Toward a control and management system enabling cognitive optical networks

Cognition represents one of the ingredients to make up the future high-capacity heterogeneous optical networks. This paper provides three main contributions for a preliminary study of a Control and Management System (CMS) able to support the cognitive entity, named Cognitive Decision System (CDS). First of all, two architectural approaches to realize a cognitive optical network are presented. Secondly, the focus is set on the description of a centralized GMPLS-based CMS architecture and on the interactions between its modules and the CDS. In particular, the CDS decisions rely on a database updated by CMS protocols (i.e., by OSPF - TE) to grasp information about network configuration and resources availability. Unfortunately, OSPF - TE may not be able to timely update the CDS-database. To address this issue, the paper presents two CDS-database updating policies and compares their performance through simulations. Finally, a set of open issues and challenges is detailed in order to provide an input for a deep analysis of the presented CMS architecture.