SDN enablers in the ETSI AFI GANA Reference Model for Autonomic Management & Control (emerging standard), and Virtualization impact

This standardization oriented paper describes the SDN (Software-Driven Networking) Enablers in the ETSI AFI GANA Reference Model for Autonomic Management & Control (an emerging standard from ETSI), and impact of Virtualization. This is because in this study we see that Autonomic Management & Control and SDN (Software-Driven Networking) share the same objective of enabling programmable, manageable, dynamically self-adaptable and cost-effective networks and services. SDN enablers in the AFI GANA Model are: (1) Modularization of Logically centralized Control Software (the GANA Network Level DEs in the GANA Knowledge Plane) and Reference Points Definitions; (2) Primitives for Programmability at various layers; (3) Use of Runtime Executable Behavioral Models to complement the use of Policy-Control and dynamic policies; (4) The role and value the GANA MBTS (Model Based Translation Service) brings in SDN; (5) The role and value the GANA ONIX (Overlay Network for Information eXchange) brings in SDN; (6) Interworking GANA Knowledge Plane Decision Elements and SDN Controllers; (7) GANA “Decision-Making-Elements” logics as “software” that can be loaded into nodes and network (enabling “software-empowered networks”). The study is important because it is now becoming critical to study and explore the relationships between Autonomic Management & Control and SDN paradigms, as well as Virtualization, identify complementarities between the paradigms and close the gaps by unifying SDN concepts and associated frameworks with the emerging ETSI AFI GANA Reference Model standard for Autonomic Networking, Cognitive Networking and Self-Management, a hybrid model enabling to combine both centralized and distributed control.