Methods and systems for automatic carving and policy enforcement for optical transport network hierarchy

An optical network element, comprising:

• a plurality of ports configured to switch therebetween using an Optical Transport Network (OTN) hierarchy;
• a data store configured to store data defining bandwidth and policy for each of the plurality of ports;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the data store and configured to automatically carve bandwidth in terms of Optical channel Data Tributary Unit Group (ODTUG) structures down to a desired Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) for a connection request while matching an ODTUG structure policy based on an iterative analysis of the data thereby minimizing bandwidth fragmentation;
• wherein an OTN hierarchy policy is enforced on the connection request to select a smallest available bandwidth;
• and
• wherein the data comprises a parent/child relationship tree starting with an Optical channel Transport Unit (OTU) and continuing through each Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) layer for each OTU at the network element.

A control module, comprising:

• an interface communicatively coupled to a plurality of ports using an Optical Transport Network (OTN) hierarchy;
• a data store communicatively coupled to the interface;
• and
• circuitry communicatively coupled to the data store and the interface, wherein the circuitry is configured to:
• implement a control plane;
• and
• upon request for a new connection, automatically carve a connection in terms of Optical channel Data Tributary Unit Group (ODTUG) structures down to a desired Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) for the connection while matching an ODTUG structure policy based on a iteratively analyzing a data structure stored in the data store such that bandwidth fragmentation is minimized and the ODTUG structure policy is complied therewith;
• wherein an OTN hierarchy policy is enforced on the connection request to select a smallest available bandwidth;
• and
• wherein data comprises a parent/child relationship tree starting with an Optical channel Transport Unit (OTU) and continuing through each Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) layer for each OTU at the network element.