SDN can be integrated into NFV in several positions: 1) SDN controllers can be part of the NFV infrastructure, manage virtual and physical networking resources, and interface with the orchestrator. 2) SDN controllers can be deployed as a virtual network function to manage virtual network resources. 3) SDN controllers in the OSS/BSS can manage VNF networking resources through interfaces with the orchestrator.

1. THE ROLE OF SDN IN NFV
Rory MacHale

2. Outline
• Evolution of networking technologies
• An introduction to SDN
• An introduction to NFV
• SDN in an NFV context
• Case studies of carrier application of NFV and SDN
• Iricent experiences with SDN and NFV
2

3. THE EVOLUTION OF NETWORKING
and the role of standards and opensource

4. Standards and Innovation:
Specifications and Opensource
• The great thing about standards…
• … is there are so many of them
4

5. Evolving complexity of networking
• PCM30
– Point-point link: 30 speech channels + 1 shared signalling channel (S)
– Signalling channel = dialled digits 0-9 etc.
– All time-interleaved on single fixed physical link
– “In-band signalling”
• Signalling System #7
– Separate signalling network
– Signalling = messages
• E.g. IAM, ANM, REL
– Call-unassociated signalling
• Enables mobile telecommunications
– But still dedicated components, fixed topology
S 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29A 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
SP
STP
STP
STP
STPSP
SP
SP
SP
5

6. Evolving complexity of networking
• SDN
– Central software control of infrastructure
– Decides forwarding behaviour in network devices
– Dynamically design, deliver, and operate network
• NFV
– Virtual infrastructure on COTS H/W
– Software implemented infrastructure
– Automate creation and update of devices
Compute Storage Network
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
SDN devices
SDN controller
SDN applications
6

7. AN INTRODUCTION TO SDN
what it is, how it works, and why use it

8. CONTROL LAYER
SDN Controller
INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
What is SDN?
SDN Application(s)
Application Control Interface
(ACI): Programmatic control of
abstracted network resources
SDN Controller(s)
Resource Control Interface
(RCI): Logical centralised
control of network resources
Network resources
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Service
Network
Service
Network
Service
Network
Device
APPLICATION LAYER
Business
Application
Business
Application
Business
Application
API
e.g. REST API
Control Plane interface
e.g. Openflow
8

9. How does SDN work?
Network Device (Resource)
SDN Controller
Data plane (hardware)
Control plane (firmware) OpenFlow Client
OpenFlow protocol
Flow Table Rules
9
“Dumb” data plane simply
forwards packets from in-
port to out-port according
to instructions from
control plane
An SDN Control Plane is
determined entirely by rules in
the Flow Table managed by the
SDN Controller
The OpenFlow client creates a
connection with the SDN Controller
and manages the Flow Table as
directed by the SDN Controller
The Flow Table(s) consist of
rules, which define match
criteria for packets, and
actions to take for packets
that fulfil the match

10. Why SDN?
Centralised control of multi-vendor environments
Reduced complexity through automation
Higher rate of innovation
Increased network reliability and security
More granular network control
Software
Defined
Networking
Better user experience
From: ONF White Paper “Software-Defined Networking: The New Norm for Networks”
10

11. AN INTRODUCTION TO NFV
what it is, how it works, and why use it

12. What is NFV? Future Network Virtualisation
• From ITU-T Recommendation Y.3011
“Framework of virtualisation for future
networks”
• The main takeaway is the layering:
– Physical Hardware at base
– Virtual Resources (network functions) next up
– Virtual Networks (LINPs) next up
– Network Services at top
• Each layer has its own management
FN = Future Network
LINP = Logically Isolated Network Partition
PNM = Physical Network Manager
VRM = Virtual Resources Manager
12

13. What is NFV? NFV Architectural Overview
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
13
• Network Function Virtualisation
• Note similarity to previous slide
• NFV Infrastructure (NFVI):
– Hardware resources at base
– Virtual resources next (NFVI)
– Typically OpenStack used
• Virtual Network Functions (VNF):
– Routers, Firewalls, NATs, …
– Each with Element Manager (EMS)
– Typically Virtual Machine + metadata
• Network Service (NS):
– Chain VNFs together
– Define external connection points
– May add physical network functions

14. How does NFV work?
• NFV supports the creation of
Network Services from VNFs
• MANO manages the lifecycle of
a Network Service at the levels
of the
– Virtualised Infrastructure (NFVI)
– Virtual Network Functions (VNF)
– Network Service (NS)
• MANO does this using a set of
standardised descriptors:
– NSD
– VNFD
– (and others)
• NFV defines a number of
reference points (not interfaces)
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VFN VFN VFN VFN
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
VFN
Vn-Nf
Vl-Ha
Or-Vnfm
Vi-Vnfm
Or-Vi
Or-Vi
Se-Ma
Os-Ma
MANO Descriptor Files
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
14

15. Networking in NFV: Service Function Chaining
• Connecting up virtual
network functions
• NFV terminology:
– topology = a forwarding chain
– route = a network forwarding
path
• Links to VNF at connection
points (CP)
• External links at external
connection points
15

16. NFV Management – who does what
switch
server
server
server
server
controller / orchestrator
switch
server
server
server
server
switch
server
server
server
server
switch
server
server
server
server
compute
WAN
e.g.
internet
gw
compute
gw
compute
remote sites e.g. vCPE
MANO
(Orchestr
ation)
FW GW
Router
Nat RouterFW
Lifecycle management of VNFs
VNF
VNF
VNF VNF
SFC
Devops
Config &
ops mgmt
filesfiles
e.g. network configuration
security certificates,
routing rules
filesfiles
filesfiles
filesfiles
e.g. Puppet
Chef
Ansible
Salt
Fixedphysicalcompute,storage,network
Implementedash/w+O/S+hypervisors
Flexiblevirutalhardware
Emulatedinsoftware
Puresoftware
HerePNF=VNF
16

17. NFV Management – who does what
switch
server
server
server
server
controller / orchestrator
switch
server
server
server
server
switch
server
server
server
server
switch
server
server
server
server
compute
WAN
e.g.
internet
gw
compute
gw
compute
remote sites e.g. vCPE
MANO
(Orchestr
ation)
FW GW
Router
Nat RouterFW
Lifecycle management of VNFs
VNF
VNF
VNF VNF
SFC
Devops
Config &
ops mgmt
filesfiles
e.g. network configuration
security certificates,
routing rules
filesfiles
filesfiles
filesfiles
e.g. Puppet
Chef
Ansible
Salt
Fixedphysicalcompute,storage,network
Implementedash/w+O/S+hypervisors
Flexiblevirutalhardware
Emulatedinsoftware
Puresoftware
HerePNF=VNF
17
• Physical infrastructure management mostly unchanged
• However lifecycle independent of network services
• Simpler management of relatively static infrastructure
• Can standardise on equipment, architectures
• Focus on e.g. power-saving, scalability
• MANO manages the virtual hardware
• Virtual machines, network functions, links, connections
• It does not do application software management
• AKA element management
• Application Management of VNF is the same as PNFs
• (PNF = Physical Network Function, i.e. “real” network hardware)
• SNMP, NETCONF, Puppet, … and SDN can play a role here too

18. Why NFV?
Improved capital efficiencies compared with dedicated hardware
Improved flexibility in assigning VNFs to hardware
Rapid service innovation through software-based service deployment
Improved operational efficiencies resulting from common automation and operating procedures
Reduced power usage achieved by migrating workloads and powering down unused hardware
Network
Function
Virtualisation
From: ETSI GS-NFV-002 v1.2.1 “Network Function Virtualisation: Architectural Framework”
18

19. SDN IN NFV
why put SDN in NFV, how to adapt SDN to NFV, where is SDN in NFV

20. NFV Networking Requirements
• Real-time and dynamic provisioning
– VNFs, VNF FGs, etc. must be automatically deployed and managed in the NFV infrastructure.
• Seamless control and provisioning
– of physical and virtual networking infrastructures
• Carrier-grade scalability and robustness
• Openness and interoperability
– Like SDN, NFV envision an open environment where network elements and VNFs from multiple
vendors interoperate and co-exist through open interfaces (i.e., OpenFlow) and APIs.
• NFV global reach and cross-administration
– Connectivity that spans multiple administration domains and geographies is essential.
• Acceleration of innovation
– The unique demands of NFV potentially necessitate in a massively complex forwarding plane,
blending virtual and physical appliances with extensive control and application software, some of it
proprietary. SDN principles, based on OpenFlow as the cornerstone, transform the control plane to
be software-centric, open, and programmable—an ideal foundation for innovation.
From: Openflow-enabled SDN and Network Functions Virtualisation (ONF)
20

21. CONTROL LAYER
SDN Controller
INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Device
Network
Service
Network
Service
Network
Device
APPLICATION LAYER
Business
Application
Business
Application
Business
Application
SDN
Controller
Network
Service
21
SDN in NFV
Start with the standard ONF architecture from an earlier slide…

22. MANAGEMENT AND
ORCHESTRATION
CONTROL LAYER
INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
APPLICATION LAYER
Business
Application
Network
Resource
SDN
Controller
NFV
Orchestrator
SDN
Controller
22
SDN in NFV
Simplifying a little, and adding NFV Management and Orchestration…

23. MANAGEMENT AND
ORCHESTRATION
CONTROL LAYER
INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
APPLICATION LAYER
Business
Application
Network
Resource
SDN
Controller
NFV
Orchestrator
SDN
Controller
23
ACI: Application Control Interface
RCI: Resource Control Interface
SDN in NFV
ACI and RCI interfaces as before…

24. MANAGEMENT AND
ORCHESTRATION
CONTROL LAYER
INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
APPLICATION LAYER
Business
Application
Network
Resource
SDN
Controller
NFV
Orchestrator
SDN
Controller
24
ACI: Application Control Interface
RCI: Resource Control Interface
CCI: Controller-Controller Interface
OCI: Orchestration Interface
SDN in NFV
There will often be CCI as well, and NFV introduces an OCI.

25. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
25

26. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
26

27. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
27

28. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
28

29. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
29

30. Positions of SDN in NFV architectural framework
• Controllers can be found
– In cloud manager (VIM)
– Part of infrastructure (NFVI)
– As a VNF in its own right
– In OSS (for VNF resources)
• Resources can be found
– In physical network
– In compute resources
– In virtual networks
– As VNFs
Virtualised Network Functions (VNFs)
NFV Infrastructure (NFVI)
NFV Management
and Orchestration
(MANO)
Hardware Resources
VNF VNF VNF VNF VNF
Virtual
Compute
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Network
Compute Storage Network
Virtualisation layer
Orchestrator
VNF Manager
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager
OSS/BSSService, VNF and Infrastructure Description
EMS
VNF Sets, VNF-FGs
NFVI-PoPs
SDN Controller
SDN Resource
30

31. CARRIER CASE STUDIES
2013: NTT DoCoMo, Telefonica 2016: AT&T, Verizon

32. Opensource SDN Opensource NFV
tacker
32

33. Early stage carrier PoC (2012-2013)
– Use NFV to reassign capacity in an emergency
– Exploits ability of NFV to dynamically create infrastructure
– 2013 project inspired by Great East Japan Earthquake
– SDN (OpenFlow) used for Evolved Packet Core L2 switching
– SDN (OpenFlow) used to implement flow control and load distribution
Voice servers
Mail servers
Media servers
Voice servers
Mail servers
Media servers
Normaloperation
Emergencyoperation
From: NTT-DOCOMO-1013-Nakamura-ChallengesForNetworkVirtualizationinMobileNetworksr1.pdf, SDN World Congress (2013)
33

34. Early carrier stage PoC (2013)
From: Telefonica-1013-lopez-vCPE.pdf, SDN World Congress (2013)
– Use NFV to implement vCPE (virtual Customer Premises Equipment)
– SDN implemented at Service Edge between Access and Core Networks
– Combined SDN/NFV orchestration
– SDN Orchestration via OpenFlow
34

35. AT&T NFV Architecture (2016)
• ECOMP: Enhanced Control, Orchestration Management and Policy
Design Environment
Execution Environment
Inventory
Master Service Orchestrator
Analytics
Controllers (SDN)
From: ECOMP Architecture White Paper
35

36. Verizon NFV architecture (2016)
End-to-end Orchestration
SDN Controllers
NFVI
Service
Assurance
PNFs
Orchestrators
Service orchestration
End-to-end orchestration
From: Verizon SDN-NFV Reference Architecture
36

37. Verizon NFV architecture (2016)
Orchestrators
Service orchestration
End-to-end orchestration
SDN Controllers
Access SDN Controllers
WAN SDN Controllers
Data Centre SDN Controllers
Specific / other SDN Controllers
From: Verizon SDN-NFV Reference Architecture
37

38. SDN AND NFV AT IRICENT

39. MANO: as a Service (MaaS)
• MANO, but on an as-a-service basis from telco-neutral data centre in Cork
• Based on relationships with a number of MANO and a range of VNF providers
• Working on COTS Intel-based (Xeon, Atom) hardware
• Currently hosting vCPE VNFs locally and also at remote sites
39

40. Typical vCPE implementation using Iricent MaaS
SP provides central and remote hosted VNFs using hosted platform for MANO and Control
SP Network
Branch
Office
PE
PE
SP Central
Office/Data Centre
PE
L3 VPN
L3 VPN
L3 VPN
Iricent DC –
MANO as a Service
Regional
Office
Corporate
HQ
VNF
VNF
VNF
Service Provider Network
Distributed Enterprise
Internet/Public Cloud
VNF Partners
40
Iricent hosted MANO
deploying VNFs
SP hosted VNFs
Remote hosted VNFs

41. APNOS: An SDN Platform
41
• APNOS is a cloud-hosted SDN platform
• Builds on OpenDaylight as SDN Controller
• Implemented as a micro-services architecture
• Tuned for rapid innovation and scalable performance
• Easily adapted to other SDN Controllers as needed
• An “SDN Application Enabler”
• Orchestration in an NFV context

42. Classify
Prioritise
Instruct
Monitor
Application
Identification
User
Identification
Reporting
Analytics
Web UI
Administration
ODL SDN Controller
OpenFlow
device
OpenFlow
device
APNOS
OpenFlow
device
APNOS – Specific Application
Network Access and usage policies based on Application, User, Thing, Time-of-day
Classify, Prioritise, Instruct, Monitor (CPIM)
• Classifies flows by application and user-id
• Assigns a priority based on application and user-id
• instructs ODL controller to push flow rules which will
influence network flows
• Monitors network activity for reporting and analytics
App Identifier Module (AIM) – e.g. using DPI
User Identification Module (UIM) – e.g directory services
Reporting Analytics Module (RAM)
Portal / Web UI
More generally
• SDN orchestration in an NFV context
• Deploy as a VNF as part of a vCPE service
• Orchestrated by Iricent MaaS or other MANO platform
• Leverage Intel platforms, DPDK, SR-IOV……
• Intent-based networking applications
42
APNOS
managednetworks

43. In Conclusion: SDN and NFV “future networking”
• SDN and NFV are
complementary innovations in the
evolution of networking
• Both represent a paradigm-shift
from current networking
• Both can be deployed separately
but combine to offer more than
the “sum of the parts”
• Both SDN and NFV offer much
flexibility and choice and open
the doors to dynamic scalable
networks and enables automation
• Iricent recognised the
importance of the SDN and
NFV combination from the
outset
• We have expertise in the
design, development and
operation of SDN and NFV
solutions
• We have partnered with like-
minded pioneers in the field
• Talk to us if you would like to
know more!
43

44. Rory MacHale
CTO
Thank you!
Questions?
44