Survivability aspects of future optical backbone networks

In huidige glasvezelnetwerken kan een enkele vezel een gigantische hoeveelheid data dragen, ruwweg het equivalent van 25 miljoen gelijktijdige telefoongesprekken. Hierdoor zullen netwerkstoringen, zoals breuken van een glasvezelkabel, de communicatie van een groot aantal eindgebruikers verstoren. Netwerkoperatoren kiezen er dan ook voor om hun netwerk zo te bouwen dat zulke grote storingen automatisch opgevangen worden. Dit proefschrift spitst zich toe op twee aspecten rond de overleefbaarheid in toekomstige optische netwerken. De eerste doelstelling die beoogd wordt is het tot stand brengen vanrobuuste dataverbindingen over meerdere netwerken. Door voldoende betrouwbare verbindingen tot stand te brengen over een infrastructuur die niet door een enkele entiteit wordt beheerd kan men bv. weredwijd Internettelevisie van hoge kwaliteit aanbieden. De bestudeerde oplossing heeft niet enkel tot doel om deze zeer betrouwbare verbinding te berekenen, maar ook om dit te bewerkstelligen met een minimum aan gebruikte netwerkcapaciteit. De tweede doelstelling was om een antwoord te formuleren om de vraag hoe het toepassen van optische schakelsystemen gebaseerd op herconfigureerbare optische multiplexers een impact heeft op de overleefbaarheid van een optisch netwerk. Bij lagere volumes hebben optisch geschakelde netwerken weinig voordeel van dergelijke gesofistikeerde methoden. Elektronisch geschakelde netwerken vertonen geen afhankelijkheid van het datavolume en hebben altijd baat bij optimalisatie

Logical topology design for IP rerouting: ASONs versus static OTNs

IP-based backbone networks are gradually moving to a network model consisting of high-speed routers that are flexibly interconnected by a mesh of light paths set up by an optical transport network that consists of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) links and optical cross-connects. In such a model, the generalized MPLS protocol suite could provide the IP centric control plane component that will be used to deliver rapid and dynamic circuit provisioning of end-to-end optical light paths between the routers. This is called an automatic switched optical (transport) network (ASON). An ASON enables reconfiguration of the logical IP topology by setting up and tearing down light paths. This allows to up- or downgrade link capacities during a router failure to the capacities needed by the new routing of the affected traffic. Such survivability against (single) IP router failures is cost-effective, as capacity to the IP layer can be provided flexibly when necessary. We present and investigate a logical topology optimization problem that minimizes the total amount or cost of the needed resources (interfaces, wavelengths, WDM line-systems, amplifiers, etc.) in both the IP and the optical layer. A novel optimization aspect in this problem is the possibility, as a result of the ASON, to reuse the physical resources (like interface cards and WDM line-systems) over the different network states (the failure-free and all the router failure scenarios). We devised a simple optimization strategy to investigate the cost of the ASON approach and compare it with other schemes that survive single router failures

A Survey on the Contributions of Software-Defined Networking to Traffic Engineering

Since the appearance of OpenFlow back in 2008, software-defined networking (SDN) has gained momentum. Although there are some discrepancies between the standards developing organizations working with SDN about what SDN is and how it is defined, they all outline traffic engineering (TE) as a key application. One of the most common objectives of TE is the congestion minimization, where techniques such as traffic splitting among multiple paths or advanced reservation systems are used. In such a scenario, this manuscript surveys the role of a comprehensive list of SDN protocols in TE solutions, in order to assess how these protocols can benefit TE. The SDN protocols have been categorized using the SDN architecture proposed by the open networking foundation, which differentiates among data-controller plane interfaces, application-controller plane interfaces, and management interfaces, in order to state how the interface type in which they operate influences TE. In addition, the impact of the SDN protocols on TE has been evaluated by comparing them with the path computation element (PCE)-based architecture. The PCE-based architecture has been selected to measure the impact of SDN on TE because it is the most novel TE architecture until the date, and because it already defines a set of metrics to measure the performance of TE solutions. We conclude that using the three types of interfaces simultaneously will result in more powerful and enhanced TE solutions, since they benefit TE in complementary ways.European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (GN4) under Grant 691567 Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the Secure Deployment of Services Over SDN and NFV-based Networks Project S&NSEC under Grant TEC2013-47960-C4-3-

Real-time bandwidth encapsulation for IP/MPLS Protection Switching

Bandwidth reservation and bandwidth allocation are needed to guarantee the protection of voice traffic during network failure. Since voice calls have a time constraint of 50 ms within which the traffic must be recovered, a real-time bandwidth management scheme is required. Such bandwidth allocation scheme that prioritizes voice traffic will ensure that the voice traffic is guaranteed the necessary bandwidth during the network failure. Additionally, a mechanism is also required to provide the bandwidth to voice traffic when the reserved bandwidth is insufficient to accommodate voice traffic. This mechanism must be able to utilise the working bandwidth or bandwidth reserved for lower priority applications and allocate it to the voice traffic when a network failure occurs

Characterization, design and re-optimization on multi-layer optical networks

L'augment de volum de tràfic IP provocat per l'increment de serveis multimèdia com HDTV o vídeo conferència planteja nous reptes als operadors de xarxa per tal de proveir transmissió de dades eficient. Tot i que les xarxes mallades amb multiplexació per divisió de longitud d'ona (DWDM) suporten connexions òptiques de gran velocitat, aquestes xarxes manquen de flexibilitat per suportar tràfic d’inferior granularitat, fet que provoca un pobre ús d'ample de banda. Per fer front al transport d'aquest tràfic heterogeni, les xarxes multicapa representen la millor solució. Les xarxes òptiques multicapa permeten optimitzar la capacitat mitjançant l'empaquetament de connexions de baixa velocitat dins de connexions òptiques de gran velocitat. Durant aquesta operació, es crea i modifica constantment una topologia virtual dinàmica gràcies al pla de control responsable d’aquestes operacions. Donada aquesta dinamicitat, un ús sub-òptim de recursos pot existir a la xarxa en un moment donat. En aquest context, una re-optimizació periòdica dels recursos utilitzats pot ser aplicada, millorant així l'ús de recursos. Aquesta tesi està dedicada a la caracterització, planificació, i re-optimització de xarxes òptiques multicapa de nova generació des d’un punt de vista unificat incloent optimització als nivells de capa física, capa òptica, capa virtual i pla de control. Concretament s'han desenvolupat models estadístics i de programació matemàtica i meta-heurístiques. Aquest objectiu principal s'ha assolit mitjançant cinc objectius concrets cobrint diversos temes oberts de recerca. En primer lloc, proposem una metodologia estadística per millorar el càlcul del factor Q en problemes d'assignació de ruta i longitud d'ona considerant interaccions físiques (IA-RWA). Amb aquest objectiu, proposem dos models estadístics per computar l'efecte XPM (el coll d'ampolla en termes de computació i complexitat) per problemes IA-RWA, demostrant la precisió d’ambdós models en el càlcul del factor Q en escenaris reals de tràfic. En segon lloc i fixant-nos a la capa òptica, presentem un nou particionament del conjunt de longituds d'ona que permet maximitzar, respecte el cas habitual, la quantitat de tràfic extra proveït en entorns de protecció compartida. Concretament, definim diversos models estadístics per estimar la quantitat de tràfic donat un grau de servei objectiu, i diferents models de planificació de xarxa amb l'objectiu de maximitzar els ingressos previstos i el valor actual net de la xarxa. Després de resoldre aquests problemes per xarxes reals, concloem que la nostra proposta maximitza ambdós objectius. En tercer lloc, afrontem el disseny de xarxes multicapa robustes davant de fallida simple a la capa IP/MPLS i als enllaços de fibra. Per resoldre aquest problema eficientment, proposem un enfocament basat en sobre-dimensionar l'equipament de la capa IP/MPLS i recuperar la connectivitat i el comparem amb la solució convencional basada en duplicar la capa IP/MPLS. Després de comparar solucions mitjançant models ILP i heurístiques, concloem que la nostra solució permet obtenir un estalvi significatiu en termes de costos de desplegament. Com a quart objectiu, introduïm un mecanisme adaptatiu per reduir l'ús de ports opto-electrònics (O/E) en xarxes multicapa sota escenaris de tràfic dinàmic. Una formulació ILP i diverses heurístiques són desenvolupades per resoldre aquest problema, que permet reduir significativament l’ús de ports O/E en temps molt curts. Finalment, adrecem el problema de disseny resilient del pla de control GMPLS. Després de proposar un nou model analític per quantificar la resiliència en topologies mallades de pla de control, usem aquest model per proposar un problema de disseny de pla de control. Proposem un procediment iteratiu lineal i una heurística i els usem per resoldre instàncies reals, arribant a la conclusió que es pot reduir significativament la quantitat d'enllaços del pla de control sense afectar la qualitat de servei a la xarxa.The explosion of IP traffic due to the increase of IP-based multimedia services such as HDTV or video conferencing poses new challenges to network operators to provide a cost-effective data transmission. Although Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) meshed transport networks support high-speed optical connections, these networks lack the flexibility to support sub-wavelength traffic leading to poor bandwidth usage. To cope with the transport of that huge and heterogeneous amount of traffic, multilayer networks represent the most accepted architectural solution. Multilayer optical networks allow optimizing network capacity by means of packing several low-speed traffic streams into higher-speed optical connections (lightpaths). During this operation, a dynamic virtual topology is created and modified the whole time thanks to a control plane responsible for the establishment, maintenance, and release of connections. Because of this dynamicity, a suboptimal allocation of resources may exist at any time. In this context, a periodically resource reallocation could be deployed in the network, thus improving network resource utilization. This thesis is devoted to the characterization, planning, and re-optimization of next-generation multilayer networks from an integral perspective including physical layer, optical layer, virtual layer, and control plane optimization. To this aim, statistical models, mathematical programming models and meta-heuristics are developed. More specifically, this main objective has been attained by developing five goals covering different open issues. First, we provide a statistical methodology to improve the computation of the Q-factor for impairment-aware routing and wavelength assignment problems (IA-RWA). To this aim we propose two statistical models to compute the Cross-Phase Modulation variance (which represents the bottleneck in terms of computation time and complexity) in off-line and on-line IA-RWA problems, proving the accuracy of both models when computing Q-factor values in real traffic scenarios. Second and moving to the optical layer, we present a new wavelength partitioning scheme that allows maximizing the amount of extra traffic provided in shared path protected environments compared with current solutions. Specifically, we define several statistical models to estimate the traffic intensity given a target grade of service, and different network planning problems for maximizing the expected revenues and net present value. After solving these problems for real networks, we conclude that our proposed scheme maximizes both revenues and NPV. Third, we tackle the design of survivable multilayer networks against single failures at the IP/MPLS layer and WSON links. To efficiently solve this problem, we propose a new approach based on over-dimensioning IP/MPLS devices and lightpath connectivity and recovery and we compare it against the conventional solution based on duplicating backbone IP/MPLS nodes. After evaluating both approaches by means of ILP models and heuristic algorithms, we conclude that our proposed approach leads to significant CAPEX savings. Fourth, we introduce an adaptive mechanism to reduce the usage of opto-electronic (O/E) ports of IP/MPLS-over-WSON multilayer networks in dynamic scenarios. A ILP formulation and several heuristics are developed to solve this problem, which allows significantly reducing the usage of O/E ports in very short running times. Finally, we address the design of resilient control plane topologies in GMPLS-enabled transport networks. After proposing a novel analytical model to quantify the resilience in mesh control plane topologies, we use this model to propose a problem to design the control plane topology. An iterative model and a heuristic are proposed and used to solve real instances, concluding that a significant reduction in the number of control plane links can be performed without affecting the quality of service of the network

Access and metro network convergence for flexible end-to-end network design

This paper reports on the architectural, protocol, physical layer, and integrated testbed demonstrations carried out by the DISCUS FP7 consortium in the area of access - metro network convergence. Our architecture modeling results show the vast potential for cost and power savings that node consolidation can bring. The architecture, however, also recognizes the limits of long-reach transmission for low-latency 5G services and proposes ways to address such shortcomings in future projects. The testbed results, which have been conducted end-to-end, across access - metro and core, and have targeted all the layers of the network from the application down to the physical layer, show the practical feasibility of the concepts proposed in the project

Spare capacity allocation using shared backup path protection for dual link failures

This paper extends the spare capacity allocation (SCA) problem from single link failure [1] to dual link failures on mesh-like IP or WDM networks. The SCA problem pre-plans traffic flows with mutually disjoint one working and two backup paths using the shared backup path protection (SBPP) scheme. The aggregated spare provision matrix (SPM) is used to capture the spare capacity sharing for dual link failures. Comparing to a previous work by He and Somani [2], this method has better scalability and flexibility. The SCA problem is formulated in a non-linear integer programming model and partitioned into two sequential linear sub-models: one finds all primary backup paths first, and the other finds all secondary backup paths next. The results on five networks show that the network redundancy using dedicated 1+1+1 is in the range of 313-400%. It drops to 96-181% in 1:1:1 without loss of dual-link resiliency, but with the trade-off of using the complicated share capacity sharing among backup paths. The hybrid 1+1:1 provides intermediate redundancy ratio at 187-310% with a moderate complexity. We also compare the passive/active approaches which consider spare capacity sharing after/during the backup path routing process. The active sharing approaches always achieve lower redundancy values than the passive ones. These reduction percentages are about 12% for 1+1:1 and 25% for 1:1:1 respectively

Optimized Design of Survivable MPLS over Optical Transport Networks. Optical Switching and Networking

In this paper we study different options for the survivability implementation in MPLS over Optical Transport Networks in terms of network resource usage and configuration cost. We investigate two approaches to the survivability deployment: single layer and multilayer survivability and present various methods for spare capacity allocation (SCA) to reroute disrupted traffic. The comparative analysis shows the influence of the traffic granularity on the survivability cost: for high bandwidth LSPs, close to the optical channel capacity, the multilayer survivability outperforms the single layer one, whereas for low bandwidth LSPs the single layer survivability is more cost-efficient. For the multilayer survivability we demonstrate that by mapping efficiently the spare capacity of the MPLS layer onto the resources of the optical layer one can achieve up to 22% savings in the total configuration cost and up to 37% in the optical layer cost. Further savings (up to 9 %) in the wavelength use can be obtained with the integrated approach to network configuration over the sequential one, however, at the increase in the optimization problem complexity. These results are based on a cost model with actual technology pricing and were obtained for networks targeted to a nationwide coverage

Software defined networking: meeting carrier grade requirements

Software Defined Networking is a networking paradigm which allows network operators to manage networking elements using software running on an external server. This is accomplished by a split in the architecture between the forwarding element and the control element. Two technologies which allow this split for packet networks are ForCES and Openflow. We present energy efficiency and resilience aspects of carrier grade networks which can be met by Openflow. We implement flow restoration and run extensive experiments in an emulated carrier grade network. We show that Openflow can restore traffic quite fast, but its dependency on a centralized controller means that it will be hard to achieve 50 ms restoration in large networks serving many flows. In order to achieve 50 ms recovery, protection will be required in carrier grade networks