In a move to allow network operators to more quickly update service requests and offer more detailed information on those services, Nokia updated its long-tenured WaveSuite optical network automation platform

The updates include new support with the platform’s service enablement application that will allow users to integrate business support system (BSS) billing with optical network functions. This includes the capability to provide real-time KPI assurance metrics that can be used to support differentiated services like latency-aware layer-1 services and on-demand capacity features.

The WaveSuite also extends machine learning into the platform’s health and analytics application to support “optical fiber sensing.” Nokia describes this as the ability for network operators to detect “disturbances to the fiber optic cable within their networks that may product outages.”

This feature takes advantage of Nokia’s coherent digital signal processors that power its Photonic Service Engines. “It allows network operators to proactively identify, prepare for and respond to events in the network that may affect network performance before they occur, decreasing down time and promoting better adherence to service level agreements with customers,” the vendor explains.

The WaveSuite update also combines network planning with network provisioning to help reduce network scaling timelines. This feature can link scaling plans between existing physical networks and scaling plans to help reduce errors.

Nokia released the WaveSuite platform in 2018, which the vendor at that time said was ahead of the broader market inflection point toward Software-Defined Networking (SDN) control over optical networks. It was targeted at the emergence and growth of layer-1 services and providing operators with a way to use their SDN deployments to craft a better business model for their optical assets.

The platform gained traction with a number of operators, including Deutsche Telekom, which tapped WaveSuite to power its optical networking upgrades. Nokia more recently integrated the platform into Colt Technology Services’ IQ Network offering.

Dell’Oro Group recently ranked Nokia as one of the fastest growing optical vendors in 2023. The firm stated that Nokia, Ciena and FiberHome all gained the most market share last year, while Cisco and Fujitsu lost share.

That movement was noted as the overall optical market dropped 6% during the fourth quarter of last year, though managed to grow a modest 2% for the full year to $16 billion. Dell’Oro Group laid blame for the Q4 drop at the feet of customers in North America, Europe and Japan.

“Excess inventory, worsening macroeconomic conditions and higher interest rates were the main reasons cited for the decline in these regions,” Dell’Oro Group VP Jimmy Yu wrote.