Emerging transport SDN architecture and use cases

SDN and virtualization promise to simplify transport network control, while adding management flexibility and allowing the rapid development of new services by enabling programmatic control of transport networks and equipment. A consensus transport SDN (T-SDN) architecture using standards- based system inter-component interfaces further enables flexible composition of functionally unified systems from among vendor-diverse software and hardware components. In this article we discuss the high-level reference T-SDN architecture emerging from early experience, standards, and related industry activities, with attention paid to critical standards-based system interface methodologies. We examine key T-SDN use cases including service bandwidth on demand, virtual transport network services, and multi-layer control convergence and resource optimization.