Cisco Optical Network Controller Configuration Guide, Releases 26.x.x

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Cisco Optical Network Controller Configuration Guide, Releases 26.x.x

Cisco Optical Network Controller links

Updated: September 15, 2026

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This section explains Cisco Optical Network Controller links, including link views, action options, and ASE service handling. Use it to understand link information before managing optical services.

Cisco Optical Network Controller links is a Cisco Optical Network Controller capability that

  • supports the related optical network management workflow,

  • provides context for configuration, monitoring, or troubleshooting tasks, and

  • helps operators understand how the feature behaves before they use it.

Cisco Optical Network Controller links details

The Links App is a new application in the Cisco Optical Network Controller. It provides a centralized location for managing and monitoring network links. It offers enhanced filtering and sorting capabilities compared to the topology view, allowing you to easily differentiate between discovered and undiscovered OMS links.

Figure 1. Links App
screenshot of links app

Key features of the Links app

The Links app has two tabs, OMS and Undiscovered OMS:

  • OMS tab: Lists the discovered optical links in a hierarchical, tree-structured table. The parent row shows OMS links, which, when expanded, reveal the underlying OTS links in forward and reverse directions.

  • Undiscovered OMS tab: Lists undiscovered OMS links, which are considered partial links. In this tab, the parent row is an OTS link.

  • OTN Links tab: Lists the OTN links for the tranponsder networks.

Figure 2. Links app

Click the View summary in Span Utilization to open the Span Utilization table.

Links table

The table includes these columns:

  • Link Name

  • Type (OMS or OTS or OTN)

  • Endpoint information

  • Endpoint 1 – Node Name

  • Endpoint 2 – Node Name

  • Endpoint 1 – Port

  • Endpoint 2 – Port

  • Endpoint 1 – Degree

  • Endpoint 2 – Degree

  • Tags

  • Description

  • Link Status

  • Fiber Type

  • OTS-specific information

  • Fiber Length [km]

  • Tx [dBm]

  • Rx [dBm]

  • Fiber Loss [dB]

  • Action

The table contains these interactive options:

  • Action Column: Provides the following actions:

  • Edit: Allows users to edit the Link Name, Tags, and Description.

  • View Circuit Monitoring: Cross-launches to the Circuit Monitoring page, filtering for circuits related to the selected link. This option is available only in the OMS tab and not in Undiscovered OMS tab.

  • PM History: A small arrow icon for each OTS link provides access to PM history data.

  • OCM and OTDR Cross-Launch: Each endpoint has a cross-launch icon to navigate to the relevant Cisco Optical Site Manager OCM (Optical Channel Monitoring) and OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometer) measures. If OTDR is not supported, it navigates to alarms.

Note

From release 26.1.1, the Links Monitoring table supports the OTN links and features a new Span Utilization column that provides an overview of the ODU resource utilization summary and details.

Link monitoring workspace

Link monitoring in workspace integrates links table, topology, alarms and PM history, enabling cross-application interaction. You can select a link in the Topology App and highlight it in the Links App and vice versa.

This task describes the different actions that you can perform from the Links app.

This task describes the different actions that you can perform from the Links app.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to use the links application:

Procedure

  1. Open the Links app from the sidebar.

  2. Edit Link Attributes.

    1. Select a link in the OMS or Undiscovered OMS tab.
      Note

      From release 26.1.1, for OTN networks, the Links application displays OMS Links and OTN Links attributes only.

    2. Click the edit (pencil) icon in the Action column.
    3. Modify the Link Name, Tags, or Description.
    4. Click Save to apply the changes.

  3. View the Circuit Monitoring workspace for a link.

    1. Select a link in the OMS or Undiscovered OMS tab.
      Note

      From release 26.1.1, for OTN networks, the Links application displays OMS Links and OTN Links attributes only.

    2. Click the circuit monitoring icon in the Action column.
    The Circuit Monitoring page opens, filtered to display circuits related to the selected link.

  4. View PM History for a link.

    1. In the OMS tab, expand an OMS link to view its OTS links.
    2. Click the arrow icon next to an OTS link to view its PM history.
      Figure 3. Links App
      screenshot of links app
    3. Select an interval and predefined time range or choose a custom range.
      The PM history table is displayed.
    4. Select up to 4 parameters to view on the graph.

  5. Cross-Launch to OCM/OTDR in Cisco Optical Site Manager.

    1. In the OMS tab, expand an OMS link to view its OTS links.
    2. Click the cross-launch icon in the Endpoint1-Port or Endpoint2-Port.
      Figure 4. Links App
      screenshot of links app
    3. Click OCM or OTDR to cross-launch the OCM or OTDR tab in Cisco Optical Site Manager for the selected endpoint.

      If OTDR is not supported, it navigates to alarms.

  6. Export Links data.

    1. Click Export.
    2. Optional: Select Table View and click Export to export and download the data currently displayed in the table.
    3. Select Network Linksto export all network links.
    4. Click Generate.
    5. After the file is generated, click Export to download the XLS file.
    Note

    After expanding links, wait for up to 60 seconds for the Total Transmit Power Tx(dBm) and Total Receiver Power Rx(dBm) values to be fetched. If you export or Generate a full report before all the values are fetched, the report contains only the power values for the links for which the values were fetched.

The use the links application task is complete.

SLTE links and ASE services in Cisco Optical Network Controller is a Cisco Optical Network Controller capability that

  • supports the related optical network management workflow,

  • provides context for configuration, monitoring, or troubleshooting tasks, and

  • helps operators understand how the feature behaves before they use it.

SLTE links and ASE services in Cisco Optical Network Controller details

An Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) link is an optical link type that Cisco Optical Network Controller automaticllly discovers from Cisco Optical Site Manager configuration. This allows the different applications, such as Links, Topology, and Service Manager to distinguish submarine behavior from terrestrial behavior.

  • Cisco Optical Network Controller shows SLTE links with the Submarine deployment type in Links app.

  • Service Manager shows discovered ASE channels in a dedicated SLTE ASE tab.

For details

How Cisco Optical Network Controller handles SLTE links and ASE services

Use the SLTE link and ASE service views to verify discovery results and to manage the transition between discovered ASE channels and provisioned user channels.

  • The submarine deployment type is discovered from Cisco Optical Site Manager and can be overridden in Cisco Optical Network Controller when the discovered topology needs correction for a custom deployment.

  • The link override is applied at the OTS link level, even when the Links app groups the view under an OMS link.

  • The SLTE ASE tab lists the ASE services with frequency, bandwidth, and endpoint information.

  • Upgrading an ASE service converts the selected ASE channel into a user channel. Deleting that user channel adds the ASE channel back so that the spectrum remains filled.

  • Cisco Optical Network Controller discovers an ASE service even when only one endpoint is available. If no matching OXC with the same frequency and bandwidth is present at the far end of the fiber, Cisco Optical Network Controller displays the ASE service as a partial discovery result with a single endpoint.

  • When Cisco Optical Network Controller later discovers a matching endpoint with the same frequency and bandwidth at the other end of the fiber, it completes the ASE discovery and updates the service to show both endpoints.

Use this procedure to change the SLTE link deployment type in Cisco Optical Network Controller. Complete this task when you need to configure, verify, or manage the related network operation.

Use this task in custom topologies where the submarine type is not correctly derived from link discovery. Updating the deployment type aligns the Links app and topology views with the real-world link behavior.

Before you begin

  • Configure the ASE channels on the submarine nodes by using XR CLI before onboarding the nodes in Cisco Optical Network Controller. For more details on configuring SLTE using XR CLI, see Sub-sea Configuration.

  • Ensure that the SLTE nodes and their links are already discovered in Cisco Optical Network Controller.

Follow these steps to change an SLTE link deployment type.

Procedure

  1. Click Links and then click the OMS tab.

  2. Locate the required OMS link and expand the entry to show the underlying OTS links.

    The Deployment Type can be configured on the OTS link.

  3. For the required OTS link, click Edit action.

  4. In the Edit Link dialog box, select select Submarine or Terrestrial from the Deployment Type drop-down list.

    Select Submarine when the link is part of an SLTE deployment and the discovered type must be corrected.

  5. Save the change.

    Cisco Optical Network Controller updates the OTS link deployment type.

  6. Click Refresh and verify the updated deployment type in the link list.

  • The selected OTS link uses the deployment type that you specified, and Cisco Optical Network Controller reflects the updated deployment type in the Topology.

  • To filter submarine links in the Topology application, select OTS or OMS links, click the eye icon on the right side and select the Filter Submarine Links check box.

Convert SLTE ASE channel to user channel

Use this procedure to convert SLTE ASE channel to user channel in Cisco Optical Network Controller. Complete this task when you need to configure, verify, or manage the related network operation.

The SLTE ASE tab in Service Manager displays discovered ASE services with their endpoint, frequency, and bandwidth based on SLTE configuration.

During this upgrade, constraints used by other service types are not applicable to the SLTE ASE workflow.

  • The configuration is rejected in these cases:

  • The ASE channel central frequency and channel width exactly match the user-provided central frequency and channel width for the user channel. Remove the hardware module for the ASE channel and configure the end-to-end circuit from Cisco Optical Network Controller.

  • The user channel extends beyond the ASE channel into empty spectrum. Remove the ASE channel and configure an end-to-end circuit from Cisco Optical Network Controller.

  • The user channel has a narrower width than the ASE channel but uses the same central frequency. Remove the ASE channel and configure the end-to-end circuit from Cisco Optical Network Controller.

  • Cisco Optical Network Controller provisions the required user circuit when a new user channel on the same add/drop port overlaps an existing user channel, provided that only frequency slices overlap and the payloads do not overlap.

  • When a submarine channel is created, CPCE performs no optical validation except for central frequency and channel width.

Before you begin

Ensure that the SLTE nodes are onboarded and that the required ASE services are already discovered.

Before you convert an SLTE ASE channel to a user channel, configure ASE channels on the device through IOS XR CLI as day-1 configuration. On the LINE OTS-OCH controller, configure only egress-ase-attn and egress-channel-attn.

After Cisco Optical Network Controller converts the ASE channel to a signal channel, configure ingress-channel-attn on the COM-RX port from the Cisco Optical Site Manager OCM view.

If you configure the OTS-OCH controller through IOS XR CLI after the device is onboarded in Cisco Optical Site Manager, synchronize OXC data from the Cisco Optical Site Manager Optical Cross Connections tab. This synchronization updates Cisco Optical Site Manager and then Cisco Optical Network Controller.

Follow these steps to convert an SLTE ASE channel to a user channel.

Procedure

  1. Click Service Manager and then click the SLTE ASE tab.

    The list of discovered ASE services is displayed.

  2. Select the endpoint of the actual user channel service that you want to convert.

    Review the endpoint, frequency, and bandwidth columns to confirm that you selected the correct ASE channel.

  3. Click Upgrade and select a service.

  4. Complete the steps in the CPCE service endpoints and operations task to finish converting the selected ASE channel to a user channel.

The selected ASE channel is converted to a user channel in Cisco Optical Network Controller, and the new user service is shown in Service Manager.

Note

Deleting the user channel restores the ASE channel, ensuring the spectrum is filled.