Building optical networks
for AI, with AI

AI puts high demands on optical infrastructure, from the physical links to the control plane and everything in between. At Nokia, we help operators build optical networks for AI that deliver on all fronts.

Massive DCI capacity, engineered for performance

Our optical transport solutions are powered by our industry-leading Photonic Service Engine (PSE) and Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE) coherent optics, which are designed for high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects. The Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) and 1830 Global Express (GX) solutions support scalable C+L band transmission and provide the power efficiency, reach and spectral flexibility you need for metro, regional and long-haul data center interconnect (DCI) transport.

These capabilities are critical for AI-enabled applications and their workloads, which often require bursty, low-latency transfers across unpredictable routes. Our coherent optics and optical line systems ensure robust performance, even under extreme traffic conditions and across complex multi-site GPU cluster topologies.

Built-in quantum-safe security

Our optical transport solutions secure AI data sets against emerging quantum threats by integrating at-speed quantum-safe encryption into the network layer using advanced symmetric cryptography and high-entropy key sources. We augment these capabilities with a defense-in-depth approach that provides comprehensive crypto-resilience and ensures all communication layers are quantum-safe. 

With our Quantum-Safe Networks approach, you can prepare for the post-quantum world today. You get multilayer security that protects sensitive data against cyber agents seeking to harvest this information and decrypt it when cryptographically relevant quantum computers become available—an unknown future date known as Q-Day.

Resilience and assurance at scale

High-performance optics can’t handle dynamic and distributed AI workloads on their own. We source telemetry key performance indicators (KPIs) directly from the network to inform automated assurance processes and enable you to maintain real-time visibility and control across the optical domain.

This telemetry, along with classical AI and GenAI capabilities, lays the foundation for autonomous optical networks that can sense, think and act. If an optical link degrades or fails, the network can predict and identify issues, assess their impact and reroute traffic without human intervention. This is an important step towards closed-loop automation, which is a precursor to autonomous networking.

AI puts new demands on your network, but it also provides new ways to operate it. The Nokia WaveSuite platform uses a variety of classical AI, GenAI and machine learning techniques to simplify and scale operations across the full optical network lifecycle, from design and provisioning to optimization and troubleshooting.

Simplify design and deployment

WaveSuite’s AI-assisted planning tools help you optimize link configurations, run feasibility checks and generate network blueprints, all from a single interface. It also lets you use GenAI capabilities to interact with the system using natural language. This accelerates troubleshooting and shortens onboarding time for new personnel.  

Automated provisioning workflows reduce human error and speed up service turn-up. And with service abstraction and virtualization, operators can deliver “GPU-as-a-service” interconnects that align with specific SLA requirements for training and inferencing workloads. 

Monitor, troubleshoot and heal

AI-assisted monitoring and troubleshooting tools help you identify, diagnose and resolve issues faster. Predictive AI can analyze real-time network KPIs to detect anomalies before they impact service, while pattern recognition and root-cause analysis tools guide you to resolution.  

WaveSuite tracks and analyzes performance metrics across the optical network with soft failure detection capabilities to diagnose potential disruptions. It also recommends proactive measures to avoid repeat issues, which reduces downtime and extends the life of your network elements. 

Optimize for performance and sustainability

As DCI demands surge, power efficiency becomes increasingly important. WaveSuite can help you monitor energy usage across the optical network and automatically place equipment into standby mode to conserve energy when transponders are idle or unused during lower-traffic periods. These capabilities allow you to optimize routes for energy efficiency and minimize their impact on the electrical grid, all while maintaining SLA compliance.

This AI-driven network optimization helps reduce your operating costs and supports your long-term sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.

AI is making optical network automation smarter and more intuitive. This allows you to move beyond traditional scripting and toward intent-based networking, where you define high-level business outcomes and let the network figure out how to deliver them. This can include latency targets, geographic coverage and diversity requirements.

WaveSuite enables this shift with AI-powered natural language processing and closed-loop automation. It turns your intents into network actions, continuously fine-tuning performance to meet evolving demands. This reduces the need for specialized optical knowledge, speeds up service delivery and allows you to focus on business growth instead of the finer points of network element configuration.

AI is a technology trend and a potential new revenue driver. With Nokia optical networks and WaveSuite automation, you can develop and sell premium, SLA-backed services tailored to AI needs.

For example, you can:

• Offer bandwidth on demand or latency-sensitive interconnects for enterprises training AI models. 
• Enable dynamic slicing across the optical domain, with each slice tuned for specific application needs. 
• Use AI to generate service configurations automatically from natural language requests, which streamlines order fulfillment and improves time to revenue.

These differentiated offerings help you meet enterprise demand and position your company as a value-added partner in the AI ecosystem.

While AI brings enormous potential, it must be used responsibly. Our solutions and services address key concerns around AI adoption in the transport domain, including explainability, autonomy, data access and security.

WaveSuite includes built-in AI governance features such as explainable decision trees, role-based controls and traceable outputs. You retain full oversight and control of the AI systems that support your network and get the tools and insights you need to monitor, audit and continuously improve outcomes. This enables WaveSuite to use classical AI or GenAI to build solutions for particular network use cases in a manner that enables trust and peace of mind.

Combined with our Optical Professional Services and business modeling expertise, these governance capabilities help ensure that you have a framework for deploying AI-enabled network automation in a way that’s safe, effective, ethical and in line with regulatory frameworks and your desired business outcomes.

AI adoption is accelerating, and network operators must keep pace. With Nokia optical networks, WaveSuite automation and quantum-safe networks, you can meet the performance, scale and security demands of the AI era, while also using AI to operate more efficiently and grow your business.

Whether you’re connecting GPU clusters, scaling across metro and regional domains, or simplifying lifecycle operations, you can trust Nokia to help you build optical networks for AI and powered by AI.

Discover how Nokia optical networks can help you can move faster, operate smarter and scale more confidently.