SDN Solutions

Network architecture at a break point. ​

 

Core and Metro networks are on the verge of a major architectural change, fueled by a mix of economic and technological factors. The main trigger is the combination of exponential traffic growth (at 30%-50% per year) and slow revenue growth. Another – often overlooked – trigger is the reduced ability to predict future traffic, due to possible changes in peering with major traffic sources, the emergence of cloud computing and the Internet of Everything. This requires a more flexible network that can adapt to unforeseen circumstances, without significant over-provisioning and further strain to the business model.

 

Operators are ready for a change.

 

As a result carriers worldwide are increasingly willing to entertain novel network architectures that can significantly reduce CAPEX and OPEX, while maintaining or improving availability. To this end many carriers have deployed reconfigurable optical networks and are considering an increased level of elasticity, using programmable transceivers and flexible use of spectrum.

 

Limited deployment has yielded limited results. 

 

Until now, such flexibility has only been used to support a slightly more automated version of the traditional network, and the value that such an incremental approach brings is quite limited. To extract the full potential of an agile network, one needs to automate the network via distributed control planes and centralized intelligence, while giving the operator the required tools to control and understand the behavior of his network. The emergence of SDN provides the required “glue” that enables the desired network architecture.

 

Multi-layer networking is the likely solution.

 

A major factor that influences the effectiveness of the solution is the interaction of the optical layer with the client layer. Using such interaction, the network can quickly move optical capacity to where it is needed by the client layer, instead of today’s approach, of over-provisioning static client links to address different possible traffic scenarios. For example, we have shown that multi-layer restoration can save 40-60% of the resources in several European core SP networks (see figure). However, this is just the tip of the iceberg: with the help of a multi-layer and multi-vendor SDN architecture, the network can enable sophisticated optimizations that extend the usefulness of the existing assets and increase the availability of the network in the face of disasters and other unexpected scenarios.