Generative AI-Driven Hierarchical Multi-Agent Framework for Zero-Touch Optical Networks

The rapid development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has catalyzed a transformative technological revolution across all walks of life. As the backbone of wideband communication, optical networks are expecting high-level autonomous operation and zero-touch management to accommodate their expanding network scales and escalating transmission bandwidth. The integration of GenAI is deemed as the pivotal solution for realizing zero-touch optical networks. However, the lifecycle management of optical networks involves a multitude of tasks and necessitates seamless collaboration across multiple layers, which poses significant challenges to the existing single-agent GenAI systems. In this article, we propose a GenAI-driven hierarchical multi-agent framework designed to streamline multi-task autonomous execution for zero-touch optical networks. We present the architecture, implementation, and applications of this framework. A field-deployed mesh network is utilized to demonstrate three typical scenarios throughout the lifecycle of optical network: quality of transmission estimation in the planning stage, dynamic channel adding/dropping in the operation stage, and system capacity increase in the upgrade stage. The case studies, illustrate the capabilities of multi-agent framework in multi-task allocation, coordination, execution, evaluation, and summarization. This work provides a promising approach for the future development of intelligent, efficient, and collaborative network management solutions, paving the way for more specialized and adaptive zero-touch optical networks.