IP/optical integration yields cost synergies

Bell Labs quantified TCO savings in the order of 40% on router ports and optical transponders for an IP/optical reference network using GMPLS protection and restoration in the photonic layer, compared to applying MPLS layer protection and restoration at the routing layer. The cost savings from leveraging GMPLS transport layer resiliency are further improved when adopting a multi-layer network approach leveraging both MPLS and GMPLS with User-Network Interfacing between routing and transport layers. The multi-layer protection and restoration strategy met service availability objectives with a more dynamic and economical use of network resources. By lowering resource redundancy requirements, the service delivery costs per bit go down and more network capacity remains available for carrying revenue generating traffic.