Documenting existing fiber deployments is a necessity in today’s digital world. Keeping a handle on a broadband network under the most simplified of circumstances in a greenfield deployment is a challenge if manual methods are used to design and estimate the project costs. That challenge only becomes more complicated as equipment is replaced and updated over the years. And such complexity increases further when discussing service expansion of an existing network into new territory, where legacy equipment clashes with today’s lower cost and more reliable equipment.
Automated design and optimization (ADO) provides a “network in a bag” approach to document all network elements, thus enabling network engineers to calibrate and optimize their plant before incorporating new features and expanding coverage beyond existing boundaries. ADO is a dynamic means of exploring, planning, and estimating network expansion so network designers and decision makers have the benefit of evaluating tradeoffs between network architecture, equipment, and boundaries of new service areas.
Network planners have multiple architectures available to them, e.g., from upgrades to hybrid fiber/coax and fiber-to-the-home, to sunset legacy copper and coax-based plants. These infrastructure improvements are necessary to deliver multi-gigabit speeds and take advantage of the billions of dollars in federal and local funds for network expansion to deliver service to the unserved and upgrade quality of service for the underserved. ADO is a vital tool necessary to efficiently manage and expand networks for the long term.
Past headaches to today’s relief
Until recently, network planning has been done in a manual fashion with everything mapped on paper and tracked via Excel spreadsheet or something more chaotic. Cost estimates for network builds and upgrades were substantially suppositions, with a small portion of the overall coverage footprint calculated on materials and cost, and then extrapolated across the entire build. As a result, cost figures for initial and expansion network builds tended to be guesswork with estimates leaning conservative to ensure no material shortages.
ADO software works with existing GIS data to create a computer-aided approach to network design. The legacy process of days and weeks to generate a network map accompanied by an “educated guess” bill of materials and cost budget becomes a point-and-click design process that creates a precise build model in a matter of hours, with the service provider providing a set of rules and equipment specifications to drive the model. A “digital twin” of the network is now available that can be integrated with existing plant engineering platforms as required.
Once the virtual network design is created to document all network elements in one place, network engineers can evaluate the impact and cost of new equipment by simply creating the appropriate rules and specifications for each new piece, then inserting and replacing existing pieces within a copy of the model. Alternative models can examine the use of different network elements, architectures, and their effects on network coverage, such as upgrading a network segment from GPON to XGS-PON or upgrading the entire network to XGS-PON.
Broadband speeds are always on the increase, regardless of the underlying media. Copper networks are being replaced with fiber, cable companies are replacing RF elements by pushing fiber deeper into their networks to deliver faster and symmetrical speeds for businesses and residences, and FTTH operators are moving from simple GPON to multi-gig offerings.
All operators are riding the wave of the declining cost of electronics (supply chain issues and inflation aside) with a desire to simplify plant and lower operational expenses in the form of maintenance and power consumption. ADO can be used to examine network modifications to improve bandwidth, reduce latency, and upgrade elements as needed throughout the existence of the network. It provides the means to generate cost analyses for different options as new technologies become available.
The virtual model enables exploration of multiple alternatives, with more work time available for optimizations and “What If” scenarios – time that was previously spent plugging through manual plotting and estimations on a single specific model. Operators can explore and iterate to find the best network design to fit their business model along with current and future customer needs.
Network lifecycle and network expansion
An investment in an ADO platform is one of the “gifts that keeps on giving” during the lifetime of the network. With billions in public and private monies available for network upgrades and delivering broadband to unserved communities over the next five years, service providers would be remiss if they weren’t examining ways to improve and expand their network footprint.
Having a “network in a bag” foundation for your network makes the process of contemplating improvements to existing plant for competitive reasons a straightforward process. Options include evaluating modifications to the present network architecture, selectively dropping in new network elements, and wholesale replacement of legacy equipment that can be estimated and reviewed by engineers and executives for feasibility. The availability of a digital twin provides planners the ability to work through multiple scenarios to find the best fit for available budget and competitive requirements.
Expansion of an existing network to serve more customers or building a greenfield network in another area or territory is a natural evolution for most service providers today. Having an ADO platform and experience in using it to document and manage an existing network provides the cornerstone for growth, be it enlarging a current service area or adding a new one.
ADO enables service providers to prepare and respond to grant proposals with unprecedented speed and efficiency. As noted previously, ADO enables network engineers to explore multiple design options and find the best fit from a business and operational perspective. But speed of preparation also provides significant advantage when applying for or refining grant proposals, enabling an applicant to be at the top of the stack instead of submitting at the last hour of the last day. With ADO, more precise estimating and detail-level bill of materials documentation of the entire network provides confidence in total capital costs while requests for refinement and adjustments can be quickly met.
ADO into tomorrow’s networks
Using ADO as the foundation of network documentation provides consistent, centralized, and maintainable documentation on the network architecture. Plus, it is easily backed up, reducing the risk of relying on notes and memory of staff down the road. Without an easily usable ADO system, proper documentation of the network becomes an exercise in faith and paper that will result in significant headaches and expense when it comes time to upgrade the network to the next level.
And networks always need to be upgraded. Today’s shift from GPON to XGS-PON and multi-gig speeds will be tomorrow’s low-latency push for running AR/VR, advanced telemedicine, and other applications craving quick response. Similarly, XGS-PON and multi-gig speeds will be succeeded by 25G and 50G PON somewhere down the road.
ADO is the investment to make today that enables you to accomplish network engineering changes far into the future. It provides the tools necessary to manage, improve, and expand a network throughout its lifespan of decades, with continuity for operators, owners, and potential purchasers as market and business conditions change. The question shouldn’t be if you should implement ADO, but how soon.
Ian Oliver is president of Versant Solutions Group Inc.
Ian Oliver | President, Versant Solutions Group Inc.
Ian Oliver is president of Versant Solutions Group Inc.