System and method of use of extensible network element software agents for state and network verifications in packet or optical transport networks

A method, comprising:

• executing, on computer hardware in a network element in a transport network, computer-executable instructions configured as one or more software agents, the computer-executable instructions causing the computer hardware to:
• receive instructions to apply a configuration to the network element;
• determine a state of the network element, comprising comparing a current state of transient properties of the network element against a predetermined, expected state of the transient properties of the network element;
• verify a state of one or more other network elements or paths in the transport network by comparing a current state of one or more network-level constraints of the one or more other network elements or paths against a predetermined, expected state of the one or more network-level constraints on the one or more other network elements or paths;
• detect a misconfiguration from the comparison of the current state to the predetermined, expected state of at least one of the current state of the network element and the current state of the one or more network-level constraints of the one or more other network elements or paths;
• and
• negatively acknowledge and reject the instructions to apply the configuration.

A network element in a transport network, the network element comprising:

• computer hardware comprising one or more of a computer processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable circuit board, and a microcontroller;
• and
• one or more non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions configured as one or more software agents that when executed by the computer hardware cause the computer hardware to:
• determine a state of the network element, comprising comparing a current state of transient properties of the network element against a predetermined, expected state of the transient properties of the network element;
• and
• verify a state of one or more other network elements or paths in the transport network by comparing a current state of one or more network-level constraints of the one or more other network elements or paths against a predetermined, expected state of the one or more network-level constraints on the one or more other network elements or paths.