NCoS: A framework for realizing network coding over software-defined network

Network coding is a transmission mechanism for improving the capacity of multicast applications. Practical problems arise when applying network coding in traditional wired networks: multipath multicast routing, backward compatibility with deployed base, and adding new functions in commercial routers. SDN network naturally solves these problems via logically centralized control plane and open APIs of Openflow switches. This paper proposes NCoS, a framework for realizing network coding over SDN networks. It gives a brief introduction on how to extend Openflow protocol to include new actions, and add network coding related functions in controller and switches.