OPEN CALL
DYNPAC
DYNAMIC PATH COMPUTATION TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF SERVICE (QOS)
A fundamental benefit that SDN (Software Defined Networking) has over classic IP connectivity is the potential to greatly improve network efficiency by regulating traffic flow in response to the status of the network at any given time. This is the area addressed by the DyNPaC project, which is working on an OpenFlow solution that uses dynamic path computation algorithms to shape traffic in a QoS-aware manner and based on real time information about the network. DyNPaC is run by the I2T Research Group from the University of the Basque Country, a team that has extensive experience in OpenFlow technologies as well as telecommunications service management and working with the Spanish and Basque NRENs.
“We want to take advantage of the characteristics of OpenFlow” says Eduardo Jacob, project coordinator “in the sense of being able to define the flows by disaggregating the original flow in several smaller flows, reacting to the state of the network; this means that we are able to monitor the network and as a response to the actual state disaggregate traffic, route it in different parts of the network, and aggregate it again at the exit of the network. This will give us the possibility to have a better use of the network, because we will have better control of the capacity used, so it will be interesting from the economical point of view. This also benefits those applications related to security.”
DREAMER
SDN – COMING TO A NETWORK NEAR YOU!
What does it take to evolve the current IP backbone to SDN (Software Defined Networking)? This question is at the core of the work being carried out by the DREAMER project, which is developing a solution based on a thorough study of the actual operational requirements of an NREN. DREAMER brings together three partners: the Italian research organizations CNIT and CREATE-NET, and the Italian NREN, GARR, which contributes – among other things - the operational requirements. “The project is about evolving the current IP backbone network towards SDN, by meeting carrier-grade requirements,” says Stefano Salsano, coordinator of the project. “For this purpose the project will enhance the existing open source platform – we want to have an open
approach – so we want to evolve this platform adding this new capability.” DREAMER takes an evolutionary approach whereby the SDN functionality in the backbone nodes operates in parallel with (existing) IP routing protocols. To this end, the team designed and is currently testing a hybrid IP/SDN node called OSHI – Open Source Hybrid IP/SDN - developed entirely with Open Source components. In June of this year, the project organised a workshop for experts in the application of SDN technology, where it gave a demonstration of the new prototype. The event, and the attendees, are part of a larger context of collaborative work by the IEEE SDN community.
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