Architecting the Automatically Switched Transport Network

Transport networks have traditionally been associated with manual provisioning of circuits for long-duration services based upon a centralized management system for configuration and provisioning. Originally, transport networks were completely manually operated, involving circuit orders on paper along with staff located in equipment stations to both execute the circuit orders (make connections) and locate and repair equipment faults. Each equipment generation has added more to automated network operation. PDH generation networks introduced remote operations, but provided little with regard to integrated management. SDH generation networks provided standards for maintenance features and equipment control, and some network operators even developed automated operational support systems capable of creating hundreds of circuits a day with connection setup taking minutes per connection [1]. This development has been adequate for automating provisioning within carrier-specific operations systems, but did not allow for easy operation between carriers. In fact, after ten years of wide-scale SDH deployment, there is still no existing platform for provisioning connections across multiple operators.