Global networking company Ciena has launched what it says is the next-generaton optical and software technologies that empower network operators to tune, control and dynamically adjust optical capacity in an on-demand world - where 5G, IoT, content delivery and cloud are rapidly redefining network requirements.
Ciena says its Liquid Spectrum software is the cumulative value of a series of next-generation optical and software technologies and, by combining fully-instrumented flexible optics and innovative software, can monitor and mine all available network assets so operators can instantly respond to new bandwidth demands and allocate capacity across any path in real time.
Supported by Ciena’s Blue Planet software platform, WaveLogic Ai tunable coherent optics, and a reconfigurable photonic layer, Liquid Spectrum helps operators ensure the ideal amount of bandwidth is used at any given time. Open interfaces for high-performance telemetry are applied at both the software and hardware level, giving operators more choice in their architecture implementation.
“There was a time when network operators could easily predict their network traffic demands and capacity needs at any given time, Steve Alexander, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Ciena says.
{loadposition peter}“But we’ve entered a new world with new rules where networks are more complex and mobile and cloud applications can disrupt overnight. With Liquid Spectrum, we are sharing our full vision and blueprint for the way future optical networks should be built to tackle the challenges of the next 10 years and beyond.”
In its initial introduction, Liquid Spectrum will feature advanced software applications including:
- Performance Meter helps operators proactively ensure optimal system performance by providing access, for the first time, to real-time, accurate planning data for both the existing hardware and new planned services.
- Bandwidth Optimiser uses customer-defined service policies and suggests the ideal capacity, hardware configuration and spectral placement for any channel, across any network path.
- Liquid Restoration increases service availability with flexible adjustment of deployed coherent optical capacity as needed to route affected services across any available path in the network.
- Wave-Line Synchronizer accelerates service provisioning, reduces manual provisioning steps and eliminates associated human errors across multi-vendor optical deployments.
Alexander said Ciena’s WaveLogic Ai and Blue Planet MCP – two key elements of Liquid Spectrum – will be available in the second quarter of this year. Liquid Spectrum and its initial software applications are slated for delivery by the end of the year.