# Presentation: 687530

## Tom Afferton

**Tom Afferton**
**Member of OIF Board of Directors**
**Division Manager – AT&T Labs**
**Afferton@att.com**
**OIF Website:  www.oiforum.com**

## What is the OIF?

- Launched in April of 1998 with an objective to foster development of low-cost and scaleable internet using optical technologies
- The only industry group bringing together professionals from the data and optical communities
- Open forum: 250+ member companies
- international
- carriers
- component and systems vendors
- testing and software companies
- _Mission_: To foster the development and deployment of interoperable products and services for data switching and routing using optical networking technologies

## OIF Focus 

- Low-cost Scaleable Optical Internetworking
- IP-Over-Switched Optical Network Architecture
- Physical layer
**Low-cost optical interfaces between networking elements**
**Standard device level electrical interfaces for low-cost systems**
- Control layer interoperability between data and optical layers
**Dynamic configuration using IP signaling and control mechanisms**
- Accommodate legacy network under the new physical and control layer mechanisms

## OIF StructureTechnical Committee:  6 Working Groups

- Carrier
- Requirements and applications
- Architecture
- Services, network requirements and architectures
- Signaling
-  Protocols for automatic management of optical connections
- OAM&P (Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning)
- Network management
- Physical and Link Layer
- Equipment and subsystem module interfaces
- Interoperability
- Interoperability testing

## Output from OIF

- Implementation agreements, based upon:
- Carrier group’s requirements
- Existing standards and specification when available
- New solutions when necessary
- Interoperability testing procedures
- Ensures compliance to implementation agreements and ultimately interoperable products and networks
- Input into other standards bodies
- Formal liasons in place with numerous other organizations (e.g. ITU, IETF.   Complete list in back-up slides)

## OIF Process for Generating Implementation Agreements

- Framework provided by Working Group structure
- Working groups establish consensus-driven projects to focus contributions
- Progress driven by member contributions
- Posted on OIF website
- Basis for activities at quarterly technical meetings
- Formal voting process for reaching Implementation Agreements
- Two step process
- Straw ballot – passes with simple majority
- Principal ballot – passes with 2/3rds majority
- Process enables open debate, incorporation of comments
- Formal votes at each step
-  *One vote per member company *

## OIF Activities – Physical Layer

- Business Need
- Lower equipment costs through interface agreements that reduce customization
- Key Projects
- Internal system interfaces
- System/Physical Interface (SPI)
- SPI-3, SPI-4 complete for 10G
- SPI-5 in progress for 40G
- Serializer/Deserializer-Framer Interface (SFI)
- SFI-4 complete for 10G
- SFI-5 in progress for 40G
- Low cost premises equipment interfaces
- Very Short Reach (VSR)
- VSR-1, VSR-2, VSR-3, VSR-4 complete for 10 Gb/s
- VSR-5 in progress for 40 Gb/s
- Footprint specification for tunable lasers in progress

## OIF Activities – Control Layer Switched Optical Networks

- A switched optical network is an optical network in which connections can be created using switching control technology.
- The OIF is among the organizations working on the interfaces to enable controllers to work together to perform this function

## OIF Activities – Control Layer

- Client

- Business Need
- Lower operations costs through automation of routing optical circuits
- Key Projects
- User-to-Network Interface – enables client equipment to request a service across optical networks
- UNI 1.0 complete for SONET circuits
- 25 vendor interop. Demonstratation at Supercomm in June, 2001
- Built upon protocols from IETF
- Also completed Call Detail Records to support billing with UNI 1.0
- UNI 2.0 in progress to add other features
- Network-to-Network Interface – enables optical networks to interact to deliver an end-to-end service
- NNI 1.0 in progress
- Targeting 1H03 for interoperability demonstration

- Client

- NNI

- UNI

- UNI

## Why do service providers care about optical control plane interfaces?

- Intelligent control plane, in general, lowers operating costs
- Automatic discovery of elements, capacity and connections
- Automatic routing and recovery of circuits
- Improved survivability against complex failures
- “Standardized” control plane interfaces enable
- Wider adoption of control plane capabilities
- Multi-vendor/carrier interoperability
- New dynamic optical services with customer control
- “Plug and play” introduction of new vendors/technologies
- In advance of control plane deployment, service providers will continue to rely on centralized management systems

## OIF control plane work vs. other organizations

- Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
- Community of individuals
- Generating “tool box” of protocols
- International Telecommunications Union
- Formal organization for establishing global standards
- In progress of developing comprehensive standards for “Automatic Switched Optical Network”
- Some overlap among OIF, IETF, ITU
- “Healthy” competition is evolving to cooperation

- Req’ts

- Protocols

- Req’ts

- Formals
- Standards

- Implementation
- Agreements

## Summary

- OIF brings together professionals from the data and optical worlds
- OIF is addressing issues important to carriers and their customers
- Control plane work is progressing well in OIF in collaboration with other organizations like the IETF and ITU

## Thank You

## OIF Membership Breakdown

- (data as of 12/01)

- Market Segment

## Implementation Agreements

- SPI-3: System Packet Interface Level 3 for STS-48/STM-16
- SPI-4 phase 1:  System Physical Interface  Level 4 for STS-192/STM-64
- SPI-4 phase 2: System Packet Interface Level 4 for STS-192/STM-64
-  SFI-4:  Serdes/Framer Electical Interface: Common electrical interface between framers and  serializer/deserializer parts for STS-192/STM-64 interfaces.
- SFI-5: Serdes/Framer Electical Interface: 40Gb/s interface for physical devices
- SPI-5: OC-768 System Packet Interface
- Very Short Reach (VSR) OC-192 Interface based on 12 fiber Parallel Optics
- Serial OC192 1310 nm Very Short Reach (VSR) Interfaces
- Very Short Reach (VSR) OC-192 Interface based on 4 fiber Parallel Optics
- Serial OC192 850 nm Very Short Reach (VSR) Interfaces
- User Network Interface (UNI) 1.0
- CDR:  Call Detail Records for UNI 1.0 billing

## OIF and other Standards Bodies

- Established Liaisons With:
- American National Standards Institute - ANSI T1
- International Telecommunications Union - ITU-T
- Internet Engineering Task Force - IETF
- ATM Forum
- IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gb Ethernet
- Network Processing Forum - NPF
- Metro Ethernet Forum - MEF
- Tele Management Forum - TMF

## OIF and other Standards Bodies