[Tokyo, Japan, September 12, 2013]: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, will showcase a series of key technologies and solutions, developed through its SoftCOM Business Initiatives Zoom-in (BIZ) program, at SDN Japan 2013. These solutions mark another key step in helping carriers realize commercial value through the application of cutting-edge SDN technologies. Highlights of the showcase include the industry’s first complete SDN controller and data switching system based on OpenFlow 1.3 and the Protocol-Oblivious Forwarding (POF) technology which together achieve a completely programmable network. With these groundbreaking technologies, Huawei will help progress the application of SDN in telecommunication networks to a new level of commercial value for carriers.
SoftCOM is a future-oriented end-to-end ICT network architecture that Huawei has developed based on cloud computing, SDN, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and network openness to help carriers address the market opportunities and challenges posed by ICT integration. To realize SoftCOM for telecom operators, Huawei launched the SoftCOM BIZ Program in June 2013 with the goal to help carriers benefit from the potential commercial value of SoftCOM by identifying application scenarios via in-depth study into each network field and developing SDN/NFV solutions that can be quickly applied to current networks. A series of innovative solutions have been developed, under the SoftCOM BIZ Program, and will be presented at SDN Japan including SDN-based mobile backhaul, SDN-based traffic steering for Gi-LAN, SDN-based Data Center Interconnection (DCI), Cloud IMS/Evolved Packet Core (EPC), virtualized set top box (STB), Business Enablement Suite (BES), and Communication as a Service (CaaS). These solutions are designed to help carriers improve network utilization and operation efficiency, reduce structural costs, realize quick customized service provisioning, and improve network monetization efficiency.
Through continuous and dedicated research on the SoftCOM application scenarios, Huawei has made remarkable progress in some key technology areas, with the SDN controller and data switching system and the POF technology being the latest innovations.
Equipped with the SOX controller and the SN-640 switch, Huawei’s advanced SDN controller and data switching system supports multiple versions of OpenFlow protocols. SOX is the only SDN controller that supports OpenFlow 1.0/1.2/1.3 and the first in the industry to pass the hybrid networking tests of Open Networking Foundation (ONF) PlugFest and the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC). The SN-640 is a low-latency and high-speed SDN switch that supports OpenFlow 1.2 and 1.3. With the flexibility to support multiple OpenFlow protocol specifications, Huawei’s SDN controller and switching system shows how OpenFlow has the capability to support many features and functions and how SDN can be very powerful in dynamic resource scheduling.
To expand and strengthen the Openflow protocol, Huawei has proposed a new SDN forwarding technology – the Protocol-Oblivious Forwarding (POF) solution, which eliminates the dependence network devices have on protocols. The POF-enabled SDN controller will process any field of protocol packets, including customized protocol packets. As a result, the controller is able to support a variety of existing and new customized protocols and services.
The POF technology expands the application scenarios of OpenFlow and lays the foundation for the deployment of a truly flexible and programmable SDN. Huawei launched the POF open source website in June 2013 (poforwarding.org).
“Protocol-Oblivious Forwarding (POF) is an open SDN technology for next-generation forwarding plane and network application innovation, and may serve as a key building block for the evolution of OpenFlow,” said Dr. Justin Dustzadeh, CTO & VP Technology Strategy of Huawei’s Fixed Network Business Unit. “To realize the SoftCOM vision, Huawei has been actively contributing to key international SDN standardization bodies, collaborating with carrier customers, vendors and research institutions engaged in SDN work, and promoting the end-to-end application of open, standards-based SDN through continuous innovations such as POF.”
“Huawei thoroughly understands the technological requirements and the commercial opportunities and challenges of carriers. This is why we have developed the SoftCOM strategy, to help carriers integrate network resources, create new commercial opportunities, and build an innovative and open industry ecosystem where industrial value chains are integrated,” said Zhou Mingcheng, Vice President and Director of Solutions and Marketing, Huawei Japan. “Here in Japan, we have cooperated with local carriers and suppliers on multiple interoperability tests under different communications environments. Moving forward, Huawei will continue to closely collaborate with local partners in Japan to provide more innovative SDN solutions for customers.”
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