Translation Device for SDN Protocol Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
In heterogeneous access networks, legacy network devices with different communication protocols pose a challenge for provisioning in Software Defined Networks (SDNs), as some devices cannot be provisioned using the OpenFlow protocol, leading to increased complexity and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A translation device is introduced to receive messages from an SDN controller, determine the required protocol for each downstream network device, and translate data accordingly, enabling provisioning without modifying existing devices, by presenting a standardized provisioning scheme across different protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a standardized provisioning scheme (OpenFlow protocol) is used for all network devices, then the SDN controller can uniformly manage devices, but legacy network devices that do not support OpenFlow cannot be provisioned
Solution Approach 1:
A translation device is introduced as an intermediary component between the SDN controller and legacy network devices. This translation device receives OpenFlow protocol messages from the controller, translates them into appropriate legacy protocols (such as SNMP, NETCONF, or vendor-specific protocols), and forwards them to the target legacy devices. This mediator approach enables protocol compatibility without modifying the legacy devices themselves, thus resolving the contradiction between standardized provisioning and legacy device support.
Solution Approach 2:
The provisioning system is segmented into distinct functional layers: the SDN controller layer that maintains standardized OpenFlow interfaces, the translation device layer that handles protocol conversion, and the legacy device layer that operates with traditional protocols. This segmentation allows each layer to operate independently with its own protocol stack, enabling the SDN controller to uniformly manage devices through OpenFlow while legacy devices continue to use their native protocols without requiring modification.
2Adaptability or versatility
If legacy network devices are modified to support OpenFlow protocol, then protocol compatibility is achieved, but device modification and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than modifying legacy network devices to support OpenFlow, a translation device serves as an intermediary that performs protocol conversion. This approach preserves the original legacy devices unchanged, avoiding modification costs and maintenance complexities, while still achieving protocol compatibility through the translation layer that adapts OpenFlow messages into legacy device-compatible formats.
Solution Approach 2:
The translation device creates a virtual representation or copy of the legacy device's protocol interface, allowing the SDN controller to interact with the legacy device through a standardized OpenFlow interface while the translation device handles the actual protocol conversion. This copying approach enables compatibility without physical or software modification of the legacy devices themselves.
3Reliability
If multiple provisioning mechanisms are used for different device types, then each device can be provisioned appropriately, but system complexity and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The translation device is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple legacy protocols simultaneously. It can translate OpenFlow messages into various legacy protocols (SNMP, NETCONF, vendor-specific protocols) based on the target device type. This universal translation capability allows a single translation device to provision diverse legacy devices appropriately while maintaining a unified OpenFlow interface at the SDN controller, thereby reducing the need for multiple specialized provisioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The translation device acts as a universal intermediary that abstracts the complexity of multiple legacy protocols from the SDN controller. Instead of the controller needing to implement multiple provisioning mechanisms for different device types, the translation device handles all protocol conversions centrally, simplifying the overall provisioning system while ensuring each device receives appropriate protocol-specific messages for reliable provisioning.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus for provisioning a network device are disclosed. In one aspect, a message is received by a translation device from a controller. A determination is made, by the translation device, that the received message includes data that is destined for multiple different downstream network devices. A determination is made that a first downstream network device among the multiple different downstream network devices is incapable of being provisioned using a communications protocol of the received message. Data from the received message, that is destined for the first downstream network device, is translated, by the translation device, from the communications protocol of the received message to a translated message defined in a different protocol that is required to provision the first downstream network device. The translated message is transmitted, by the translation device, to the first downstream network device according to the different protocol.