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AT&T's MPLS OAM architecture, experience, and evolution

This article provides an overview of AT&T's MPLS OAM architecture, and gives examples of operational experience. Hallmarks of the architecture are a single, converged, and integrated MPLS/optical network, and the evolution to fully automated, zero-touch network operation. The concept of one converged IP/MPLS architecture will reduce operations, development, and capital costs. The concept of zero aims to bring full automation for every human-to-computer interaction currently required for setting up and maintaining network services, delivering services to customers in real time with zero defects and cycle time, and supporting both a network as well as an operational environment with six nines reliability. This approach effectively opens the network to the customer, enabling new levels of customer network management, service creation, and ordering, and empowering enterprise customers with the tools to create their own network services as they transform their own internal networks. In the article we describe AT&T's MPLS-enabled services, the corresponding MPLS operations architecture (including MPLS MIBs), our MPLS OAM operational experience, and MPLS OAM evolution needs for MPLS MIB enhancements and new network capabilities. By applying technologies such as artificial intelligence, self-healing/self-identifying network elements, expert systems, rules-based processes, and automatic speech recognition, the architecture will migrate from a predictive network that monitors, correlates, and recommends action; to an adaptive network that monitors, correlates, and takes action; to a cybernated network that has integrated components that dynamically manage by business rules and policies. We give several examples of how AT&T is already investing in and implementing this future vision, and conclude by challenging network researchers, developers, and key industry players to apply new technologies in fully realizing the operational vision.