Implementing MPLS-TP Using SDN: OpenFlow Enabled Control Plane

Telecommunication service providers today face rapidly changing demands for higher bandwidth to be met at a short notice for a short duration of time along with a better manageable transport network. Today service providers use proprietary hardware network devices, and not only have a packet switched network, but also underlying is a separate circuit switched TDM/WDM/DWDM network that leads to substantial management overheads.;The focus, therefore, is now on transport WAN networks of service providers, which could use MPLS-TP as the transport profile to lower cost and power, and make use of more scalable optical Layer 1 transport switches. MPLS-TP offers the resiliency and manageability of SONET/SDH that carriers demand such as OAM function to detect and isolate faults with fast failure detection, fast (sub 50ms) protection and restoration schemes, besides other features. It is a profile of MPLS for which IETF has commenced the work on its definition, and the work on its design will be a continuation of the work started by the transport network experts of the ITU-T.;Though a control plane is not mandatory for MPLS-TP, including one helps its implementation using emerging technology, such as software defined networking (SDN). SDN does the physical separation of the network control plane from the forwarding plane, and where a control plane controls several devices. Through the controller, network administrators can quickly and easily make and push out decisions on how the underlying systems (switches, routers) of the forwarding plane will handle the traffic. OpenFlow is an open standard for a communication protocol that enables the control plane to interact with the forwarding plane. Implementing MPLS-TP using SDN would enable service providers to provide new services wherein customers themselves can own and control a portion of network device to configure their WAN requirements.;In this thesis, a prototype transport profile is configured using Openflow switch API, and network operating system POX to demonstrate and verify SDN architectural construct for MPLS-TP. It emulates an inter-city carrier network, with access packet switches in three cities, interconnected by hybrid packet optical switches in the backbone deploying MPLS-TP transport profile, all under OpenFlow/SDN control.