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Dynamic optical networking centralizes critical resources and thereby reduces total costs. Integrated Layer 2 hub grooming with statistical-gain multiplexing will help to preserve ports on routers and enable vastly improved efficiency and utilization of router ports. Express optical transport from the edge to the core reduces router transit trafficand associated costs and latency. Smaller cores allow operators to deploy a transparent mesh transport network between core nodes. Operators can integrate Layer 2 edge grooming in the transport network.

Next Step: Visit www.tellabs.com/solutions/packetoptical for more information on how Tellabs Packet Optical solutions are helping operators advance their transport networks. If you have a question about Tellabs solutions, please email ask@tellabs.com.

Advanced technologies that enable a simpler, more streamlined approach to network design basically enable operators to build transport networks that are faster, more flexible and more reliable than before. Equally important, this new network design decouples high-bit-rate services from revenue. As a result, operators can grow their customer base cost-effectively, offer higher-capacity services more quickly and simplify their network infrastructuresall the while controlling their CAPEX/OPEX and increasing their profit margins.

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