Nokia and Orange France completed a “health scan” of sorts for optical networks, powered by research from Nokia’s reportedly embattled Bell Labs division.
The live network tomography trial helped pinpoint network issues from physical fiber wear and failing amplifiers to bad configurations. The demo utilized existing field equipment as well as “innovative” algorithms from Nokia Bell Labs, the 101-year-old R&D division which is reportedly being downsized by the Finnish giant.
Nokia claimed the approach can help operators validate their underlying network faster and carry out action before customer service level agreements are impacted.
It added that the trial demonstrated the exact condition of each optical link with more accuracy, which can help operators maximize performance, improve spectral efficiency, and support more resilient sorts of services. According to Nokia, this paves the way for more automated and AI-driven optical networks, including closed-loop automation workflows, whilst bolstering AI infra build in advance of growing AI-driven demand.
Nokia Bell Labs rings on? #
An antecedent for the joint trial can be found in work between Nokia Bell Labs and Orange Labs dating back to the 2010s. This work saw a machine learning (ML) component added in 2020 through tests in detecting optical fiber breakages. The research used digital signal processing in a coherent receiver, paired with ML to enable proactive detection of a fiber cut.
A similar partnership between Nokia and Vodafone also saw Bell Labs algorithms used to detect and remediate network anomalies before they could impact Vodafone customers.
Such ventures illustrate Nokia's R&D success on the networking front, but as revealed this month, the Nokia Bell Labs workforce has reportedly been halved since 2021.
The cuts make up Nokia's global downsizing efforts, which aimed to axe 14,000 jobs by 2026 in an effort to reduce costs and save up to $1.4 billion in costs.
In an announcement on the tomography trial, Guil Yazdi, VP, client executive, Orange at Nokia, commented: “For many years, operators have had to rely on point measurements and manual investigations to understand what is happening inside their optical networks. This trial is an important milestone because it gives operators near-real-time visibility across optical links, helping them detect degradation, configuration issues, and performance problems much earlier. Network tomography brings a new level of observability to optical infrastructure, helping operators simplify operations, make better use of existing network assets and prepare for the shift toward AI-native networks.”
“As network performance requirements become more stringent, operators need deeper visibility into the performance and condition of their transport infrastructures. With this successful trial, Orange is taking an important step toward the future of network operations. By using smart automation technology, we can better optimize the network and deliver more resilient services to our customers,” added Christian Gacon, vice president, Broadband Networks at Orange France.