Huawei, Telefonica trial SDN-based IP and optical layer interworking

Huawei says it has partnered with Telefonica to test the use of software-defined networking (SDN) to create synergy between the IP and optical network layers. The test used commercially available routers and Optical Transport Network (OTN) and reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) optical transport platforms from Huawei.

The tests covered such functions as multi-layer restoration, multi-domain Label Switched Path (LSP) creation, online network survivability analysis, and more. The architecture set up leveraged a centralized controller, a GMPLS User-Network Interface (UNI), IP/MPLS, Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP), and other technologies, Huawei says. The result was the use of centralized control to realize rapid end-to-end service provisioning, multi-layer restoration for improved service availability and capex savings, and online network surveillance for preventive maintenance, Huawei says.

The company has been working on transport SDN technology for some time; see, for example, "Huawei unveils open SDN forwarding plane technology." Telefonica has shown interest in working with vendors along these lines (see "Telefonica I+D, Infinera demo SDN-based Network-as-a-Service capabilities").

“Huawei is making a fantastic progress in this domain, in particular with relation to SDN, multi-layer control plane and network planning,” complemented Juan Pedro Fernandez-Palacios, head of core network evolution at Telefonica’s GCTO Unit. “The lab activities and extensive technical discussions we have jointly held over in past several months have proven very useful for us. We congratulate Huawei for the excellent job done.”

“This project is another example of Huawei’s breakthroughs in promoting the commercial use of SDN networks,” touted Zha Jun, president of Huawei’s Fixed Network Business Unit. “The evolution from traditional networks to SDN networks will open up network capabilities, support rapid technology innovation, improve network performance, as well as reduce operation and maintenance costs based on virtualization, automation, and intelligentization [sic]. Huawei will continue to cooperate with industry-leading operators to promote the commercial use of SDN networks.”

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