Sckipio unveils G.fast SDN initiatives

June 11, 2015
G.fast silicon startup Sckipio Technologies has announced a pair of moves aimed at promoting support of software-defined networking (SDN) in G.fast broadband access networks. The company says its new management stack will support the construction of G.fast distribution point units (DPUs) that can be controlled via the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) and that uses the standard G.fast YANG data model, with traffic managed via OpenFlow. Sckipio says it also has partnered with ON.Lab to further enable SDN control of G.fast DPUs and CPE.

G.fast silicon startup Sckipio Technologies has announced a pair of moves aimed at promoting support of software-defined networking (SDN) in G.fast broadband access networks. The company says its new management stack will support the construction of G.fast distribution point units (DPUs) that can be controlled via the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) and that uses the standard G.fast YANG data model, with traffic managed via OpenFlow. Sckipio says it also has partnered with ON.Lab to further enable SDN control of G.fast DPUs and CPE.

The new management platform and networking stack includes NETCONF YANG, CLI, SNMP, IGMP, DHCP, MSTP, Y.1731, and CFM support. It also is designed to comply with all relevant Broadband Forum G.fast management specifications (WT-301, WT-318/355 drafts) as they are released. The stack, which runs on the PMC-Sierra WinPath family of network processors, is currently available.

The collaboration with ON.Lab, developer of the Open Network Operating System (ONOS), will leverage some of these capabilities to help promote SDN-controlled G.fast networks. The companies will demonstrate G.fast DPUs under ONOS control as part of a wider Central Office Re-architected as Datacenter (CORD) demonstration with AT&T at the upcoming Open Networking Summit, June 15-18, 2015 in Santa Clara. The demonstration will show a virtualized OLT from PMC-Sierra interfacing with an SDN-controlled, Sckipio-based G.fast DPU. Broadband signals will run through a Sckipio G.fast bridge to a simple CPE whose traditional functions will be virtualized and relocated to the CORD central office.

"Our collaboration aims to leverage Sckipio's expertise to ensure that the next wave of access devices, specifically those for copper-based, local loop broadband, support the vision of an end-to-end virtualized network access model under SDN control instead of being built on proprietary solutions running in closed, siloed environments," said Guru Parulkar, executive director of ON.Lab and ONRC.

Sckipio was the first company to introduce G.fast DPU and CPE silicon (see "G.fast chipsets from Sckipio Technologies debut"). The company also has partnered with iPhotonix on network functions virtualization (NFV; see "Sckipio, iPhotonix partner for G.fast NFV").

For more information on FTTx equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.

Sponsored Recommendations

Transforming the metro network and the evolution of the "Digital Service Provider"

March 4, 2025
Join experts at EXFO and Ekinops in this webinar that will review the evolving metro-centric requirements and the technologies emerging to meet them.

Unveiling the Synergy Between AI and Optical Networking

March 12, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with industry experts on the intersection of AI and optics. Moderated by Sean Buckley, editor-in-chief of Lightwave+BTR, this panel will explore...

Innovations Optical Transceivers

March 10, 2025
The continual movement around artificial intelligence (AI) cluster environments is driving new sales of optical transceiver sales and the adoption of linear pluggable optics (...

ON TOPIC: Filling Coverage Gaps, Enhancing Public Safety

Jan. 30, 2025
With the ongoing drive to support AI and the need for high-speed data center interconnection, the call for higher-speed 800G optical technology is emerging. Initially focused ...