Control plane solutions for sliceable bandwidth transceiver configuration in flexi-grid optical networks

In EONs, the establishment of flexi-grid optical connections requires configuring both BVTs and bandwidth variable cross-connects. Such configuration has to be performed through proper control plane architecture and extensions, accounting for the client signal data rate, the required modulation format, the adopted forwarding error correction mechanisms, the number of carriers, and the required spectrum resources. Nowadays, two candidate control plane architectures with similar functions (like endpoint and node addressing, automatic topology discovery, network abstraction, path computation, and connection provisioning) can be adopted: distributed GMPLS - with optional PCE and instantiation/modification - and a control plane based on SDN with a logically centralized controller and an open protocol such as OpenFlow. In this work, by relying on the data modeling of 1 Tb/s SBVTs, we aim to design and provide feasible control plane enhancements for both GMPLS/PCE and SDN/OpenFlow architectures to automatically configure endpoint SBVTs while dynamically establishing end-to-end connections in EONs. Such extensions, successfully validated in experimental scenarios, are qualitatively compared to ease eventual EON operator selection.