ONT Software Upgrade

Because there are a lot of ONTs our there, we need mechanized capabilities to manage large numbers without making mistakes.

The NEM and the POD hardware should support a method involving two “banks” of software in the ONT device.  At any given time one bank is in operation with a given software release, and the second bank can be loaded with a different software release.

By remote NEM command it must be possible to boot the ONT to either of the two banks and have it come up on the desired software release.  Presumably several ONTs will be upgraded under controlled conditions to make sure that the new software release works as expected.  When DevOps has confidence in the new release, they will use automated tools to perform the upgrade on large numbers of ONTs:

Select Groups of ONTs

1. Select groups of ONTs from a list of all ONTs managed by the POD. This larger group will be divided into smaller groups at the discretion of the DevOps team.  A group can have single ONT for testing purposes.

Push the new release to the ONTs

1. An NEM tool must enable the user to select the subdivided groups for a software push. The software push is when the new release is downloaded remotely to the ONT.  No further action is taken other than to deliver the new release and to store it in the free bank.

1. NEM must provide queries to tell the user the status of the software push for each remote ONT. When all ONTs in a sub-group are finished, the user may select the next group for the push.  It must be possible for the system to simultaneously perform the software push to at least twenty (20) ONTs at a time.

Boot to the new Release

1. NEM must also provide a tool that enables the DevOps user to designate a group of ONTs for automatic scheduled reboot onto the bank with the new software release. These groups could be the same groups used for the software pushes.

Upgrade Status

1. NEM must provide queries to tell the user the status of the reboot and operational status of the ONTs after the upgrade. When all ONTs in a sub-group are finished, the user may select the next group for the reboot and upgrade.

Roll Back to the Previous Release

1. NEM must also provide a tool where the user can designate the groups of ONTs to be rebooted back to the original bank if it necessary to roll-back to the previous software release.