The Meriton 9500 NPT (Network Planning Tool) is a powerful and easy-to-use planning tool that simplifies the design and planning of optical networks. From optimization and verification of optical layer transmission performance, to full traffic planning and engineering, the 9500 NPT enables a unified approach to designing optical networks.

Whether planning a new deployment or looking to expand an existing network, the 9500 NPT offers unrivaled functionality and enables the design of cost optimized, dynamic, service-ready networks in conjunction with the unique networking capabilities of the Meriton Networks 7200 OSP, 6400 OTP and 3300 OSM platforms. In the past, planning optical networks was a significant engineering task, involving multiple simulation environments and a team of experts working manually for days if not weeks. Now planners can rely on the 9500 NPT, a sophisticated, best of breed planning tool, to automate the planning process and provide optimized solutions in minutes. With a user friendly GUI and minimal expertise required, this fully featured planning tool provides point and click functionality for node placement, fiber span routing and traffic routing at the wavelength or sub- wavelength level. A sophisticated optimization algorithm then provides the user with a network solution where node locations have been automatically configured for lowest cost whilst amplifiers and dispersion compensation modules are placed optimally to meet optical performance requirements.

Comprehensive Reports

The solution is available through a detailed reporting feature which provides optical performance parameters associated with the engineering rules, service and traffic results including routing and wavelength assignment information as well as timeslot assignments for the sub-wavelength services, and a full equipment list per node location. An additional feature allows the user to save the report to an Excel file, which automatically generates a quote for the network configurations as well as shelf views per node location, rack space and power requirements which are essential in the deployment phase of the project.

Life Cycle Planning

After deployment of a network, the 9500 NPT continues to assist with ongoing planning activities such as service additions, changes and deletions or node additions. The 9500 NPT provides scenario planning—the “what-if” scenarios—that help the user to adjust traffic demands over time, vary fiber plant specifications and see the effect on costs and wavelength utilization. Project files for analysis of these scenarios can be generated automatically from the information residing within the Network Management System (NMS).

Network Design and Validation

The 9500 NPT includes an engineering tool that allows users to simulate and verify the physical and transmission layer layout of a point–to–point, ring or mesh network. The user specifies the number of nodes, span lengths, fiber types and losses, and the planning tool automatically generates a solution including optical amplifiers, and dispersion compensating modules (DCMs) which match the network topology and meet the traffic growth projections. This significantly simplifies the network planning process, providing an optimized network which is right the first time with no errors and no manual effort. The 9500 NPT delivers simplicity and ease of use and provides operational cost benefits through much shorter design cycles and reduced installation time as a result of comprehensive reporting features.

The 9500 NPT allows the user to evaluate the feasibility of a specific network configuration. The reports generated provide detailed analysis of the dispersion map between all possible optical paths and the OSNR performance for lightpaths between any of the nodes. As a result of this full ‘any node to any node’ optimization, the network design is robust to all future changes in traffic routing whether the changes are in source or destination node, data rate or protocol.

Traffic Planning and Engineering

The 9500 NPT provides a full-function network planning tool that optimizes the design of the network. The planning tool provides off-line traffic planning and traffic engineering at multiple layers, including the wavelength and TDM circuit levels, using off-line routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) of optical channels, and routing and time- slot assignment (RTA) of TDM circuits. The 9500 NPT computes protection and restoration options, calculates the required equipment at each node for a specific network deployment—i.e., for a specific traffic demand pattern—and provides network-wide cost and pricing analysis. The 9500 NPT calculates the most efficient equipment configuration required to support traffic demands, including the complete bill of materials necessary to place a purchase order. Graphical representations of nodes populated with calculated equipage further simplify the provisioning process.