Extending P4 in-band telemetry to user equipment for latency-and localization-aware autonomous networking with AI forecasting

In beyond-5G networks, detailed end-to-end monitoring of specific application traffic will be required along with the access-backhaul-cloud continuum to enable low latency service due to local edge steering. Current monitoring solutions are confined to specific network segments. In-band network telemetry (INT) technologies for software defined network (SDN) programmable data planes based on the P4 language are effective in the backhaul network segment, although limited to inter-switch latency; therefore, link latencies including wireless and optical segments are excluded from INT monitoring. Moreover, information such as user equipment (UE) geolocation would allow detailed mobility monitoring and improved cloud-edge steering policies. However, the synchronization between latency and location information, typically provided by different platforms, is hard to achieve with current monitoring systems. In this paper, P4-based INT is proposed to be thoroughly extended involving UE. The INT mechanism is designed to provide synchronized and accurate end-to-end latency and geolocation information, enabling decentralized steering policies, i.e., involving UE and selected switches, without SDN controller intervention. The proposal also includes an artificial-intelligence-assisted forecast system able to predict latency and geolocation in advance and trigger faster edge steering

P4-based Telemetry Processing for Fast Soft Failure Recovery in Packet-Optical Networks

A novel framework for in-network P4 processing of distributed multi-layer telemetry data is presented, enabling effective soft failure detection and recovery strategies enforced in just a few microseconds

Coordinating Pluggable Transceiver Control in SONiC-based Disaggregated Packet-Optical Networks

Effective control of pluggable transceivers in SONiC-based packet-optical nodes is demonstrated. A workflow for multi-layer recovery upon soft failure detection is validated, showing no traffic disruption and fast node-driven coordination between packet and optical operations

User Plane Function Offloading in P4 switches for enhanced 5G Mobile Edge Computing

This demo shows a 5G X-haul testbed enhanced with P4 switches implementing the offloading of the User Plane Function module. The P4 code includes GTP protocol encapsulation/decapsulation function, fully configurable N3-N6-N9 steering, and advanced online monitoring of the experienced latency metadata