How Facebook's Voyager led to the creation of TIP's Open Optical Packet Transport initiative

There's no single solution that can connect everyone, everywhere on the planet. The Open Optical Packet Transport project group is investigating open solutions to optical fibre networks, disaggregate existing solutions and create new alternatives, enabling operators to swap transponders on existing line systems. The focus on the first 12 months has been on building a community that can participate in open collaboration.There are already more than 500 individual members and over 200 member companies, with an operator council that guides the group to regularly review submissions and steer its development. Voyager was the starting point for OOPT. When Facebook put an optical interface onto its rack switch, it created the first combined switch, router and transport "white box" in the industry. It became the very embodiment of the aims of the OOPT. At the summit, TIP announced trials of Voyager with various telcos, including TIM Brasil, Orange and Telia, with Vodafone planning trials in Europe next year.

Meanwhile, the new Physical Simulation Environment working group was set up to virtualise all the physical elements of a network. It has already built a planning tool to map any wavelength onto a given optical line system. This work will evolve into an open, online set of planning tools for the industry.

Filmed at: TIP Summit, Santa Clara, November 2017