Application-aware software-defined EPON access network

As bandwidth requirements of access networks continue to increase rapidly, especially due to the growth of streaming traffic, the need for resolving bandwidth contention among competing users and applications becomes more compelling. The proposed Software-Defined Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) architecture utilizes an application-level feedback from the client side (for video users) to the network through a Software-Defined-Network (SDN) controller to achieve better client-and-service-level differentiation in the downstream direction of an EPON access network Numerical results obtained from simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed architecture with downstream resource allocation for video streaming applications considerably reduce video stalls and increase video buffer level at the client applications leading to better Quality of Experience (QoE) for users along with better client-and-service-level differentiation.