Technical circuits, primary and backup paths

Record technical circuits with primary and backup paths, search with constraints and assess shared risk.

Last updated: 10 November 2026

Circuits and anchors

A technical circuit describes a recorded connection between two anchors. An anchor is a port on specific equipment or the start/end of a specific cable fiber. The path is calculated from fiber, equipment and splice records between these endpoints.

Circuit types include PON, Transport (uplink) and Dark fiber; record statuses may be Planned, Active or Inactive. These describe the organisation's record status. Active does not mean live service information is being received from equipment.

Create a circuit

1. Open Technical circuits and select New circuit.
2. Complete Name and Status. Add Code, Type, Purpose and Note if needed.
3. For Anchor A, use Select node on map or the node list, then choose Port or fiber strand.
4. Repeat for Anchor B. For a cable fiber, check whether you selected its start or end.
5. If the address and building module is enabled, link the relevant building and endpoint under Drop (building → drop). This link is optional.
6. If needed, select circuit-specific Optical profiles. An empty selection uses the project profile.
7. Select Create and inspect the path result in the circuit card.

An Active circuit requires connected anchors. Use Planned if the connections are not yet in place. Linking a circuit to an endpoint does not create physical fiber or port connections; record those in the splice diagram.

Read path states

For a derived path showing Path changed, Update path accepts the newly calculated path and updates the record. Review the difference first. Show on map highlights relevant cables; Saved path shows the steps.

The saved path is the last known path snapshot. Connectivity is reassessed when relevant data changes. Validate all rechecks project circuits; it does not contact field equipment.

Use the list

Search by name, code or ID, Status and Path status help locate circuits. Selecting a counter value also filters the list to those states. Use Edit to update anchors and record details.

Purpose compatibility is informational. Additional enabled project rules may assess the record against those policies. Delete removes the circuit without deleting its anchor cable, equipment or endpoint record.

Use Outage impact in the card for an outage query, or Optical budget for loss calculations and measurements.

Select primary and backup paths

A circuit may store backup paths alongside its primary path. A Derived path is calculated from current connections; a Selected path is a candidate you reviewed and saved. Recording a backup path does not configure automatic switching on equipment.

1. Select Select path in the circuit card. If the selected path is disconnected, the button reads Reroute.
2. If needed, use Add from map under Avoid to select a cable, node, segment or duct to exclude.
3. For a path separate from other circuits, find them under Keep separate (up to 5 circuits) and select Diversity level.
4. Enter Maximum distance (m) or Maximum elements constraints if needed.
5. Select Find path and inspect candidates with On map.
6. Use Make primary or Add backup on the chosen candidate; check the saved result in the circuit card.

Primary and Backup tabs display the paths separately. Make primary on a backup changes its saved role; Remove deletes that backup. Use Revert to derived value or Remove backups and revert to derived value to return to a recalculated path arrangement.

Inspect shared physical risk

1. Use Select circuit in Technical circuits to select circuits for comparison.
2. Select Shared risk. You can also open Shared risk from a single circuit card with a backup.
3. Review shared elements at cable, duct/conduit, segment and node levels; select a row to show it on the map.
4. Check Stale or unchecked paths and Cables without routes warnings.
5. After correcting records, use Scan again and obtain CSV if needed.

Different cables may pass through the same duct or trench. Cable separation alone therefore does not establish complete physical risk separation. Do not interpret a result with missing routes or stale path records as full diversity.