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

Line Rate Tuner mode

Updated: March 9, 2026

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Overview

Optimize optical sources using Line Rate Tuner mode

Create a custom optical source using tuner analysis

Input parameters for creating custom optical sources
Start a new tuner analysis
Add the custom optical source to the network

Overview

Describes the functionality of line Rate Tuner mode. Explains the benefits of this feature and how it contributes to efficient and robust network planning.

Line Rate Tuner mode is a network planning feature that

automates the calculation and selection of optimal optical sources for a network,
reduces human errors by minimizing manual calculations, and
streamlines the process of selecting the correct optical source from available resources.

Table 1. Feature History
Feature Name	Release Information	Feature Description
Automated Selection of Optimal Wavelength Bitrate: Flexible Modeling	Cisco ONP Release 5.2	You can now automate the calculation of optical sources for your networks using the new Line Rate Tuner Mode. This mode reduces human errors while finding the correct optical source for your network from a set of network resources.

Note

Line Rate Tuner mode is available for NCS 2000 networks and NCS 1010 networks.

Optimize optical sources using Line Rate Tuner mode

Use this procedure to automate, simulate, and apply optimal optical source configurations to your network using the Line Rate Tuner mode in Cisco ONP.

Before you begin

Procedure

Open the network in Analyze mode.

Choose Network > Enter Line Rate Tuner Mode.

You see a progress bar while the system switches to Line Rate Tuner mode.

The network opens in the Line Rate Tuner Mode.

Run the line rate tuner analysis on a section of media channel to create custom optical source that you can add to the network. For steps, see the Create a custom optical source using tuner analysis task.

Run the tuner analysis again for another new section of the media channel. For steps, see the Start a new tuner analysis task.

Open the tuner results and add them to the network. For steps, see the Add the custom optical source to the network task.

Exit the Line Rate Tuner mode.

Choose Network > Exit Line Rate Tuner Mode.

The Exiting Tuner dialog box appears.
Choose the appropriate action as required.

Button	Actions
Previous State	Returns your network to its previous state and applies the changes.
Upgrade	Switches your network to Upgrade mode and applies the changes.
Cancel	Cancels the operation.

The network exits the Line Rate Tuner mode.

The network is updated with optimized optical sources and demand channels. Cisco ONP exits tuner mode, when required.

Create a custom optical source using tuner analysis

Use this procedure in Cisco ONP to simulate and configure a new custom optical source. You can also modify parameters for media channel sections and save the results.

Before you begin

Procedure

Open the network in Line Rate Tuner mode.

Click Open Tuner Input.

In the network tree, select the section of the media channel to which you want to add the tuner input.

The section you selected appears with default parameter values in Select Input Parameters.

Modify the Input Parameters as required.

See Input parameters for creating custom optical sources.

(Optional) Click Reset to reset the modified parameters to default values.

Click Add.

A confirmation message appears indicating the tuner input was added successfully. You can review the details of the modified section.

Table 2. Select section parameters
Section Parameters	Description
Section Label	Name of the modified section.
Src Site	Site name for the optical channel source.
Dst Site	Site name for the optical channel destination.
Path	Fiber paths in the section.
Actions	Icons to edit or delete the modified section.

(Optional) Edit or delete the modified section.

To edit:

Click the pencil icon.
Modify the input parameters as required.
Click Update to save the changes.

To delete:

Click the trash bin icon.
Click Yes to confirm.

Click Run Tuner to start the simulation.

The progress bar appears and notifies you when the analysis completes.

In Tuner Result, click Export to export the results as an Excel file for reference.

The custom optical source is created, tuner analysis is completed, and results are available for export and review.

What to do next

Add the custom optical source to the network.

Input parameters for creating custom optical sources

This table describes the input parameters that are required for creating custom optical sources.

Table 3. Input parameters for creating custom optical sources
Property	Platform	Description
Optical Family	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the optical family. Cisco ONP shows options based on the network analysis and the optical family you select. Based on the optical family you select, the remaining parameters provide related options.
Optical Source	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the optical source. Cisco ONP shows a list of optical sources you have already imported.
Data Rate	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the data rate. Based on the optical family you select, Cisco ONP displays options to choose the channel capacity for the new section.
Bit Rate Range	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the bit data rate. Based on the optical family you select, Cisco ONP shows options to choose the speed of data transfer in the new section.
Baud Rate Range	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the baud rate range. Based on the optical family you select, Cisco ONP shows options to set the minimum signal width for each new channel.
FEC Type	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the FEC type. Based on the optical family you select, Cisco ONP shows a list of supported FEC types.
Result Type	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the Result Type. The available options are: Best OSNR: shows results based on maximum OSNR margin. Maximum Capacity: shows results based on the maximum capacity of the channels. Maximum DataRate Maximum Capacity: show resulsts based on maximum data rate per maximum capacity. Maximum DataRate Best OSNR: show resulsts based on maximum data rate per maximum OSNR margin.
Optical Feasibility	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose optical feasibility for the new section. The available options are: Green Yellow Orange Red Each color represents the severity of alarms that may arise in the new section.
Sigma Number	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the sigma number from 0 to 3. The sigma number is used in the calculation of the OSNR margin.
Number of results	NCS 2000 SSON NCS 1010	Choose the number of optical source results required for the new section The default value is 5, but you can select up to 15 results.

Start a new tuner analysis

Use these steps to start a fresh tuner analysis for the new section.

Before you begin

Procedure

	1.	Open the network in Line Rate Tuner mode.
	2.	Click Start New. The Start New Tuner dialog box appears and asks for confirmation.
	3.	(Optional) Check the Retain the tuner inputs check box to keep the previous input values.
	4.	Click Yes. The message Started new tuner successfully appears.
	5.	Modify the input parameters of the new section as needed, and click Update to save the parameters.
	6.	Click Run Tuner to trigger the simulation. The Running Tuner Analysis progress bar appears. The message, Tuner analysis completed successfully appears.

What to do next

The analysis for the new section is completed successfully using the updated input parameters. The results are available for review.

What to do next

Add the tuner results to the network.

Add the custom optical source to the network

Use this procedure to add custom demand channels and their associated optical sources generated from a Tuner Result.

Before you begin

Procedure

	1.	Open the network in Line Rate Tuner mode.
	2.	Click Open Tuner Result. The Tuner Result pane appears and displays the new sections and their demand channels.
	3.	To add the optical source to the network, perform one of these actions: To add manually: Note For some custom optical source results, the download icon becomes disabled. In such cases, go to Manage > Optical Source to download the optical result as explained in Download Optical Sources. Click the Download Optical Source icon. The Downloading Optical Source message appears. The Excel sheet contains data in Cisco ONP format. Open the Excel sheet to review the data. Import optical sources as explained in Import Optical Sources. To add automatically: Click the Add Demand to Network icon. The No. of demands pop-up appears asking for the number of demands to add to the network. Enter the demands number and click Add. When the Demand is added successfully message appears, confirm that the new demand appears in the network tree. Cisco ONP automatically adds the required optical source to the server.

The custom optical source and its demand are successfully added to the network. You can review the new demand and associated optical source in the network tree.

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