Software Defined Networking (SDN) is offering greater operational efficiency and automation by turning the transport network into a programmable resource. Several competing data models for disaggregated and partially disaggregated optical networks currently being developed and proposed by research and standardization are presented and their strengths and challenges discussed.
A key use case of SDN for optical transport networks (Transport SDN) is multi-vendor network and service management. The requirement for interoperability drives open and standardized interfaces. This talk will introduce the data models currently being discussed as contenders for application programming interfaces (APIs) of disaggregated and partially disaggregated optical networks on device and network level.
In case of fully disaggregated networks, each device is directly controlled by an SDN controller; in case of partial disaggregation, an optical line system (OLS) is operated as a complete system, and the transponders at the edge are operated independently from the OLS and can be directly controlled.
The strengths and weaknesses of the two disaggregation models and the considered APIs, including OpenConfig, OpenROADM, IETF TEAS, and ONF Transport API, are discussed in the talk. Current results from ongoing interop events, field trials, and research projects are presented to highlight challenges and solutions for the SDN control of (partially) disaggregated optical networks.