Juniper Networks has rolled out a new optical solution providing better flexibility, cost control and multi-layer visibility to packet-optical transport.

Don Frey, principal analyst at Ovum, said today’s announcement shows Juniper is helping customers accelerate migration towards open, programmable packet-optical transport networks.

“With the Programmable Photonic Layer and proNX Optical Director, Juniper becomes the first vendor to offer centralized, disaggregated open optical line system control software from the network hardware,” Don Frey, principal analyst at Ovum.

Juniper’s end-to-end metro packet transport portfolio gives service providers the necessary building blocks to deploy new services built on cloud, 5G, IoT, multi-gigabit broadband and other advanced technologies.

Juniper Networks said it became the first networking vendor to announce it is disaggregating optical line system hardware from network control software.

Juniper Networks said its Programmable Photonic Layer open line system features the new TCX1000 Series Programmable ROADM. The new proNX Optical Director management and control platform makes it easier for customers to deploy coherent DWDM transponders — whether from Juniper, a service provider or third parties.

Juniper Programmable Photonic Layer featuring the new TCX1000 Series Programmable ROADM allows operators to upgrade to emerging high-capacity bit rates — 100G, 200G, 400G and beyond — without upgrading line system hardware.

Operators can now confidently disaggregate the line system hardware from the transponder layer and from the photonic layer control plane to better optimize the network for use cases such as data center interconnect.

“The continuously evolving dynamics presented by the cloud requires that all elements of the network be agile, open and easily disaggregated — and Juniper is ensuring that the optical layer follows suit,” said Donyel Jones-Williams, director of Service Provider Portfolio Marketing, Juniper Networks.