Leveraging digital twin technologies: all-photonics networks-as-a-service for Data Center Xchange in the era of AI [Invited Tutorial]

This tutorial paper presents a data center exchange (Data Center Xchange, DCX) architecture for all-photonics networks-as-a-service in distributed data center infrastructures, enabling the creation of a virtual large-scale data center by directly interconnecting geographically distributed data centers in metropolitan areas. In contrast to existing vendor-driven optical networking approaches, the proposed architecture adopts an operator-driven and open digital twin paradigm, leveraging cloud-native transponder architectures and open tools/interfaces such as GNPy and CMIS/TAI, and a user–carrier collaborative control framework. In particular, the cloud-native architecture enables operators to flexibly develop, deploy, and manage their own control and automation functions across transponders and controllers using container-based software components. Key requirements for such an architecture in the era of AI are identified: support for low-latency operations, scalability, reliability, and flexibility within a single network architecture; the ability to add new operator-driven automation functionalities based on an open networking approach; and the ability to control and manage remotely deployed transponders connected via access links with unknown physical parameters. We propose a set of technologies that enable digital twin operations for optical networks, including a cloud-native architecture for coherent transceivers, remote transponder control, fast end-to-end optical path provisioning, transceiver-based physical-parameter estimation incorporating digital longitudinal monitoring, and optical line system calibration, demonstrating their feasibility through field validations.