Light path characterization, traffic protection, and wavelength defragmentation

1. A method for managing an optical network having a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of fiber links, comprising:

configuring one or more active reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) cards installed into a node to pass optical traffic to and from the optical network; and

remotely activating an installed, but not yet activated, spare ROADM card to pass optical traffic to and from the optical network, subsequent to configuring the one or more active ROADM cards, based on one of: an event or expiration of a time period.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the active and spare ROADM cards comprise colorless, contentionless, and directionless ROADM cards.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the one or more active ROADM cards are further configured to transmit or receive optical signals for a discrete light path through the optical network.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the event comprises a request to characterize a new light path through the optical network.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

identifying a first test light path through the optical network to/from the spare ROADM card;

activating the spare ROADM card for the test light path;

testing of the first test light path to determine whether the first test light path meets performance requirements for the requested new light path; and

transitioning the first test light path from the spare ROADM card to one of the active ROADM cards in the node when it is determined that the test light path meets performance requirements for the requested new light path.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

identifying a second test light path through the optical network to/from the spare ROADM card when it is determined that the first test light path does not meet the performance requirements for the requested new light path;

activating the spare ROADM card for the second test light path; and

testing of the second test light path to determine whether the second test light path meets performance requirements for the requested new light path.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the event comprises a network fragmentation determination identifying two or more fragmented light paths to/from active ROADM cards in the node.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

activating a new fiber link through the optical network to/from the node;

selecting a first of the two or more fragmented light paths;

activating the spare ROADM card on a first new light path on the new fiber link based on the first selected light path;

transitioning the first new light path from the spare ROADM card to the active ROADM card associated with the first selected light path;

selecting a second of the two or more fragmented light paths;

activating the spare ROADM card on a second new light path on the new fiber link based on the second selected light path;

transitioning the second new light path from the spare ROADM card to the active ROADM card associated with the second selected light path; and

repeating the selecting, activating, and transitioning for remaining fragmented light paths.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

testing each new light path to determine whether the new light path meets performance requirements associated with the corresponding fragmented light path; and

performing the transitioning when it is determined that the new light path meets performance requirements associated with the corresponding fragmented light path.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the transitioning further comprises deactivating the spare ROADM card.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining whether a second new light path on the new fiber link conflicts with an existing light path on the new fiber link;

identifying an alternate second new light path on the new fiber link when the second new light path conflicts with an existing light path on the new fiber link;

activating the spare ROADM card on alternate second new light path on the new fiber link based on the second selected light path; and

transitioning the second new light path from the spare ROADM card to the active ROADM card associated with the second selected light path.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining whether a second new light path on the new fiber link conflicts with an existing light path on the new fiber link comprises:

determining whether a channel associated with the second new light path conflicts with a channel associated with an existing light path on the new fiber link.

13. The method of claim 3 , wherein the event comprises a failure of a particular active ROADM card, the method further comprising:

activating the spare ROADM card to replace the failed active ROADM card.

14. The method of claim 3 , wherein the event comprises a determination of a failure of a particular fiber link, the method further comprising:

identifying a new light path through the optical network based on the failed fiber link;

activating the spare ROADM card for the new light path;

testing of the new light path to determine whether the new light path meets performance requirements; and

transitioning the first test light path from the spare ROADM card to an active ROADM card associated with the failed fiber link when it is determined that the new light path meets performance requirements.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

repeating the identifying, activating, testing, and transitioning for each light path associated with the failed fiber link.

16. The method of claim 3 , wherein the time period comprises a monitoring interval, the method further comprising:

identifying one or more unused light paths associated with the node;

activating the spare ROADM card for a selected one of the one or more unused light paths associated with the node;

determining a performance level for the selected one of the one or more unused light paths; and

storing information relating to the determined performance level in a monitoring table associated with the optical network.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein remotely activating the installed spare ROADM card comprising receiving commands from a network management system.

18. An optical node comprising:

one or more active reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) elements; and

one or more spare ROADM elements; and

a processor to:

configure the one or more active ROADM elements to pass optical traffic to and from an optical network; and

receive remote instructions to activate the spare, but not yet active, ROADM element to pass optical traffic to and from the optical network, subsequent to configuring the one or more active ROADM elements, based on one of an event or expiration of a time period.

19. The optical node of claim 18 , wherein the active and spare ROADM elements comprise colorless, contentionless, and directionless ROADM elements.

20. The optical node of claim 18 , wherein the event comprises a network fragmentation determination identifying two or more fragmented light paths to/from active ROADM cards in the node, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

activate a new fiber link through the optical network to/from the optical node;

select a first of the two or more fragmented light paths;

activate the spare ROADM element on a first new light path on the new fiber link based on the first selected light path;

transition the first new light path from the spare ROADM element to the active ROADM element associated with the first selected light path;

select a second of the two or more fragmented light paths;

activate the spare ROADM element on a second new light path on the new fiber link based on the second selected light path;

transition the second new light path from the spare ROADM element to the active ROADM element associated with the second selected light path; and

repeat the selecting, activating, and transitioning for remaining fragmented light paths.

21. A system comprising:

a plurality of optical fiber links;

a plurality of optical nodes interconnected with the optical fiber links, the optical nodes comprising:

one or more active reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) cards;

one or more spare ROADM cards; and

a processor to:

configure the one or more active ROADM cards to pass optical traffic to and from an optical network; and

receive remote instructions to activate at least one of the spare, but not yet active, ROADM cards to pass optical traffic to and from the optical network, subsequent to configuring the one or more active ROADM cards, based on one of an event or expiration of a time period; and

a network management system operatively coupled to the plurality of optical nodes to transmit configuration instructions to the one or more active ROADM cards and the at least one of the spare ROADM cards in each of the plurality of optical nodes.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the event comprises a failure of a particular active ROADM card in a particular optical node, wherein the network management system is configured to:

determine that the particular active ROADM card has failed; and

activate the at least one of the spare ROADM cards in the particular optical node to handle traffic previously handled by the failed particular active ROADM card.