Automatic restoration of telecommunication networks

The paper provides a set of guidelines to design and evaluate automatic restoration for telecommunication networks. The operation of a telecommunications network is defined to be in one of three modes: normal, abnormal and restorative. The paper emphasizes the coordinated performance of a network management system (NMS) and an automatic restoration system (RS). The NMS detects the abnormal mode, and the RS restores normal operating conditions. The paper defines and explains the necessary steps of real-time restoration, provides design and evaluation parameters for automatic restoration and presents the operational reliability considerations.