NTT outlined details of a prototype, 10 Gbps high-performance SDN software switch that it developed as part of the “Research and Development of Network Virtualization Technology” program commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
NTT, which is already using SDN in its data centers for cloud services, said it developed this prototype SDN software switch to handle the large scale flow entries that will be required in wide area networks, such as those of telecommunications carriers and Internet providers.
The prototype switch still transfers large packets at a 10 Gbps wire rate even when 100K entries are in its flow tables and each packet header must be rewritten. This makes it one of the highest performance SDN software switches to date, according to NTT.
The work was carried out by NTT Network Innovation Laboratories (Yokosuka, Kanagawa) as part of reseach for SDN software nodes in the “O3 Project”.
The switch features a “Flexible parallel Flow processing Framework.”
http://www.ntt.co.jp/news2013/1312e/131209a.html
Earlier this year, leading Japanese companies, including Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, NTT Communications and NTT, launched the “Open Innovation over Network Platforms” research and development (R&D) project, also known as the “O3 Project”.
The project, which is supported by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, aims to develop network virtualization technology that enables multiple telecommunications carriers and service providers who share network resources to design and construct networks and manage their operations freely to suit their needs.
Specifically, a common SDN layer will be developed to integrate a multilayer infrastructure consisting of optical, wireless and packet communications platforms. Compared to existing SDN architectures, the O3 Project targets a common, multi-carrier framework that would enable any Service Providers to share resources.
In September 2013, NTT Com’s Nationwide SDN for Uncompressed HDTV received the Innovation Award in Content Delivery at IBC 2013. The service provides stable transmission of uncompressed high-definition video images between the 128 members of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association via a large-capacity and highly reliable network.
NTT Com said the value of SDN in this application is that it enables simplified functionality for broadcasters, such as adjusting the bandwidth requirements of each station according to their program schedule. By centrally managing the network, the technology flexibly and efficiently manages traffic to ensure the flawless and timely transmission of vast amounts of data between stations.
In June 2013, NTT showcased its Versatile Openflow vaLidaTor (VOLT) resource control system for software defined networking (SDN) at Interop Tokyo 2013.
NTT said VOLT, which was developed in partnership with Fujitsu, is able to duplicate the entire route information and configuration of OpenFlow. This can be used to test a new network under the same conditions as the real environment.
The system consists of an MPLS edge router and controller.
Blueprint Tutorial: SDN and NFV for Optimizing Carrier Networks
This article provides some examples of how SDN and NFV can be applied to various segments of a carrier network, and how the functions of a traditional carrier network can be offloaded to a virtualized datacenter to improve end-to-end performance.
