AI-enhanced telecom-grade sub-50-ms protection in wavelength-switched optical networks

As the demand for high-reliability and high-throughput optical transport networks intensifies with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and large-scale distributed applications, conventional wavelength-switched optical network (WSON) protection schemes, which rely on slower restoration times, become inadequate. In this work, we propose a novel, to our knowledge, sub-50-ms WSON protection scheme that integrates fast protocol processing, high-speed wavelength selective switching (WSS), and ultra-fast optical digital signal processing (DSP) reconstruction. By pre-configuring protection paths and parallelizing protocol processing, the proposed scheme eliminates key latency bottlenecks, ensuring rapid, real-time protection switching. We demonstrate its performance through both laboratory and field trials, achieving end-to-end protection switching within 50 ms, thus meeting the stringent latency requirements of AI applications. This work introduces a scalable and efficient solution for next-generation optical networks, addressing the challenges of real-time, fault-tolerant communication in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.