The Software-Defined Flexible Optical Network

≫ Flexibility finally becoming a real driver in optical transport ≫ Software-level flexibility for automation, interoperability, driving down costs ≫ Hardware-level flexibility to allow actual service reconfiguration in a data-center centric world ≫ Applicable everywhere ≫ Transport line-side (rate/symbol-flexible interfaces) ≫ Transport client-side (backplane fabrics, modular clients) ≫ Router-Transport connection (FlexE enabled deployments) ≫ Unique design challenges ≫ Smart modelling help techno-economic evaluations ≫ Flexible hardware removes (some) uncertainty over design policies ≫ Open Transport ≫ At the optical level, disaggregation is more than integration and functional abstraction ≫ Steps to be taken in bridging open networks with performance-critical applications.