Network digitization is being driven by change in industry landscape and new demands for services and applications. As a result, cloud-related technologies and applications are of increasing popularity. More than 90% of internet applications and communication processes are expected to utilize cloud services by 2020. All-cloud network evolution is inevitable and will have deep impacts on society at large.

Network cloudification increases bandwidth, latency, and O&M requirements

Following all-cloud network evolution, network architecture will be DC-centric. All network functions and services will run on cloud DCs, and east-west (inter-DC) traffic is expected to increase by more than six-fold over the next five years. Additionally, bandwidth-intensive services such as 4K/8K video and VR/AR services will significantly increase north-south traffic (user to DC traffic).

Latency requirements are expected to become more demanding with the increasing use of interactive entertainment, financial transaction services, and real-time services. Notable services requiring low latency include the internet of vehicles (IoV) and telemedicine. Research shows that latency increases of just tenths of a second can result in millions fewer search queries. Increases of a second or more in network latency will cause the online retail industry billions (USD) in annual operating losses. Guaranteed low-latency connections are essential for successful network cloudification.

Due to the continuous network expansion and emergence of new services, the traditional silo style O&M system faces long service provisioning time and low maintenance efficiency. The network maintenance cost paid by network operators encompasses a large portion of expenditure—often two to three times the equipment cost. Operators require a reduction in network O&M costs.

Restructure transport networks with CloudOptiX to facilitate all-cloud network evolution

Service cloudification drives demand for high north-south and east-west bandwidth and ultra-low latency. Huawei's CloudOptiX solution facilitates the cloudification of transport networks to both fulfill current demands and prepare for future challenges.

Growing video services causes an increase in north-south traffic. To address this, Huawei's OTN-to-CO solution deploys compact OTN at the access layer. This creates a simplified network with large capacity and low convergence ratio—offering improved video, cloud private line, and cloud services. Such flat and one-hop networks meet demands for north-south traffic. Additionally, the OTN-to-CO solution offers transport platforms that support fixed-line, mobile, and private line services in order to reduce operator's investment costs.

Inter-DC traffic has grown to require hundreds of Tb/s east-west switching capacity between super core nodes. Existing devices support only several or tens Tb/s. The improved bandwidth efficiency through the subwavelength-level service access and processing by the large capacity OTN and the wavelength-level large-granularity switching by the OXC allow one-hop connections between DCs at ultra-low power consumption.

To improve network efficiency, Huawei's CloudOptiX solution uses the Network Cloud Engine (NCE) to provide O&M throughout the lifecycle of networks: the open architecture achieves resource pooling and visualized bandwidth management; the self-service bandwidth application and flexible bandwidth policies achieve service agility; and the service assurance applications monitor the key indicators in the service level agreement (SLA) in real time and quickly locate and fix faults to improve network O&M efficiency.

CloudOptiX adopts proven technologies for an uncertain future

As new services continue to emerge, demand for networks with ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and efficient management and control will continue to grow exponentially. Huawei's CloudOptiX solution is designed to build future networks through innovation in the electrical, optical, and management and control domains.

In the electrical domain, Huawei's CloudOptiX solution uses chips and modules with enhanced performance, such as the CFP and CFP2 small-form-factor and long-distance modules. These chips and modules, coupled with increased modulation format algorithm and high-speed communication simulation modeling, improve per-wavelength rate to 400 Gb/s or more without sacrificing transmission distances, pushing the optical link performance to the limit of Shannon's capacity. With the movement of OTN closer to the end users, innovative software algorithms and digital signal processing technology are used to maximize the performance of optical components and minimize per-bit transmission costs.

In the optical domain, the integrated use of OXC, silicon photonics integration, and optical-layer digitization technologies creates a new generation optical layer. The optical waveguide-based wavelength switching of the OXC provides multi-degree, non-blocking, and multi-wavelength all-optical switching with more than 600 Tb/s cross-connect capacity, supporting the sharply increasing requirements for switching capacity of super core nodes. The silicon-based photonic integration technology improves the performance of optical components while reducing their size and power consumption. These components are plug-and-play and helpful in the construction of an agile optical layer. Meanwhile, the usable bands of optical fibers are extended to C-, L-, and S- bands— improving per-fiber capacity to 80 Tb/s or more. Alongside pilot tone modulation, modeling, and simulation at the optical layer, this technology allows the visualization of optical-layer resources while automatically optimizing the performance.

In the management and control domain, in addition to the bandwidth resource pool using scalable and programmable hardware, the platform for managing cloudified network node resources is used to enable centralized management of network-wide pooled resources. Meanwhile, massive datasets containing historical network fault information, board fault rate, and component information are processed through advanced Big Data analytics algorithms and artificial intelligence technologies to predict and prevent future faults. This improves the reliability and self-healing capabilities of networks while automating services.

Huawei will continue the intensive efforts in these domains, facilitate the resource pooling at the electrical and optical layers through technological innovation, and build future-proof cloud bearer networks that can be centrally managed by cloudified systems, maintaining the competitive advantages of network operators in the era of all-cloud evolution.

Conclusion

All-cloud evolution is recognized industrywide to be the most effective method for network digitalization. Designed to fit customer needs, Huawei’s CloudOptiX solution creates future-proof, one-hop, and simplified network architecture. The architecture, combined with a centralized management and control platform featuring service agility, network resource pooling, and service automation, supports simplified O&M and creates simplified and cloudified optical transport networks for customers to cope with future challenges. Huawei will closely partner with operators, enterprise customers, and industry chain in its entirety to facilitate the development of optical networks and realize the cloudification of networks.