Orchestration and control of non-terrestrial networks employing free space optics

Free Space Optics (FSO) offers enormous advantages in terms of transmission capacity also for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs). However, the adoption of FSO in hybrid terrestrial and NTN requires sophisticated orchestration mechanisms to manage and optimize the interplay between fiber, FSO, and radio links. In this work, after having analyzed the current Management and Orchestration proposals for 5G towards 6G networks, with main reference to the optical communication layer, we propose to adopt the NETCONF protocol for configuration and monitoring in FSO systems. This choice allows us, in the integration between terrestrial and NTN, to have a crossdomain approach valid for all the optical layer, from the core to the NTN access.