By Jason Rupe, CableLabs; John Bevilacqua, CableLabs; Kevin Noll, CableLabs; Jon Schnoor, CableLabs
Cable operators with the experience of DOCSIS® technology in their history will find passive optical network (PON) technology to be quite different when it comes to maintenance and operations. For example, while cable modems are instrumented with extensive test capabilities, the same cannot be assumed with the architecture equivalent PON optical network units (ONUs). Further, the operation of these different access networks presents distinct sets of problems, adding to the complexity of operations overall. And while operators of both DOCSIS and PON networks may say service impacting issues are fewer with PON architectures, that does not mean a transition is easy for all.
With these challenges in mind, CableLabs© started a working group and concerted effort to address these maintenance challenges: The Optical Operations and Maintenance (OOM) program and OOM working group (OOM-WG).
The objectives for the optical operations and maintenance program at CableLabs are to reduce troubleshooting and problem resolution time and costs while increasing network capacity and uptime. The effort includes proactive, reactive, and predictive repair; and includes work streams toward telemetry alignment, solution development, and more.
The OOM-WG is defining use cases that align to general architecture functions and network operations needs including fault and failure management and failure modes. This alignment extends through the use cases to the information needed, and telemetry requirements for the industry to help vendors and operators gain focus on requirements. The activity of this group also includes the identification of new potential capabilities to further reduce operations burdens.