Advanced data services over optical transport networks

Abstract

Work on optical network control plane protocols has enabled faster and more efficient provisioning and management of carrier core optical networks, thereby reducing operational costs and capital expenditure. Many potential data applications for such capabilities, however, require Ethernet as the physical interface into the network, rather than SONET/SDH or OTN (Optical Transport Network) interfaces. Support of such services over an optical network becomes a multi-layer networking problem, wherein the client layer is packet based (e.g., Ethernet) and the server layer is optical (SONET/SDH or OTN). This paper discusses the enhancements that have been created in SONET/SDH and OTN networks (e.g., GFP, VCAT, LCAS) for the efficient transport of Ethernet and other data networking protocols, and the related extensions to control plane protocols that are necessary to allow for the support of multi-layer networking. Different control-plane models are being pursued in standards bodies such as ITU-T and IETF, and prototyping is being carried out and tested in the OIF. These various approaches are discussed in detail here, with focus placed on the prototyping work that has been done in the OIF, especially for the OIF 2005 Interoperability Demonstration.