Domestic and foreign operators share SDN/NFV: Sitting and talking is worse than standing up

On December 15th, at present, there are four major challenges in the global carrier network. First, the types of equipment are numerous and complex, resources are difficult to be unified for scheduling, and the flexibility is not enough. Second, the equipment system is vertical, the expansion is not good, and it is easy to be locked by the manufacturer. Third, many businesses are tightly coupled with vertical chimneys, which leads to sharing. The rapid deployment of new services is extremely difficult; the fourth is that the operating costs of the network operation system are relatively high and not flexible enough. This has made operators more and more demanding for network reconfiguration. Operators such as AT&T, NTT, China Mobile, and China Telecom have proposed plans for network reconfiguration or traditional network transformation.

At the "2016 Global Network Technology Conference" held recently, domestic and foreign operators finally gathered to discuss the challenges of network reconfiguration. They are Marc Cohn, vice president of network strategy of Linux Foundation, Steven Wright, senior technical expert of AT&T, NTT. Kazuaki OBANA, Director of DOCOMO Network Innovation Lab, Duan Xiaodong, Director of China Mobile Research Institute Network, Chen Yunqing, Vice President of China Telecom Beijing Research Institute, and Tang Xiongyan, Chief Expert of China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute.

At the conference, domestic and foreign operators expressed their opinions and discussed the problems and challenges faced by network reconfiguration, as well as communication based on technical aspects such as SDN/NFV. In this regard, Tang Xiongyan said that there is a saying in China that it is better to sit down and talk about it. He thinks that SDN/NFV is full of unknowns and there will be new opportunities in the unknown.

Reducing costs and increasing revenue are the main drivers of network reconfiguration

Why do operators need network reconfiguration? This is a question of traceability. Different operators have different answers, but in general, they all focus on reducing costs and increasing revenue. Between “down” and “increase”, operators can find their own balance point and then develop better.

Steven Wright said AT&T is more focused on how to improve capabilities, generate new services, and configure faster and more optimally. Provide the best service to our customers. Kazuaki OBANA said that from the perspective of NTT, connecting technology to commercial applications, connectivity is critical, and of course includes rapid configuration of resources.

In Tang Xiongyan's view, creating a more open and innovative platform makes it easier to provide new business. This is the main driving force. The goal is to make the network simpler and reduce costs. The future will also drive the reconstruction or transformation of the network. Chen Yunqing believes that as operators' income sources and patterns change, new agile and customized requirements are put forward for the network. If the network does not have the ability to be intelligent, it cannot expand the market, so from the perspective of operator development and survival. Speaking, I had to reconfigure the network.

In this regard, Duan Xiaodong summed up, he believes that at this stage, operators are increasingly focusing on network reconfiguration. On the one hand, because of the impact of large traffic, operators must take a low-cost, high-speed development of sustainable routes. As the revenue per bit declines, it is difficult to withstand large volumes of business without a flexible network that is low cost and sustainable. On the other hand, it is facing the future, including the Internet of Everything. Operators need to enter a larger income. First, they must adjust their own networks to meet the needs of users. Because of the demand for large connections in the Internet of Things, there is a big difference in communication requirements with traditional people. Differentiation is a new requirement for operators' networks. Therefore, operators must prepare for the development of next-generation networks in advance.

Network reconfiguration faces huge challenges, domestic operators directly point to the development of pain points

Chen Yunqing said that network reconfiguration itself is a systematic project. It seems to be simple and complex. The main problem is the definition between IT and CT. The original network is at the network element level. After the network is born, the business can be Provided, but as software and refactoring progress, many troubleshooting and traceability become more different and complex, thus bringing new challenges to the maintenance and operation of the entire system, and network reconfiguration and A large amount of interactive integration occurs between traditional billing systems and IT systems. In addition, there are some issues related to network security and information security. In short, the network is constantly evolving both in terms of protocol and architecture, so the operator's network must be accompanied by new challenges before it can be adapted.

Tang Xiongyan expressed his approval. He believes that SDN/NFV is still far away from the success of the current stage. Now the industry is talking about technicians. Only when one day mentions construction personnel, maintenance personnel and market personnel is it a success. . The development of China Unicom's SDN/NFV is now facing great challenges, including management systems and talent challenges.

It is worth noting that the actual value that SDN/NFV can bring to operators is not obvious, which is actually a big obstacle to the development of SDN/NFV. From a technical point of view, there are many potential advantages. Whether it is business flexibility, agility, or cost reduction, how can we solve real-world problems? He said that for China Unicom, it is facing a lot of growth in business. In the face of these difficulties, network reconfiguration is not so effective, which is also the difficulty in promoting the development of SDN/NFV. How can we bring potential advantages? The value of becoming a reality, this is the direction China Unicom will explore in the future.

Duan Xiaodong explained that economic benefits should be considered in the long run. He is more concerned with the vitality of SDN/NFV release and the new functions brought by the network. If you are flexible to load new services, you will save money in the long run. There is no problem, but consider the comprehensive benefits.

Optical network transmission SDN process is still very long

Many operators are interested in SDN transmission, such as SK Telecom is studying this concept; NTT Communications also involves transmission network controllers, OpenFlow switch software, microwave equipment, packet transmission network equipment and optical network equipment, mainly based on The network management program combined with the ONOS network operating system and the Odenos network management program runs. AT&T will also continue to delve into the value of NFV application optical networks. Regarding optical network transmission SDN, what do operators think of it?

In Tang Xiongyan's view, SDN transmission application is a very important field of SDN, including the introduction of SDN in OTN (Optical Transport Network), which makes network management more flexible. Regardless of China Mobile's PTN, China Unicom's IP WAN has begun to have more applications in this area. This field is a very important area of ​​SDN. It should be said that SDN is also rapidly entering the field of practical applications.

Duan Xiaodong said that SDN comes from IP, but its concept is constantly being generalized and is considered to be an important application area of ​​SDN in the transmission network. China Mobile is currently considering two aspects, one is SOTN, the other is SPTN, and the next is centralized scheduling, which can optimize the entire OTN networking. But the faster way is to take SPTN, which is different from the other two operators. China Mobile is a packet transmission network. Its routing is based on planned routing. It has been done for 2-3 years, from several chip manufacturers. The main equipment manufacturers, the controllers above have basically been completed, the system is relatively perfect, and now it is gradually starting in the province. China Mobile's development expectations for SPTN are very high, but SOTN will be slightly later than it is, and it is the next step in the evolution of OTN.

Kazuaki OBANA believes that if STN is used in OTN, it is more optical routing, and control this level from one point to another, which is the main reason why NTT is applied to SDN in OTN. But in the future, if you want to change the routing in the network, for example, NTT configuration level, you can make real-time changes, you can apply SDN to OTN more efficiently, this is a long-term process.