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

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Regenerator sites

Updated: March 9, 2026

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Overview

Describes the functionality of regenerator sites. Explains the specific benefits and underlying principles of this essential feature for improving overall system efficiency and operational management.

A regenerator site is a network location that

  • restores and amplifies weakened optical signals affected by attenuation and dispersion,

  • converts degraded optical signals to electrical signals and back through Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) conversion, and

  • enables efficient long-distance signal transmission by maintaining signal integrity across the optical fiber.

In optical networks, as fiber length increases, unavoidable issues such as attenuation (signal power loss) and dispersion (signal spreading) degrade signal quality. These effects can significantly impact network performance over long distances, making it necessary to use regenerators to ensure reliable and efficient transmission.

Ensuring signal quality through regeneration sites

Cisco ONP supports establishing regeneration sites within optical networks. These sites are essential for maintaining signal integrity over long distances, as they utilize regenerators to enhance overall network performance. A regeneration site can be configured only as a ROADM site within Cisco ONP.

Create a regeneration site

Table 1. Feature History

Feature Name

Release Information

Feature Description
Wavelength Forcing at the Section Level

Cisco ONP Release 4.1

This feature enables you to assign distinct wavelengths to various sections of the Regen sites

Follow these steps to create a regeneration site in the network.

Before you begin

Log in to the Cisco ONP web interface.

Procedure

1.

Open the network where you want to create a regeneration site.
2.

In the network tree, expand Waves, select a wave and drill down to its trail.

Note

If the network is an SSON network or an NCS 1010 network, you see Media Channels or Circuits respectively. instead of waves. Expand Media Channels or Circuits , and drill down to its trail.

3.

Click the trail to view its properties.
4.

From the Regen Sites drop-down list, select a regeneration site.

Note

If you select a fiber from the Path of Wave drop-down list, you cannot select any regeneration site to force a path. Similarly, if you select a regeneration site, you cannot force a path for the wave. However, if you want to force a fiber, select the fiber from the Path of Wave drop-down list available under the section properties.
5.

If required, select the wavelength of each section in the properties for non-SSON network.

Note

For the SSON network, you can select the wavelength only at the trial level.
6.

Click Update.

Whenever a regeneration site is created, a new section is added along with the existing section under the trail. Regeneration can be performed using any two cards back-to-back or with a dedicated regenerator card.
7.

Click Analyze to analyze the network.

After analysis, if you click trail or section in the network tree, the map highlights the trail in orange color and the section in green color.

Note

You can assign different wavelengths for different sections. The Wavelength property under trail is denoted as "*", when different wavelengths are assigned for different sections.

You can also add a regeneration site when you are designing a new network or upgrading a network.