A presentation on Management of Fiber Optics for Utilities given at the NWPPA IT Workshop.

1. Management of Fiber Optics
For Utilities

2. Agenda
 Introductions
 Informal Poll
 Business Drivers
 Desired Solution
 Logical Provisioning
 Online Solution
 Business Benefits

3. Introductions
Skye Perry | SSP Innovations
 Founder & Principal Consultant
 Esri & Schneider Electric Technical Architect
 SSP provides solutions for Electric, Gas, Water, & Telecom
 Certified Fiber Manager Implementer
 Architect of Logical Circuit Provisioning Extension

4. Informal Poll
How many utilities in the room own telecom infrastructure?
How many sell broadband for private or commercial use?
How many use GIS to track their telecom assets?
Does anyone use Schneider Electric Fiber Manager?
How many track logical circuit provisioning?

5. Business Drivers

6. Why Use GIS for Fiber Management?
Utility installation, provisioning, management and
maintenance of fiber optic networks is at an all time
high and growing.
Common Tasks / Roles at a Utility
 Engineering and design of telecom network
 Managing installation of fiber optic cables
 Managing 3rd party users of utility’s telecom network
 Managing utility’s use of 3rd party networks
 Managing leased capacity on carrier networks
 Managing the profit center (sales, marketing, delivery) for resale
 Manage installation and maintenance of all telecom assets and
equipment

7. High Volume of Telecom Assets
Telecom inherently includes MANY records… Ex.
Grand Junction, CO to Albuquerque, NM:
 440 miles, 11 segments, 144 fibers per segment, 2 ports per
segment = approx 4800 fiber records.
One OC-48 Grand Junction, CO to Albuquerque, NM
 11 segments, 48 STS’s per segment, 28 T1’s per STS, and 24 DS0’s
per T1 = approx 355,000 circuit records.
Utilities are installing additional miles of fiber every year

8. How is this data being tracked?
 Excel Spreadsheets
 Access Databases
 Homegrown Systems
 Paper
 Maps are single line diagrams
 Esri
 AutoCAD
 Google Earth
 Significant Information Kept in Memory
 Human memory, not computer memory!
Splices
Circuits
Bandwidth
Fiber Cnt
Locations
Ports
Services

9. Business Drivers
Common Issues:
 Aging Workforce
 No data intelligence
 Slow and not user friendly
 No GIS component
 Not scalable
 Missing required features
 Trace circuits
 Manage fiber routes
 Link to documentation
 Track financial information
 Etc.

10. Desired Solution

11. GIS-Based Application
 Identify, review, analyze, and update key attributes of the
telecom network
 Include collocation buildings, equipment locations, fiber optic
routes, microwave radio systems, MAS radio systems, USAT,
Coax, Copper
 Geospatial database with robust mapping capabilities
 Advanced telecom analytics:
Connectivity, Splicing, Tracing,
Reporting
 Advanced: Provide ability to track
logical provisioning to the DS0 level

12. GIS-Based Telecom Asset Management
Esri ArcGIS Manages Core Mapping

13. GIS-Based Telecom Asset Management
Schneider Electric Fiber Manager Manages Connectivity & Assets

14. Fiber Manager
Network Analysis and Tracing
 Connection Management
 Fiber Connectivity Traces
 Define circuit paths
 OTDR Trace

15. Design of New Network Installation
 Construction Print
 Bill of Material
 Splicing Diagrams
Fiber Manager

16. Reporting on Fiber, Splices, Traces, Devices, Patch Locations
Fiber Manager - Reporting

17. Reporting on Fiber, Splices, Traces, Devices, Patch Locations
Fiber Manager - Reporting

18. Reporting on Fiber, Splices, Traces, Devices, Patch Locations
Fiber Manager - Reporting

19. Fiber Manager – It’s Physical
 Connection Manager allows you to connect fiber, microwave,
etc. to a physical port on a device on each end
 No internal connectivity between device ports within a device
 Circuit Manager allows you to create a named physical path
from device to device
 Does a good job in tracking physical assets and connectivity

20. Logical Provisioning…

21. Track master circuits that traverse through devices
 Custom Trace Linking Multiple Fiber Manager Physical Circuits
 Defines connectivity between internal device ports
 Establish bandwidth between end points
Logical Requirements

22. Define a bandwidth hierarchy for each master circuit
up to an OC-192 (10 Gb/s)
Logical Requirements

23. Allocate logical trunk circuits (reserved bandwidth, ex. a full STS-1 or DS1)
Provision logical tributary circuits (committed bandwidth) down to a DS0
 Custom Two Point Trace Through Master Circuits
Logical Requirements

24. Allocate circuits within the master
circuit hierarchy
 24 DS0s = 1 DS1
 Tributary Circuit
Ex Hierarchy:
 Consuming the 1st Vir. Tributary
 Within the 13th OC-1 (trunk)
 Within an OC-3 (trunk)
 Within an OC-12 (trunk)
 Within an OC-24 (trunk)
 Within an OC-48 (master)
Defines the Timeslot of the circuit
Logical Requirements

25. Take it online…

26. Wavepoint – Responsive Web App

27. Generic Searches – Ease of Use

28. Splicing Details

29. Circuit Traces – Includes OTDR

30. Rack/Device Visualization

31. ArcGIS for Telecom

32. Esri Platform Provides Tools
Utilize the Esri Out-Of-The-Box Apps For Consumption
 ArcGIS App
 Collector for ArcGIS
 ArcGIS Explorer
 Operations Dashboard
 Esri releases compatible app updates quarterly
 Available from the iOS, Android, Windows app stores

33. Utility Field Workflows are Quick Wins
 Expose New Data to Field Operations
 Collect New Data from Field Operations
 Empower Your Operations thru Geoprocessing, Systems Integration,
Workflow, & Reporting
 Focus on the pattern for ideas – Expose, Collect, Empower

34. Business Benefits

35.  Recommend circuit provisioning based on available timeslots
 Track allocated bandwidth vs. capacity at all points on network
 Create a GIS heat map showing bottlenecks
 Drive capital planning for network expansion
 Poke the network at any point to see:
 Hierarchy of the master circuit(s)
 Which logical circuits are present
 The use of each logical circuit (down
to the DS0)
 Result is a scalable system
What can we do with this data?

36. Business Benefits
 Reduces time required to manage circuit/fiber design and
installation
 Exposes significant new GIS capabilities around telecom
 Consolidates several systems into one platform (Telecom
Database, AutoCAD drawings, Excel Spreadsheets, etc.)
 Standardizes work flow and processes

37. Business Benefits
 Eliminates a portion of drawing packages and paper
documentation
 Reduce time to troubleshoot and locate outages
 Greater data integrity and access for field maintenance
 Enhanced reporting functions
 Track 3rd Party usage of the telecom network

38. More Information? Join the discussion
We publish GIS fiber blog posts monthly:
http://www.sspinnovations.com/blog/category/fiber-manager

39. Questions?
Skye Perry
Founder & Principal Consultant
SSP Innovations
skye.perry@sspinnovations.com