  Optical communication is developing rapidly in the directions of hardware
resource diversification, transmission system flexibility, and network function
virtualization. Its proliferation poses a significant challenge to traditional
optical communication management and control systems. Digital twin (DT), a
technology that utilizes data, models, and algorithms and integrates multiple
disciplines, acts as a bridge between the real and virtual worlds for
comprehensive connectivity. In the digital space, virtual models are stablished
dynamically to simulate and describe the states, behaviors, and rules of
physical objects in the physical space. DT has been significantly developed and
widely applied in industrial and military fields. This study introduces the DT
technology to optical communication through interdisciplinary crossing and
proposes a DT framework suitable for optical communication. The intelligent
fault management model, flexible hardware configuration model, and dynamic
transmission simulation model are established in the digital space with the
help of deep learning algorithms to ensure the highreliability operation and
high-efficiency management of optical communication systems and networks.
