OSP (Outside Plant) Management

The OSP plugin for Netbox helps network operators and data centers have a single source of truth for all their outside plant assets, including outdoor cables, fiber splice boxes, CWDM/DWDM MUXs and OADMs), and the ODFs that terminate those outdoor assets inside a data center or facility.

This plugin has been mainly designed thinking of a data center operating fiber connections between facilities, and network operators that serve enterprise customers, 5G sites, etc. This module is not focused on FTTH networks, since they are mainly used for network operators serving residential customers, due to added complexity it would require a larger model. That being said, this could be a great addition for future phases.

It allows users to have a detailed view of their network, including the outside plant, including end-to-end visibility of circuits, and fiber threads. From the device port in site A to the device port in site B, see all the fiber splicing boxes and trays, MUXs, OADMs, ODFs, and any other element that the circuit passes. This allows faster troubleshooting in case of problems with fiber threads.

Main elements

• ODFs (that's the termination point in the data center)

• Outdoor fiber optic cables (usually single mode fiber and most common types are loose-tube and ribbon)

• Fiber thread (this is the optical conductor inside a fiber optic cable)

• Fiber splice box (this is the element that contains the fiber splice trays and act as a termination point for a cable, not a fiber thread)

• Fiber splice tray (this is the element where fiber threads from different cables are spliced)

• MUX (passive optical element that allows a single fiber threads to multiplex and demultiplex different wavelengths, it could be CWDM, DWDM, or LWDM channels)

• OADM

ODFs

This could be a special case of device type

Outdoor fiber optic cables

These are the fiber optic cables connecting one of the following elements:

• ODF to ODF

• ODF to Fiber splice box

• Fiber splice box to Fiber splice box

Important attributes of this element are:

• Jacket type (Direct Buried Fiber Optic cable, Duct Fiber Optic Cable, Underwater Fiber optic cable, ADSS most common type, Armored Fiber cable) - drop-list

• Type: Loose tube (most common) or Ribbon

• Span (integer, with usual range between 50m and 1000m)

• For Loose Tube:

  • Number of Buffers per cable (in a fiber optic cable, the fiber threads are usually contained within a buffer). (integer, with a minimum value of 1)

  • Number of fiber threads per buffer - most common value is 12 (integer, with a minimum value of 1)

The product of (Number of Buffers per cable) * (Number of fiber threads per buffer) gives the total number of fiber strains per cable

Fiber thread

This is the element that serves as the actual medium of transmission. A fiber can connect one of the following elements:

• Pigtail - is the element in an ODF that adds the connector type to a fiber

• another fiber thread

• thread on a MUX (non-connectorized fiber optic MUX)

The most important attributes of a fiber thread are:

• Type: Single mode / Multimode

• Subtype for single mode: G.652 (most common), G.653, G.654, G.655 (second most common), G.657

• Subtype of multi-mode: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5

Fiber splice box

This is the element that protects the fiber splice trays, it is also a possible termination point for a fiber optic cable.

Fiber splice tray

This is the element where fiber threads or mux threads are spliced. The relationship is 1:1, one fiber can only be spliced to one of the following options: fiber thread or mux thread

A fiber tray can contain fiber threads from one or more cables (integer).

MUX

This is a passive element that can multiplex and demultiplex wavelengths from a fiber thread. Main attributes:

• Type of technology: CWDM, DWDM, LWDM

• Type of filters: AWG or TTF

• Bandwidth: 50GHz, 75GHz, 100GHz, 150GHz, 200GHz

• Passband: integer

Within a MUX you can carry multiple wavelengths, this could be added similar to an interface in a device.

OADM

This is a passive element that can be used to ADD or DROP single or multiple wavelengths in a specific location, allowing all other wavelengths to continue their way to the next sites.

• Type of technology: CWDM, DWDM, LWDM

• Type of filters: AWG or TTF

• Bandwidth: 50GHz, 75GHz, 100GHz, 150GHz, 200GHz

• Passband: integer