Coriant takes SDN steps with Intelligent Optical Control

Coriant, the former optical transport business of Nokia Siemens Networks that Marlin Equity Partners purchased earlier this year (see “Coriant unleashed as Marlin Equity Partners closes acquisition”), has begun the journey toward its goal of being a force for software-defined network (SDN) principles in carrier networks. The company has introduced Intelligent Optical Control, a concept that leverages existing Coriant software systems to create an OpenFlow-enabled platform called SDN Plus.

The “Plus” aspect of SDN Plus is the extension of the current capabilities of SDN, which Coriant CTO Uwe Fischer says are limited to the packet networking environments found in data centers, to the optical layer. The result is the ability to virtualize optical network resources to rapidly provision and manage optical transport resources using an OpenFlow-friendly approach.

Carriers can save up to 50% in capex and deploy services 90% more quickly using Intelligent Optical Control, the company asserts in a press release.

SDN Plus combines the capabilities of Coriant’s existing TNMS network management system, TransNet optical planning tool, and TransConnect provisioning system. It therefore provides access to the management, provisioning, and path computation domains. It also leverages the capabilities of the GMPLS control plane for restoration functions, Fischer adds.

The SDN Plus platform comes with a suite of pre-configured applications, but will accommodate user-created applications as well, Fischer says. It can interoperate with standard SDN controllers. It also will accommodate equipment from other vendors who have partnership relationships with Coriant that make their equipment compatible with Coriant’s network management system, such as Juniper Networks. That roster does not yet include the equipment from Coriant America, the former Sycamore Network Solutions (see “Marlin brings Sycamore Network Solutions under Coriant”).

Fischer says Coriant is shipping the Intelligent Optical Control offering now. In fact, a Tier 1 customer Fischer declined to identify is integrating it into its network, he says.

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