ONOS Build 2016

Service providers typically operate large and complex multi-layer/multi-vendor networks based on IP/Optical systems in which the different technological layers are seldom jointly managed. In this context, a logically centralized component, called network orchestrator, can help to achieve dynamic control, planning and optimization of such networks for optimal service accommodation, according to both the availability of resources and the needs of the applications. 

A packet-optical networking use-case is available in ONOS for the direct control of packet-switching and circuit-switching elements. Moreover, ONOS provides an Intent-based interface for policy-based network management. However, the use-case is mostly focused on OpenFlow-based switching and does not fit very well in the typical architecture of network operators, where technological domains are controlled by vendor-specific solutions, thus preventing the direct control of network devices by a single centralized controller. Furthermore, it includes a limited set of requirements that can be defined by applications and considered during the creation of the service.

In this talk, we present the work carried out so far in the ACINO European Project towards IP/Optical network orchestration, which is addressing these and further issues, starting from the currently available ONOS implementation. ONOS has also been enriched with a preliminary application-centric logic, in order to differentiate the service offered to each application at each layer of the transport network. The proposed concept has been already demonstrated over a real IP/optical testbed with two relevant use-cases for network operators: policy-based reactive failure recovery and secure transmission as a service.