FLEXPLANET, a flexible multi-layer network design tool

The provision of services with complex multi-layer communication networks requires appropriate and generic network models describing accurately the existing networks and flexible softwares supporting the adaptation of the used algorithms to the new planning and analysis tasks. The paper introduces an object-oriented modeling and planning tool that is suitable to describe the existing multi-layer networks in detail, provides framework for modeling, dimensioning and analyzing new technological solutions, and for introducing new planning and evaluation approaches and algorithms. The framework is used at Hungarian Telekom, and its capabilities are validated with some illustrative examples.