An Effective Hierarchical Control Plane for Software-Defined Networks Leveraging TOPSIS for End-to-End QoS Class-Mapping

Jehad Ali,Byeong-Hee Roh

doi:10.1109/access.2020.2993556

Abstract

If an end-to-end (E2E) path includes multiple domains, we need inter-domain collaboration to ensure the E2E quality-of-service (QoS) for the applications. In heterogeneous networks, an E2E path may go through domains with several QoS classes in each domain. However, the prevalent legacy network architecture and the standard software-defined networking (SDN) model lack effective mechanisms for inter-domain collaboration and QoS class mapping. In this study, we propose a hierarchical SDN control plane approach to guarantee the E2E QoS among multiple domains with various QoS classes on the E2E path. We propose a controller module for selecting the most suitable QoS class for each domain in the E2E path based on multi-criteria decision-making by using the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). We map the suitable service classes in the global controller (GC) for provisioning the E2E QoS according to the application service requests. First, we propose an SDN-based inter-domain communication scheme and the message processing algorithm for E2E service delivery when multiple QoS classes exist in each domain. Next, we formulate the problem of service class selection with TOPSIS, provide an E2E mapping scheme, and demonstrate it with an example. Finally, we compare the proposed approach with the existing schemes for E2E QoS class mapping in terms of E2E delay, jitter, packet loss rate (PLR), and cost (per bandwidth unit). According to our simulation results, the proposed approach ensures the E2E QoS and guarantees the E2E delay, jitter, PLR, and cost according to the application service requests.

Highlights

The rapid developments in Internet technology have resulted in the ubiquitous proliferation of network terminals
The main feature of the traditional network architecture is that the data and control planes are tightly coupled, which leads to several limitations: for example, if we want to change the configuration of the network, we should configure each device
Results for the proposed approach are compared with existing ones, such as policy-dependent conformance matching scheme (P-CMS) [18], 3P integer programming (3PIP) [19], and goal programming (GP) [20]

Summary

Introduction

The rapid developments in Internet technology have resulted in the ubiquitous proliferation of network terminals. The traditional network architecture was not adapted to advancements in future communication and Internet technologies, which has resulted in heterogeneous networks. The main feature of the traditional network architecture is that the data and control planes are tightly coupled, which leads to several limitations: for example, if we want to change the configuration of the network, we should configure each device. The protocols are strongly embedded in the firmware of the network devices These restrictions hamper innovation in the networks due to proprietary hardware and lack of testing for innovative networking solutions. This increases the administrative workload and the overall cost of network management

Objectives

Results

Conclusion