Cisco Routed Optical Networking Solution Guide, Release 4.0

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How Routed Optical Networking components communicate

Updated: May 5, 2026

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Overview

This section describes how Routed Optical Networking software components exchange inventory, topology, performance, and service data. It clarifies communication paths among Crosswork, NSO, Cisco Optical Network Controller, EPNM, routers, and optical nodes.

Summary

The components of Routed Optical Networking perform several operations such as service discovery, node management, and collection of inventory data to communicate together.

Workflow

This diagram displays the communication sequence between the Routed Optical Networking components.

Figure 1. Routed Optical Networking communication flow
Routed Optical Networking communication flow

These stages describe how the Routed Optical Networking components communicate in Release 4.0

  1. Crosswork Network Controller discovers services. Crosswork Network Controller populates NSO with device information using RESTCONF and handles NSO provisioning requests. EMS collects fault and alarm data from devices.

  2. Crosswork Data Gateway sends device status and data to Crosswork Network Controller. Crosswork Network Controller manages the Crosswork Data Gateway instance.

  3. SR-PCE sends SR-TE/RSVP-TE and topology information to Crosswork Network Controller using REST APIs.

  4. NSO manages IOS XR router configuration using NETCONF and CLI.

  5. Crosswork Data Gateway collects network information from XR routers using CLI, SNMP, and MDT.

  6. SR-PCE acts as a network PCE and collects IGP topology information from the network using PCEP and BGP-LS.

  7. Cisco Optical Network Controller manages the SVO and NCS 1010 network nodes using NETCONF and gNMI. Cisco Optical Network Controller communicates with Cisco Optical Site Manager for NCS 1010

  8. EPNM performs router inventory, SWIM, fault, and performance data collection using SNMP, CLI, and SYSLOG.

  9. EPNM performs optical inventory, SWIM, fault, and performance data collection for NCS 2000 and NCS 1010 using NETCONF.

  10. Crosswork Hierarchical Controller discovers optical equipment, topology, and services and provisions optical services using TAPI. Crosswork Hierarchical Controller receives PM data using ONC RPC.

  11. Crosswork Hierarchical Controller discovers IGP nodes and topology and provisions services using Crosswork Network Controller NB API. Crosswork Hierarchical Controller receives PM data from Crosswork Network Controller using GRPC. Crosswork Hierarchical Controller discovers router, DCO, and QDD-OLS inventory from Crosswork Network Controller.

Note

Routed Optical Networking components are not required in all the deployments.