Ciena's Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC) Module enhances the optical layer functionality of the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform with out-of-band signaling and a communications and control channel—completely separating the management function from customer data.

The CN 4200 OSC module offers connectivity to CN 4200 nodes that have no other means of connecting to the OSC network. Built around a dedicated 1510 nm laser and receiver, the OSC provides an out-of-band, full-duplex communications channel for remote node management, monitoring and control similar to the Data Communications Channel (DCC) of SONET/SDH and the General Communications Channel (GCC) of OTN. The OSC optically segregates network management and control from user data, so even if the OSC is lost, data forwarding continues uninterrupted.

Equipped with its own 1510 nm MUX/DEMUX filter, the OSC travels the same fiber as the DWDM stream and always terminates on neighboring nodes. Because it has a dedicated wavelength, the OSC data is entirely independent of the user data. The OSC is implemented as a point-to-point OC-3 pipe carrying a 100 Mb/s Ethernet-over-IP management channel used for inter-nodal management and control. This channel serves as the primary network management vehicle, supporting typical inter-nodal functions such as Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP), which discovers neighboring network elements, as well as IP packets that pass SNMP and other general management data used to manage and maintain the node and its neighboring network elements. Additionally, the module’s built-in controller CPU allows it to assume the added role of system controller.

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