SDN Controller for Transport Network Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current data transport networks face limitations in flexibility and efficiency due to the segregation of control and management functions across multiple layers, leading to increased operational costs and complexity in managing and provisioning connections across sub-networks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Software Defined Networking (SDN) configuration manager that separates the control and management functions from the nodes, utilizing processors to compute and manage paths within the transport network, allowing for flexible deployment and management through protocols like RSVP or OpenFlow, enabling implicit and explicit provisioning modes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If control and management functions are segregated across multiple layers in data transport networks, then network functionality and protocol support are maintained, but operational complexity and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges control and management functions into a unified SDN controller that operates across multiple network layers. This consolidation allows the system to maintain diverse network functionalities while reducing management complexity through a single centralized control point that coordinates operations across optical, electronic, and packet switching layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The SDN controller acts as an intermediary between various network layers and protocols. It provides a unified interface for managing heterogeneous network components, translating between different protocol requirements and coordinating resource allocation across layers without requiring direct management of each individual layer's complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional multi-layer network management is used, then protocol compatibility is maintained, but provisioning efficiency and operational cost-effectiveness decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller performs preliminary path computation and resource reservation across multiple layers before actual data transmission begins. By pre-calculating optimal routes and reserving resources in advance, the system maintains protocol compatibility while significantly improving provisioning efficiency and reducing operational delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified SDN controller provides universal management capabilities that work across multiple network layers and protocols simultaneously. This multi-functional approach allows a single control system to handle diverse protocol requirements while improving provisioning efficiency through integrated resource allocation and coordinated switching across optical, electronic, and packet layers.
3Ease of operation
If centralized SDN control is implemented, then flexibility and management simplicity improve, but control single point of failure risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller is segmented into multiple distributed control nodes that can operate independently. This segmentation maintains the flexibility and management simplicity benefits of centralized control while eliminating the single point of failure risk by allowing any individual controller node to fail without compromising overall system operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different controller nodes are assigned different levels of authority and functionality based on local network conditions and requirements. This local quality approach allows the system to maintain centralized management simplicity where needed while providing localized autonomy and fault tolerance in specific network regions, balancing management simplicity with system reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses are disclosed including a node having a switch for communicating traffic from input interface to output interface; and a control module, located proximate to the input interface, output interface and switch, comprising a communication interface configured to connect to a third communication link external to the node and having a processor accessing network node configuration information and being configured to compute a path to a destination node through the output interface with the network node configuration information and also configured to be switched from a first state in which the processor provides first instructions to the switch to configure the switch to communicate the traffic from the input interface to the output interface, to a second state in which the processor provides second instructions, received via the communication interface, to the switch to configure the switch to communicate traffic from the input interface to the output interface.