Communications network control

A method of operation of a communications network, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of dynamic radio traffic requests from wireless communications nodes, wherein the radio traffic requests comprise requests for backhaul traffic received from radio base stations, and requests for fronthaul traffic to digital units received from remote radio units;
• translating the radio traffic requests into corresponding transport layer requirements, wherein translating the radio traffic requests into the corresponding transport layer requirements comprises determining whether the radio traffic requests include radio traffic requests from wireless communication nodes forming a coordination cluster, and, if so, generating a transport network resource request for linked resources for radio traffic from the wireless communication nodes forming the coordination cluster;
• requesting transport network resources for the radio traffic based on the transport layer requirements, which meet the radio traffic requests, wherein a transport network comprises a plurality of optical channels;
• and
• determining whether it is possible to allocate transport network resources on a single optical channel to meet the radio traffic requests, and
• if so, requesting transport network resources on a single optical channel, or if not, requesting transport network resources on multiple optical channels that follow a same physical path.