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Press Release
Paris, France, October 15, 2025 – During the NetworkX 2025 Next-Generation Optical Networking (NGON) Forum, Huawei introduced its groundbreaking Intelligent OTN solution, positioning it as the cornerstone for future-proof optical transport infrastructure. Gavin Gu, President of Optical Transport Network Domain of Huawei, detailed how this innovation addresses the escalating demands of AI-driven digital transformation in his keynote “Intelligent OTN, Intelligent Foundation.”
AI fuels rapid transformation of the Optical Transport Industry
The rapid construction of global AI data centers is injecting unprecedented momentum into the optical transport industry. The technology iteration cycle has accelerated from the past “10 years per generation” to the current “2-3 years per generation.” This shift drives a steeper decline in the cost-per-bit for network construction. Furthermore, the new collaborative model of real-time “Device-Pipe-Edge-Cloud” interaction in the intelligent era is shifting networks from “one-way” to “interactive,” and from “best effort” to “deterministic.”
Mission-critical AI workloads demand unprecedented network performance. Data Center Interconnection (DCI) requires “six nines” (99.9999%) reliability and terabit-level capacity, while Data Center Access (DCA) needs millisecond-level latency with flexible bandwidth allocation for diverse applications from industrial AI to immersive experiences.
Intelligent OTN Solution enhances network capabilities
To better support DCI and DCA scenarios, Huawei launched the Intelligent OTN solution, focusing on two core directions – “OTN for AI” and “AI for OTN” – with multiple key capabilities.
In the “OTN for AI” direction, addressing efficient DCI connectivity needs, the backbone network should upgrade with three key technical capabilities: The wavelength advancing towards 800G and even 3.2T in the future, significantly reducing the cost-per-bit for network construction; network architecture upgrades from C-band ROADM to C+L-band OXC, doubling switching capacity; and achieving zero packet loss transmission between computing nodes via the DC-OTN solution. For the user-side DCA scenario, four key capability upgrades enable the construction of an ultra-low latency metro network: Realizing “1ms to the data center” via mini-OXC devices; 100G to the edge, providing sufficient bandwidth for applications; the fgOTN solution supports fine-grained, hitless bandwidth adjustment starting from 10Mbps; and the enhanced WSON solution reduces service restoration time to within 50 milliseconds, significantly improving network reliability.
In the “AI for OTN” direction, Gavin Gu noted that OTN networks were traditionally often called “dumb pipes.” However, Intelligent OTN introduces new technologies like digital twins and AI technologies to enable upgrades throughout the entire optical network lifecycle. By building a three-dimensional digital twin model encompassing services, network, and optical fibers, the network becomes visible, manageable, and optimizable. In the planning and construction phase, service provisioning time is reduced from months to days. In the operations and optimization phase, the system can proactively identify network risks, substantially reducing potential network failures. Intelligent OTN drives the evolution of optical networks from traditional “dumb pipes” to “intelligent pipes” with self-awareness, self-decision-making, and self-optimization capabilities, advancing towards high-level autonomous networks.
“As the intelligent era fully arrives, driven by both ‘OTN for AI’ and ‘AI for OTN,’ Huawei’s Intelligent OTN solution will provide powerful transport support for global digital development,” said Gavin Gu. “It is both the transmission artery for the intelligent era and an evolving intelligent entity, solidifying the foundation for the future of the intelligent era.