A Real-Time Optical Path Control Scheme Across Optical and Wireless Network Domains toward Latency-Critical Services

To reduce network operations workload, there will be strong demand for more efficiency in the inspection and repair of network facilities. Dispatch-less operations supported by remotely controlled drones can significantly improve work efficiency, but current network systems cannot meet the strict latency required for such operations. To achieve end-to-end links that have excellent stability and low-latency, this work proposes a real-time optical path control scheme that supports the a combination of optical and wireless network domains. Evaluations confirm that the proposed scheme can perform optical path control based on information from multiple domains fast enough for remote drone control. Further study will be needed to investigate the effects of coordination between a wireless controller, and to perform system-level evaluations including telemetry and optical switch response time.