ForSA - A new software defined network architecture based on forCES

Abstract

In recent years, SDN (Software Defined Network) as a new network architecture has become the hot research point. Meanwhile, the well-known OpenFlow-based SDN got a lot of attention. But it can't provide a flexible and effective network resource description method. As an open programmable technology, ForCES (Forwarding and Control Element Separation) has also been concerned. However, ForCES is confined within a single network node and cannot be applied to the entire network. This paper proposes a new architecture - ForSA (ForCESbased SDN architecture). The architecture is added a configuration layer based on the traditional SDN architecture, which solves the problem that the northbound interface is not clear between the application layer and the control layer in the SDN architecture. ForSA also implements the compatibility within various forwarding devices in the forwarding layer.