GNPy as a Benchmark for Open and Disaggregated Optical Networks

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Publication Date: 5/1/2026

Event: Journal of Optical Communications and Networking

Reference: 18(19):D30-D43, 2026

Authors: Andrea D’Amico, NEC Laboratories America, Inc.; Esther Le Rouzic, Orange; Stefan Melin, Telia; Jan Kundrát, Cesnet; Toru Mano, NTT Network Innovation Labs; Edward James Echeverry Zuleta, Telefonica; Giacomo Borraccini, NEC Laboratories America, Inc.; Renato Ambrosone, Politecnico di Torino; Oscar Gonzalez de Dios, Telefonica; Hideki Nishizawa, NTT Network Innovation Labs; Gabriel Jaime Vivares Arias, Internexa; Arturo Mayoral López de Lerma, Telecom Infra Project; Gert Gramel, Juniper Networks; Roberto Manzotti, Cisco Photonics; Vittorio Curri, Politecnico di Torino

Abstract: The evolution toward open and partially disaggregated optical networks has introduced new, to our knowledge, requirements on how transmission performance is evaluated and compared across technologies, vendors, and deployment scenarios. In this context, sound benchmarking practices are essential to ensure that quality-of-transmission (QoT) assessments are reproducible, transparent, and meaningful beyond isolated experimental demonstrations. QoT estimation plays a central role in these practices, as it directly impacts network planning, commissioning, automation, and long-term technology selection in heterogeneous optical infrastructures. This paper discusses benchmarking practices for optical transmission in open networks using the open-source GNPy library as a reference digital model. The contribution of this work lies in formalizing how a transparent, vendor-agnostic QoT estimator can be used as a common benchmarking baseline across research and industry. Representative experimental validations spanning short-reach, multiband, and multi-vendor flex-grid transmission scenarios are reviewed and reframed as benchmarking baselines, establishing evidence-based expectations on achievable accuracy and applicability limits under realistic operating conditions. Finally, the paper illustrates how reference QoT models are employed in industry-facing benchmarking workflows, including closed-loop interactions with standardization bodies, multi-vendor planning and automation, procurement processes, and strategic network evolution toward emerging architectures.

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