Software-defined architectures for convergent fixed-radio access Carlos Bock, Jordi Ferrer, Volker Jungnickel, David Levi, Victor Marques, Tiago Mendes, Mike Parker Transport Software Defined Networking, Athens 20 March 2014

SODALES at a glance FP7-ICT SODALES project SODALES (SOftware-Defined Access using Low-Energy Subsystems) aims to develop an access transport network architecture together with a management and control plane that integrates fixed broadband subscribers with radio access clients, using WDM-PON on the optical layer and LTE and beyond on the radio segments. SODALES is a 36-month FP7 STREP project –Project Budget: ,27€ –EU funding: ,00€ SODALES key developments are –Active Remote Node (ARN) that provides aggregation and radio interfacing for fixed and mobile subscribers and supports SDN –Advanced control and management plane with open-access and multi-operator functionalities, based on SDN

SODALES consortium Participant noParticipant nameShort nameCountry 1Fundació i2CAT, Internet i Innovació a Catalunya i2CATSpain 2Portugal Telecom InovaçaoPTIPortugal 3Ethernity NetworksETHERNITYIsrael 4University of EssexUESSEXUnited Kingdom 5Fraunhofer Gesellschaft e.V.HHIGermany

Outline Vision Innovations SDN for Open and Access Networks Conclusions

Drivers and concepts Convergent architectures are key to deliver future radio / fixed access –FTTH and 4G (and beyond) require high capacity access networks 1Gbps and 10Gbps should be delivered shortly for residential and corporate use respectively 4G (and beyond) will shortly require 1Gbps to the RBS Open Access shared deployments are key to reduce CAPEX and OPEX SDN is key to offer flexibility and ease of operation (specially in virtualised scenarios)

The SODALES vision On network layers –Layer 2 end-to-end access solution –WDM optical backhaul + optical / 60-GHz radio final drop On convergence –Integration of fixed (wired and radio) and mobile services –LTE and beyond mobile services

The SODALES vision On access architectures –Active outside plant taking advantage of RBS powering –Active Remote Node (ARN) provides convergence and aggregation in the field On network operation –Open Access to allow infrastructure sharing On control and management –Software Defined Network in access On power consumption and efficiency –Low power consumption subsystems (specially at the ARN)

Outline Vision Innovations SDN for Open and Access Networks Conclusions

SODALES architecture

SODALES innovations Take advantage of RBS powering to add intelligence to the access network in the field –Active architecture with an ARN (Active Remote Node) as key device –10Gbps to the ARN (100Gbps optional feature) –FTTA: Fiber To The Antenna –Low-energy subsystems at the ARN Open Access architecture for fixed and mobile services –Open Access convergent solutions –Metro Ethernet OAM features –SDN-based control and management plane Multi-operator Multi-vendor (by means of a Hardware Abstraction Layer)

Outline Vision Innovations SDN for Open and Access Networks Conclusions

Software-defined networks (SDN) – Common model widely discussed for transport – many advantages also for access ARN/CO follow the SDN design paradigm – separate control path / data path – OpenFlow functionality is already used – standard interface can be added Dynamic bandwidth allocation in the access network – time-variant statistical multiplexing – bandwidth is requested by network elements – assigned by the CO – routes, wavelengths, time and frequency as flexible network resources Software-defined access

SODALES SDN implementation

Open access and SDN SODALES open access approach offers –Synchronization services for legacy radio services –Advanced Sync Ethernet support LTE and beyond –Advanced OAM for L2 end-to-end (E2E) control and management –Ethernet Hub MEF E-Tree support SODALES suggests a bitstream access model for optimal network utilization and CAPEX & OPEX optimization

Outline Vision Innovations SDN for Open and Access Networks Conclusions

SODALES vision to offer an integrated fixed / mobile access platform combining optical / radio fixed / radio mobile transmission in an Open Access approach is sustained on the following technologies –Transmission 1/10/100Gbps optical interfaces + 60GHz fixed radio links LTE/LTE-A (and beyond) + CPRI for legacy –Layer 2 features Enhanced 802.1ag, Y.1731 OAM; SYNC-E and IEEE 1588v2/PTP; IEEE802.1ad Q-in-Q support; MPLS-TP; Hierarchical QoS –Control and Management Hardware Abstraction Layer SDN-based to support Open Access and Infrastructure virtualization SODALES integrates all these technologies using low-energy subsystems to develop a multi-vendor / multi-operator access infrastructure that optimizes CAPEX and OPEX

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