Coriant demonstrates wireless transport on software defined networks

Coriant claims it has created a breakthrough in the field of software defined networks (SDN) by unblocking one of the transport level glitches that have stopped telcos and data operators from enjoying the fullest liquidity of their digital assets.

It claims to have successfully demonstrated multi-vendor interoperability in the industry’s first Wireless Transport SDN Proof-of-Concept (PoC) at an Open Networking Foundation (ONF) event in Madrid.

The PoC test showed that multi-layer transport network controlled by an SDN controller will not act as a handbrake on the movement of computing resources, such as storage, CPU and bandwidth in the cloud or across telecoms networks, it said. The exercise to prove efficient network allocation in SDN was hosted by Telefónica and IMDEA Networks Institute, with support from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Coriant demonstrated the use-case with one of its SDN-enabled 8615 Smart Routers, which uses IP/MPLS aggregation to create Tier 1 standard bandwidth for telcos.

“Coriant’s demo marks significant progress towards a more open and dynamic wireless transport infrastructure,” said Luis Contreras, Telefónica’s Global CTO.

Among the PoC test scenarios was a flow-based use case that used open interfaces to adapt the router’s Quality of Service (QoS) configurations to the quality of wireless transport links. This proves that fullest, untrammelled optimization of network traffic is possible, according to Paul Smelters, Coriant’s Marketing VP.

“Multi-layer optimisation is an imperative for network operators. Unpredictable traffic from video and cloud applications and mobile backhaul networks makes operational efficiency vital,” said Smelters, “This proof of concept validates the role of SDN’s programmability, automation and control.”