Revenue recovery for operational SONET/SDH networks

Large SONET/SDH networks typically have 20-30% 'stranded' resources, both in wasted bandwidth and in untracked hardware. We present a novel approach that uses localized heuristics to uncover stranded resources and configuration errors based on field data alone. Unlike traditional solution which requires complex reconciliations between field data and various inventory databases, our approach synthesizes higher-level models from field data and analyzes the models to identify stranded resources and configuration errors. Field trial results indicate that our approach is very effective. For example, we found that 33% of 1 + 1 protection circuits have incorrect configurations impacting service reliability, and 10% of the circuits in a large carrier network have stranded bandwidth that can be 'recovered'.