PalC designs and builds packet optical systems that integrate IP routing, coherent DWDM optics, open NOS, and SDN control planes into unified, disaggregated transport networks - delivering scalable capacity with operational control across metro, long-haul, and DCI environments.
What This Service Focuses On
Modern transport networks are evolving toward unified IP-optical architectures where routing decisions and wavelength provisioning are coordinated by a single control plane. PalC focuses on engineering packet optical systems where IP routing, optical transport, and control software work together as a cohesive system - enabling service providers and large network operators to adopt disaggregated, programmable optical platforms that scale in capacity while remaining operable.
Core Capabilities
PalC's packet optical engineering practice covers the full system - from coherent optics hardware integration and open NOS development through control plane unification and end-to-end operational tooling.
Design and development of software stacks for packet optical networks - integrating IP routing and optical transport functions into a coherent, programmable system.
Engineering and integration of DWDM-based systems using analog coherent optics (ACO) and digital coherent optics (DCO) on whitebox transponder and line-system platforms.
Development of packet optical solutions using open, disaggregated hardware and modular software - replacing vertically integrated proprietary platforms with vendor-neutral architectures.
Integration of IP control-plane stacks with optical abstraction layers and SDN controllers to enable coordinated packet and optical control - unified topology and path computation across layers.
Full management plane engineering - NETCONF/RESTCONF northbound interfaces, YANG model development, and configuration management tooling for packet optical network elements.
Building cohesive packet optical systems by integrating control plane, data plane, and management plane components from multiple vendors into a validated, production-ready network.
Proven Engineering
PalC engineers work at the intersection of IP and optical - from YANG model authoring and NETCONF server integration to coherent DSP bring-up and BGP-LS optical topology distribution.
Management Plane - NETCONF / YANG
YANG model integration for coherent optical channels - provisioning wavelength, modulation, and FEC through a standardised NETCONF interface.
# OpenConfig optical-channel YANG - NETCONF edit-config optical-channel leaf frequency type uint64 units "Hz" default 193100000 leaf output-power type decimal64
Control Plane - BGP-LS for Optical Topology
BGP-LS distributes both IP and optical layer topology to the PCE / SDN controller - enabling coordinated path computation across packet and optical domains.
# FRR BGP-LS optical topology advertisement router bgp 65001 neighbor 10.0.0.200 remote-as 65001 address-family link-state redistribute ospf mpls traffic-eng area 0
Open Optical NOS - Goldstone
ONF Goldstone provides open-source NOS for whitebox transponders - PalC engineers Goldstone integration with north-bound NETCONF and south-bound TAI driver stacks.
# Goldstone - TAI create gs-tai create-module module-type ac400 gs-tai create-netif name net0 tx-laser-freq 193100 gs output-power -10.0
Control Plane - G-MPLS RSVP-TE
Generalised MPLS extending RSVP-TE into the optical domain - signalling wavelength assignments and optical protection switching across ROADM nodes.
# G-MPLS RSVP-TE optical LSP setup mpls traffic-eng tunnel 100 destination 10.0.0.10 path-option 1 explicit optical-path 1 path-option 2 dynamic
Technology Stack
The packet optical engineering stack spans from physical optics and ASIC forwarding through open NOS and control plane to management plane and SDN orchestration.
Our Approach
From initial architecture design through platform engineering, interoperability validation, and production deployment - PalC manages the full engagement.
Defining packet-optical architectures aligned with capacity requirements, topology, and operational constraints - multi-layer and multi-vendor scope mapped.
Engineering packet optical platforms - coherent optics bring-up, open NOS integration, forwarding pipeline configuration, and control plane unification.
Validating packet optical behavior across scale, failure scenarios, protection switching, and multi-vendor interoperability - BER, latency, and capacity tested.
Supporting production rollout, software upgrades, troubleshooting, NETCONF/YANG evolution, and long-term network lifecycle management.
Deployment Scenarios
Proven patterns for metro, long-haul, DCI, and open transport - across service providers, hyperscalers, and large enterprise networks.
High-capacity packet optical systems for metro aggregation and long-haul connectivity - IP over DWDM with open NOS replacing proprietary transport platforms, coordinated by ONOS or PCE.
Packet optical solutions for high-bandwidth, low-latency DC-to-DC connectivity - DCO transceivers on whitebox platforms, EVPN-VXLAN over open optical transport, and programmable wavelength provisioning.
Integrated IP-over-optical architectures for scalable service delivery - G-MPLS signalled optical paths, SR-TE traffic engineering, and BGP-LS topology distribution to SDN controllers.
Disaggregated optical networks replacing proprietary transport platforms - Goldstone NOS on whitebox transponders, OpenTAI abstraction, and NETCONF/YANG-based management replacing vendor CLI.
Open packet optical transport for 5G fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul - low-latency DWDM links with precision timing (IEEE 1588 / SyncE) and open NOS aligned with O-RAN transport specifications.
Packet optical integration with GPON access - OLT and ONU integration, edge aggregation using open NOS, and IP/MPLS backhaul from access nodes to metro core using coherent optical transport.
Business Outcomes
Moving from proprietary closed systems to open, disaggregated packet optical infrastructure delivers measurable operational and commercial improvements.
Disaggregated hardware and programmable coherent optics allow capacity to scale independently from the NOS - adding wavelengths or upgrading transceivers without forklift upgrades.
Open NOS and whitebox transponders remove single-vendor lock-in - hardware and software can evolve independently, preserving long-term flexibility and cost leverage in vendor negotiations.
BGP-LS topology distribution and unified SDN control give operators a single view of both IP and optical layers - enabling optimised path computation and faster fault recovery.
Programmable, automation-ready platforms with NETCONF/YANG interfaces allow new wavelengths and transport services to be provisioned through APIs - hours instead of days.
Open standards alignment - OpenConfig, OpenTAI, G-MPLS, BGP-LS - ensures the platform evolves with the industry, not against it. Operational tooling remains consistent as the network grows.
NETCONF-based optical performance monitoring, coherent DSP diagnostics, and multi-layer telemetry give operators precise visibility into optical margin, BER trends, and fault location.
Operational Integration
PalC designs packet optical systems with operational tooling built in - NETCONF-based provisioning, optical performance monitoring, and multi-layer telemetry integrated from day one.
Deployments across AI fabrics, multi-cloud, automation, and security.
ODM PARTNERS
TRUSTED BY LEADING TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
Networking Engineering
Networking Engineering
Deep protocol engineering across BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS, Segment Routing, and IPv6 - from greenfield fabric design and multi-vendor integration to RPKI security and production-grade troubleshooting.
Explore serviceNetworking Engineering
Hands-on engineering for Intel IPU E2100 and Marvell OCTEON DPU platforms - P4 pipeline programming, DPDK data plane, NF offloading, and cloud-scale bare-metal provisioning.
Explore serviceNetworking Engineering
Software-defined networking and network function virtualisation - open control planes, NFV platform engineering, and SDN integration for multi-vendor carrier and enterprise environments.
Explore serviceNext steps
Whether evaluating open optical platforms, integrating a new coherent transponder, or building a disaggregated metro network - PalC engineers can accelerate your delivery.
Connect with our experts to discuss your network modernization, SONiC deployment, or AI infrastructure needs.
Tell us about your infrastructure challenges and we'll connect you with our experts.
