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OpenFlow Networks with Limited L2 Functionality

Authors:
Hiroaki Yamanaka
Eiji Kawai
Shuji Ishii
Shinji Shimojo

Keywords: OpenFlow; TCAM; L2 switch; carrier access network

Abstract:
OpenFlow enables flexible control of network traffic with arbitrary flow definitions. On carrier access networks, OpenFlow can be used to provide customized network settings for each client for virtual private network (VPN), Internet Protocol television (IPTV), and content delivery network (CDN) services, etc. Since there is a massive amount of traffic in carrier access networks, high performance switches are necessary. However, costs tend to increase due to the number of switches. An OpenFlow switch processes wide-range of header fields and supports wildcard matching. Large spaces for ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are used for high performance lookups. Currently proposed techniques reduce the amount of energy that is consumed by reducing the frequency of TCAM usage in switches. However, these techniques require complex functionality in order to manage matching in the switches. As a result, switches are still expensive. In this paper, we propose a technique that enables the construction of OpenFlow networks using switches that require little more than L2 switch functionality. The functionalities that are required for the switches include an OpenFlow interface for handling the flow table externally and a simple matching function for the MAC header. Arbitrary flow definitions from an OpenFlow controller are translated to the flow definitions by the MAC address at the external proxy.

Pages: 221 to 229

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2014

Publication date: February 23, 2014

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4413

ISBN: 978-1-61208-318-6

Location: Nice, France

Dates: from February 23, 2014 to February 27, 2014