Optical Control Plane Tutorial

MUPBED Workshop at TNC2007, Copenhagen

Acknowledgement: The author thanks all colleagues from

the OIF for their work, which has been the basis for this
tutorial
The responsibility for the content of this tutorial is with
the author
Hans-Martin.Foisel, T-Systems / Deutsche Telekom
OIF Carrier WG Chair, OIF Vice President
www.oiforum.com

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

Optical Control Plane Goals

Management
Plane
TMF-814

E-1
DS-1
E-3

Access

Edge

Metro
Core

Long-Haul
Core

DS-3
ATM

Optical Control
Plane

FR
10/100bT

IP

Ethernet
OC-3/12/48/192

Optical Control
Plane

STM-1o/4/16/64
FC
FICON

Offer real multi-vendor and multi-carrier inter-working

Enhance service offering with Ethernet and IP / Optical
Provide end-to-end service activation
Integrated cross-domain provisioning of switched connection services
Provide accurate inventory management

Optical Control
Plane

Realizing Optical Control Plane Goals

Framework Elements

Robust and scalable transport infrastructure that

facilitates carriage of desired services

Management plane that complements control plane in

facilitating deployment and management of services

Control plane architecture spanning user and provider

networks that supports multiple provider business
models and user service requests

Control plane protocols based upon existing and

emerging protocols of the data world

Robust Data Communications Network architecture

and mechanisms that enable interaction of the
protocols running at each node

Intelligent Transport Networks

introduce ...
A distributed
Control Plane
Signaling protocols
for dynamic setup
and teardown of
connections

Routing protocols for

automatic routing

Building on concepts/protocols from the

data world

Key Concepts Derived from the Data World

Distributed processing/knowledge/storage
Directory services
E.g., DNS, X.500

Open Distributed Processing

Standardized route determination and topology dissemination protocols

Routing information exchange mechanisms
E.g., RIP, OSPF, BGP, IS-IS/ES-IS

Flexibility in binding time decisions

Difference between provisioning and auto-discovery

Security based upon logical versus physical barriers

E.g., authentication, integrity, encryption

Differentiate between provisioning and more dynamic connection

management
Survivability

Distributed restoration using signaling

Leveraging Existing Protocol Solutions

Caveats

Internet serving
community of users
with common goals
and mutual trust:
Classical Internet
architecture
When taking protocol
solutions developed for the
classical Internet, they bring
along associated underlying
principles and architectural
aspects

Commercialization of the
Internet:
More Business Critical
Infrastructure & Availability
Requirements

Transport business &

operational requirements:
Control plane architecture
enabling boundaries for
policy and information
sharing

Optical Control Plane Capabilities

Optical
OpticalControl
Controlplane
plane
(distributed
(distributedintelligence
intelligence))

Bandwidth
request or
release from
clients

Management
System

X
Network failure

Control
Control
Plane
Plane

Signalling
Signalling
Routing
Routing
Discovery
Discovery

Improved
Improvedbandwidth
bandwidthusage/efficiency
usage/efficiency
Scheduled/unscheduled
Scheduled/unscheduledBoD
BoD
OSS
OSSsimplification
simplification
Autodiscovery
Autodiscovery

Related Standards Development Organizations

ITU-T

RFCs

Recommendations

IETF

ASON Architecture &

Requirements

GMPLS
Protocols

Interop Results
ASON/GMPLS E-NNI, UNI
Control
Plane
Mgmt.

OIF

Implementation
Agreements

Use Cases
Signalling for
Ethernet Services

TMF
Solution Sets

Ethernet
Services
9

MEF

Technical
Specifications

Protocols and Architectures

Control Plane capabilities are implemented in protocols,
whose elements can be combined to support different
architectures/implementations

Different SDOs contribute various protocol elements and

architectural components

RFC

RFC

RFC

Control Plane
Solutions

IA

Rec.

RFC

RFC

RFC
RFC

RFC

IETF
10

IA

IA

OIF

Rec.

ITU-T

Control Plane Specifications - Example

IETF

ITU-T
Requirements &
Architecture

TMF
509

RFC 3495
G.8080

AutoDiscovery

G.7714

G.7714.1

Signaling

G.7713

G.7713.2

RFC 4204

RFC 3474

G.7715

G.7715.1

RFC 4207

RFC 3473

RFC 3946
Routing

TMF

RFC 4208

RFC 4202

ENNI 1.0

ENNI 2.0

UNI 1.0

UNI 2.0

E-NNI
OSPF 1.0

OIF

G.7715.2
DCN/SCN

Management

11

G.7712

G.7718

G.7718.1

GMPLS
MIB RFCs

TMF
TMF
814

Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF)

Mission: To foster the development and deployment of

interoperable products and services for data switching

and routing using optical networking technologies

The OIF is the only industry group that brings together

professionals from the data and optical worlds

Its 100+ member companies represent the entire

industry ecosystem:

Carriers and network users

Component and systems vendors
Testing and software companies

12

OIF Technical Committee Working Groups

13

Optical Control Plane

Implement Agreement Status

OIF Control Plane IA Dashboard
Signaling

Routing

Security

OIF-UNI-01.0-R2

OIF-ENNI-01.0-OSPF OIF-SEP-01.0

OIF-UNI-01.0-R2-RSVP

OIF-SEP-02.1

OIF-ENNI-01.0

OIF-SMI-01.0
OIF-SMI-02.1

Management
OIF-CDR-01.0
Control Plane
Logging and Auditing
with Syslog

OIF-UNI-02.0
OIF-UNI-02.0-RSVP
OIF-ENNI-02.0

Draft

Straw Ballot

Letter Ballot

http://www.oiforum.com/public/impagreements.html
14

Approved IA

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

15

Business deployment considerations

16

Optical Control Plane

Business Deployment Considerations

Optical control plane viability depends upon

supporting business as well as technical
requirements
Service Provider business models
Commercial and operational practices
Services and network infrastructure heterogeneity
Control and management plane heterogeneity
Network and equipment interoperability

Forms foundation of fundamental optical

control plane architecture principles

17

Service Provider Business Models

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Delivers IP-based services
Owns all of its infrastructure (i.e., including fiber and duct to the
customer premises)
Leases some of its fiber or transport capability from a third party

Classical Service Provider

Offers L1/L2/L3 services
Owns its transport network infrastructure
Sells services to customers who may resell to others

Carriers Carrier (Service Broker)

Provides optical networking services
May not own transport infrastructure(s) supporting those services
(connection carried over third party networks)

Research networks (NRENs, GEANT2, Internet2)

18

Commercial & Operational Practices (1)

Enable protection of commercial business operating
practices and resources from external scrutiny or
control

An network operator is likely to support a number of user

services networks; a trust relationship cannot be assumed
between the network and these users (or among the various
users)
A network operator will not relinquish control of its resources
outside of its administrative boundaries, as the network is
a prime asset

Support a pay for service commercial model

Network operators differentiate their services by defining
their own branded bundles of functionality, service quality,
support, and pricing plans
Provided value added services must be verifiable and
billable in a value preserving way
19

Commercial & Operational Practices (2)

Protect security and reliability of optical transport
network

Optical transport network connection persistence

must not be affected failures of its control plane,
including that of the control communications network
Signaling Communications Network (SCN)

The network must be safeguarded against attacks that

may compromise its control plane, or seek
unauthorized use of its resources
Control plane security

20

Services Heterogeneity
A wide range of services may be offered; e.g.,
Classical data (e.g., best effort Internet, Frame Relay)
Ethernet (e.g., EPL, EVPL, EPLAN, EVPLAN)
L1/L2/L3 Virtual Private Network (VPN)
SONET/SDH switched connection (e.g., STS-n, VC-n)
OTH switched connection (e.g., ODU, OCh)

Many different service deployment scenarios; e.g.,

All services interface at the IP level
Various services interface at L1, L2, and L3
Various options for L1 and L2 topologies and re-configurability
in access, metro, and core networks

21

Network Infrastructure Heterogeneity

Extremely diverse network of networks, with widely varying
topologies, deployed technologies, services/applications
supported

Support operator-specific criteria including cost,

performance, and survivability characteristics

Breadth of existing and emerging data plane

technologies
Choice of infrastructure granularity options
Flexible capacity adjustment schemes
Range of single- and multi-layer survivability
strategies
Differing infrastructure evolution strategies

22

Control & Management Heterogeneity

Control plane-based subnetworks
Management plane-based subnetworks (with various operations
support system environments)
Hybrid control plane / management plane scenarios; e.g.,

Use of signaling protocols in combination with centralized route

calculation
Mix of control plane and management plane based subnetworks
Network Provider A

NMS

EMS 1

EMS 2

Management Plane Based

Connection Control
SNC 1

Network Connection

23

SNC 2

Control Plane Based

Connection Control

E
X
A
M
P
L
E

Optical Control Plane

Network Operator Deployment Observations

Optimal network layering, convergence choices,

equipment selection dependent upon multiple factors

Network size, geography, projected growth

Service offerings portfolio, QoS committed in SLAs
Cost, performance, resiliency trade-offs
Operations support system environment
Whether services traverse multiple operator domains

Differing network operator transport infrastructure,

control & management deployments and evolution

strategies
Optical control plane architecture must support multidimensional heterogeneity

24

Heterogeneity & Research Projects

NOBEL

25

Fundamental optical control plane

architecture principles

26

Optical Control Plane

Fundamental Architecture Principles (1)

Decouple services from service delivery mechanisms

Wide range of network infrastructure options
Network operator specific optimizations

Decouple QoS from realization mechanisms

Wide range of survivability options
Network operator specific approaches

Introduce call construct, which reflects a

service association that is distinct from
infrastructure/realization mechanisms

27

Optical Control Plane

Fundamental Architecture Principles (2)

Provide boundaries of policy and information sharing
Range of network operator business models
Varying trust relationships among users and providers,
among users, among providers
Targeted solutions, scalability considerations (scope of
information dissemination), etc.

Establish modular architecture with

interfaces at policy decision points

28

Optical Control Plane

Fundamental Architecture Principles (3)

Provide for various distributions of control functionality among
physical platforms

Different distributions of routing and signaling control

Fully centralized to fully distributed system designs

Decouple topology of the controlled network from that of the

network supporting control plane communications (SCN)

The transmission medium may be different for control plane messages

and transport plane data

Identifiers to distinguish transport resources

from, and among, signaling and routing
control entities, and SCN addresses

29

ASON architecture and standards status

30

Optical Control Plane

ITU-T ASON Recommendation Framework

DCN/SCN

G.7712

Signaling

G.7713

Autodisc

G.7714

Routing

initialization

Mgmt. FW

G.7715

G.7716

G.7718

Link State
G.7713.1
(PNNI-based)

G.7715.1

G.7713.3
(GMPLS-CR-LDP)

31

G.7715.2

Info Model

G.7718.1
Protocol
Specific
Recs.

G.7713.2
(GMPLS-RSVP-TE)

G.7714.1
(Discovery
SDH/OTN)

Remote Path
Query

Protocol Neutral Recs.

Rec. G.8080
Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON)

Optical Control Plane

ITU-T ASON Architecture

ITU-T G.8080/Y.1304, Architecture of the Automatically Switched

Optical Network

First version Approved Nov.01, several subsequent Amendments,

first major revision Approved June 2006
Subsumes and deprecates ITU-T Rec. G.807, Requirements for
Automatically Switched Transport Networks, Approved July 01

Architecture considers business and operational aspects of realworld deployments

Call and connection separation, connection persistence,

customer/network address space isolation, domain constructs,
reference points and interfaces
Leverages transport layer network constructs utilized in all transport
network architecture and equipment Recommendations
Applicable to all connection-oriented transport networks (whether
circuit or packet)

32

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Calls and Connections

Objective: Support ability to offer enhanced/new

types of transport services facilitated by:

Automatic provisioning of transport network connections

Span one or more managerial/administrative domains

Involves both a Service and Connection perspective

Call : Support the provisioning of end-to-end services while
preserving the independent nature of the various businesses
involved
Connection : Automatically provision network connections
(in support of a service) that span one or more
managerial/administrative domains

33

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Domains

ASON domains represent generalization of existing

traditional concepts

Transport definitions of administrative/management domains

Internet administrative regions

Domains may express differing:

Administrative and/or managerial responsibilities
Trust relationships, addressing schemes
Distributions of control functionality
Infrastructure capabilities, survivability techniques, etc.

Domains are established by network operator policies

34

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Interfaces (1)

Service demarcation points are where call control is provided

Inter-domain interfaces are service demarcation points
UNI Service
Demarcation
Point

User

IP/MPLS

Provider
management
system

Management Plane

Router

Ethernet/
ATM / FR
SONET/ SDH
/ OTN

Router

Call
Control

Router

Provider
network

*Call
Control Optical Control Plane

Transport Plane

Design modularized around open interfaces at domain

boundaries

UNI, E-NNI, I-NNI

35

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Interfaces (2)
UNI

UNI

E-NNI
NE

Provider A

NE

NE

Provider B

NE

UNI separates the concerns of

the user and provider:

3.6 Modularity is good. If you can

keep things separate, do so. - RFC
1548
Objects referenced are User objects,
and are named in User terms

UNI enables:

Client driven end-to-end service

activation
Multi-vendor inter-working
Multi-client
IP, Ethernet, TDM, etc.
Multi-service
SONET/SDH, Ethernet, etc.
Service monitoring interface for SLA
management

36

I-NNI

E-NNI

Domain 1

E-NNI

Domain 2

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Interfaces
(3)
UNI

UNI

UNI-C UNI-N

UNI-N UNI-C

E-NNI
NE

Provider A

NE

NE

Provider B

NE

E-NNI enables:

End-to-end service activation

Multi-vendor inter-working
Multi-carrier inter-working
Independence of survivability
schemes for each domain

I-NNI

E-NNI

Domain 1

E-NNI

I-NNI supports:

Intra-domain connection
establishment
Explicit connection
operations on individual
switches
37

Domain 2

ITU-T ASON Architecture

Call Control & Interfaces

Call state is maintained at network access points, and at key

network transit points where it is necessary or desirable to apply

policy
Calls that span multiple domains are comprised of call segments, with
call control provided at service demarcation points (UNI/E-NNI)
One or more connections are established in support of individual call
segments, with scope of connection control typically limited to a single
call segment
Domain A

UNI

NE

NE

CALL

CONNECTIONS

38

UNI Call
Segment

Domain A Call Segment

Domain B

E-NNI

NE

NE

E-NNI Call
Segment

UNI

Domain B Call Segment

UNI Call
Segment

Components of Control Plane enabled

Network Domains
Management plane
CP MANAGEMENT

DCN
CONTROL PLANE

Data plane

39

Optical Control Plane Service

Permanent Connection

All intra-/inter-domain calls and connections are

provisioned by Management Plane actions

C1

Provisioned

TN1

Provisioned

TN2

Permanent connection
C: Client network domain
TN:Transport Network provider domain
40

Provisioned

C2

Optical Control Plane Service

Soft Permanent Connection

Management plane of a transport network provider

domain is initiating a call/connection
SPC initiating domain

C1

TN1
Permanent
connection

E-NNI
Switched
connection

TN2

C2
Permanent
connection

Soft Permanent Connection (SPC)

C: Client network domain
TN:Transport network provider domain
41

Optical Control Plane Service

Switched Connection

Management plane of a client domain is initiating a

call/connection

SC initiating domain

C1

TN1

UNI

TN2

E-NNI

Switched connection
C: Client network domain
TN:Transport Network provider domain
42

C2

UNI

G.805 Transport Foundation

43

G.805 Foundation Elements Transport

Resources
Introduction of automated control doesnt

remove/change the attributes of transport

resources
Control Plane needs to be able to configure the same
attributes

Introduction of automated control doesnt modify

the functional components that exist within the
transport plane

44

Transport Network/Equipment Architecture

Informal Specification Approaches

Described in terms of network elements, facilities,

and cross-connections
Facilities identified in terms of the physical layer
characteristics
Cross-connections between constituents of
facilities or embedded facilities
DS1 Service example

DS1

X
3:3 DCS

45

DS3

X
3:1 DCS

SONET

X
Regen

SONET

X
3:1 DCS

SONET

X
3:3 DCS

DS1

Transport Network/Equipment Architecture

Informal Specification Approaches

Issues
Model specific to the technologies used in the NEs
Difficult to understand network topology without
understanding details of the NEs
Subject to differing interpretations of equipment
specifications/behaviors arising from natural language
description
Usage of different terminology; e.g., in doing a functional
decomposition, different specifiers may group
functionality in different ways but use the same term to
denote the functional block

Development of more formalized specification

techniques initiated during 1988 time frame

46

Transport Network Constructs

Formal Specification Techniques

Recognize new challenges of emergent multi-carrier,

multi-vendor telecommunications environment

Increasingly complex networks and behaviors, arising from

deployment of multi-technology networks & equipment
No single network architecture, or single set of network
elements, that suited all operators

Better support for multi-carrier/multi-vendor

interoperability

Unambiguous specifications that dont impose

unnecessary architectural constraints

Network operator transport infrastructure technology

deployment choices and evolution strategies
Network equipment provider innovation re equipment types
47

Transport Network Constructs

Formal Specification Techniques - G.805

Describes the generic characteristics of networks using a
common language

Transcends technology and physical architecture choices

Provides a view of functions or entities that may be distributed
among a number of equipments

Defines elements that support the modeling of topological

and functional concepts

Topology refers to how elements of the network are

interconnected
Functions refer to how signals are transformed during their
passage through the network

Defines small number of architectural components that may

be interconnected to represent various network/equipment
configurations

48

Transport Network Constructs

Topological G.805 Layers

A layer is defined in terms of its set of signal

properties - characteristic information

Networks can be represented in terms of a stack of

client/server relationships

Helps manage the complexity created by the

presence of different types of characteristic
information in networks

Allows the management of each layer to be similar

49

Transport Network Constructs

Topological G.805 Example
DS3 Client Layer

DS3
Signal

DS3 payload
mapping into
C-3 Container

Multiplex
Section
Layer

VC-3 Path
overhead
insertion

DS3 Client Layer Network

VC-3 Path Layer

VC-3 Path Layer Network

Mapping & muxing

Alignment Mul tiplex sec tion
into ST M-1 f rame
overhead
genera
tion
of VC-3
for each VC -3

Regenerator
Section Layer

Regenerator sec tion

Mapping regenera tor
overhead genera tion section overhead & muxing
for each STM-1
into STS-N f ra me

Physical Media Layer

Multiplex Section Layer Network

Regenerator Section Layer Network

Vertical
Conversion into STM-N
physical interface
STM-N

DS3 client carried over STM-N Signal

50

Physical Media Layer Network

Transport Network Constructs

DS-1 Service Architecture & Equipment

DS -1 Path Trail

mux

DS1 Path
Connection

DS -1 Path Connection

DS -3 Path Trail

DS1 Line
Trail
DS -3 Path
Connection
DS -3 Line
Trail

STS -1 Trail
STS -1 Connection

3:3
DCS

SONET Line
Connection

SONET Line
Connection

Section
Trail

Section
Trail

Section
Conn

Section
Conn

Optical
Trail

STS -1
Connection
SONET
Line Trail

SONET
Line Trail

3:1
DCS

51

DS1 Line
Trail

DS -3 Path Connection

regen

Optical
Trail

DS1 Path
Connection

SONET
Line Conn
3:3
DCS

Section
Trail
Section
Conn
Optical
Trail

3:1
DCS

mux

Transport Functional Modeling

Topological G.805 Partitioning

Even for a single layer, complexity arises from the

many different network nodes and connections

between them
Partitioning is defined as the division of layer
networks into separate subnetworks that are
interconnected by links representing the available
transport capacity between them
Helps manage complexity by using the principle of
recursion to tailor the amount of detail to be
understood at a particular time according to the
need of the viewer
Allows the management of each partition to be
similar
52

Transport Functional Modeling

Topological G.805 Partitioning Example

DS3 Layer network

DS3 Layer network

DS3 Layer network

Horizontal
subnetwork
link

53

G.805 Transport Network Constructs

Architectural Component Definitions
Functional Entities
Adaptation: Adapts client signal into a form suitable for the server layer
Termination: Where information concerning the integrity and supervision of
adapted information may be generated and added, extracted and analyzed

Topological Entities

Trail: Provides end-end connection offering means to check transport quality

Network Connection: Same scope as trail but without ensuring integrity
Link: Represents available transport capacity between subnetworks (static)
Link Connection: Transfers information transparently across a link
Subnetwork: Describes flexible connectivity
Subnetwork Connection: Transfers information across a subnetwork

Points
Termination Connection Point (TCP): Any binding involving a termination function
source or sink
Connection Point (CP): Any binding involving an adaptation source or sink
Access Point (AP): Delimits a layer network

54

Transport Functional Entities

Trail Termination

Trail Termination Source

Adds overhead (OH) to input
information (payload) to allow
the integrity of the transfer to be
monitored

Payload

Trail Termination Sink

Payload
Trail

Removes overhead and outputs

remaining payload information
Determines integrity of the
transfer

The Characteristic Information

Network Connection

for a trail is the payload plus the

overhead
OH

55

Payload

Transport Functional Entities

Adaptation

Adaptation Source
Converts client layer
characteristic information to a
form suitable for transport over a
trail in the server layer network
This is termed Adapted
Information

Adaptation Sink
Converts the adapted
information from the server layer
network to the client layer
characteristic information

56

Client Layer CI

Client Layer
Adapted Information
Trail

Server Layer CI

G.805 Transport Network Constructs

Multi-layer Architecture: DS3 over STM-N

DS3 Client Signal

DS3 Client Signal

VC-3/DS3
Adaptation
VC-3 Trail

AP

VC-3 Network Connection

VC-3 Trail
Termination
TCP

VC-3 Subnetworks
VC-3 SNC

STM-1 MS/VC-3
Adaptation
CP

AP

CP

VC-3 Link Connection

STM-1 Trail

Adaptation

Trail Termination
TCP

57

STM-1 MS Trail
Termination

Etc.

VC-3 SNC

Key Observations
Each layer network has its own topology
NEs may have different neighbors in different layer
networks
NEs do not necessarily appear in all layer networks
NEs may perform different functions within a layer
network, or in different layer networks

Link connections in a client layer are created by

configuring trails and adaptation functions in a
server layer

Differences in server layer networks are

transparent to the client

58

Control Components

59

G.8080 Control Plane Constructs

Topological Entity Definitions

Subnetwork Point (SNP): Abstraction of a G.805 CP or TCP.

They are associated to form a connection.

Subnetwork Point Pool (SNPP): A set of subnetwork points

that are grouped for the purposes of routing

SNPP link: A link associated with SNPPs in different

subnetworks.

Routing Area: Defined by a set of subnetworks, the SNPP

links that interconnect them, and the SNPPs representing

the ends of the SNPP links exiting that routing area.
A routing area may contain smaller routing areas
interconnected by SNPP links.
The limit of subdivision results in a routing area that contains a
single subnetwork.

60

G.8080 Control Plane Constructs

Topological Entity Relationships
SNP

Relationship between the architectural entities in

Transport Plane and Control plane

CP
Adaptation
Subnetwork

Trail Termination
TCP

SNC

SNP Link Connection

Link Connection

SNP
Trail
SNP: Subnetwork Point
SNPP: SNP Pool
SNPP Link

61

SNC

G.8080 Control Plane Constructs

Control plane architecture described in terms of components
and interfaces
Represent logical functions (abstract entities) rather than
physical implementations
The actual location/distribution of the components is not
constrained
To facilitate the construction of different scenarios,
leverages the Unified Modeling Language (UML)
Not all of the reference points (UNI, E-NNI) need to be
instantiated
A single instantiation of a G.8080 control plane may control
multiple layer networks with an explicit definition of the
interlayer interaction (including none)

62

Introduction to ASON Components

Monitor port

Policy port

Config port

DA

LRM
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC
LRM - Link Resource Manager
CCC Calling/Called Party Call Controller
NCC Network Call Controller
CC - Connection Controller
RC - Routing Controller
PC Protocol Controller
63

RC

TAP

TP

DA Discovery Agent
TAP Termination & Adaptation Performer
TP Traffic Policing Component

Link Resource Manager

Responsible for control-plane
local link connection inventory
Resources provided through
configuration or discovery
Receives requests for resources
from Connection Controller
Provides information to Routing
to facilitate Topology
advertisements

64

Monitor port

Policy port Config port

DA

LRM
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

RC

TAP
TP

Call Controller
Responsible for providing a
service across the network
Orchestrates components to
meet service requested
Different domains can have
different policies

Invoked by Management
Request or by Signaling
messages
Interacts with peer Call
Controllers via Protocol
Controller

65

Monitor port

Policy port Config port

DA

LRM
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

RC

TAP
TP

Connection Controller
Responsible for establishing
connections across a domain
Requests Route to use from
Routing Controller
Requests specific local link
resources from LRM
Interacts with peer Connection
Controllers via Protocol
Controller

66

Monitor port

Policy port Config port

DA

LRM
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

RC

TAP
TP

Routing Controller
Responsible for providing paths
between two points in the
network
Maintains topology view
Paths are calculated to meet
service constraints
Signal type
Diversity

Interacts with peer

Routing Controllers via Protocol
Controller

67

Monitor port

Policy port Config port

DA

LRM
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

RC

TAP
TP

Protocol Controller(s)
Responsible for providing
protocol specific behavior
Can be separate per client
function, or a merged function

Monitor port

Policy port Config port

CCC/NCC and CC
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

68

DA

LRM
RC

TAP
TP

Example Component Interactions

Call Request
Connection Request

Call Accept

Call Accept

Connection Indication
Path Computation
function in Routing
Component

NCC
CC

69

CC

CC

NCC

Identifiers

70

Identifiers Names & Addresses

An identifier provides a set of characteristics for
an entity that makes it uniquely recognizable
Name: identifies an entity
Unique only if it is unique within the context, or namespace,
it is being used in
The same entity may have more than one name in different
namespaces

Address: identifies a position in a specific topology

Unique for the topology
Typically hierarchically composed; allows for address
summarization for locations that are close together

Addresses should reflect connectivity, not identity

71

Categories of Identifiers
Management plane identifiers
Transport plane identifiers (G.805)
Identifiers for transport resources that are used by the
control plane

Identifiers for Signaling & Routing Protocol Controllers (PCs)

Identifiers for locating PCs in the SCN
Identifiers to distinguish transport resources
from, and among, signaling and routing
control entities, and SCN addresses

72

Identifier Spaces
MANAGEMENT PLANE (MP)
(e.g. CTP, TTP)

DCN
MCN/SCN addresses

CONTROL PLANE (CP)

SC PC, RC PC ID
(e.g., G.8080 CCC, NCC, CC, RC)

UNI/E-NNI TRI
SNPP, SNP ID

DATA PLANE
(e.g., G.805 CP, TCP)

73

Node ID

Relationship with GMPLS Architecture

74

Relationship with GMPLS Architecture

Models

75

Differing terminology and descriptive techniques

More classical MPLS terminology (e.g., LSP) as compared

to transport functional modeling terminology

Natural language architecture descriptions as compared to

formalized control plane component architecture

Peer model, also called the integrated model, corresponds to

ASON architecture with no UNI or E-NNI interfaces
instantiated

Assumes a community of users with mutual trust and

shared goals

No inherent policy or security boundaries

Routing and signaling protocols flow within the network

without any filtering or other constraints imposed

Relationship with GMPLS Architecture

Models

Overlay model, most closely corresponds to ASON

architecture with UNI (with no E-NNI interfaces instantiated)

Edge nodes are not aware of the topology of the core

nodes (core nodes act more as a closed system)

Core and edge nodes may have a routing protocol

interaction for exchange of reachability information to
other edge nodes

Augmented model, most closely corresponds to an ASON

architecture in which E-NNI interfaces have been
instantiated

76

Reflects the case of policy driven exchange of routing and

topology information between core and edge nodes

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

77

Signaling in Transport Networks

Essentially a Management Plane function
Distributed Connection Management

Signaling has existed for many years in telephony, ISDN, ATM,

and MPLS.

Signalling is extended for transport networks due to

Fixed granularities defined multiplexing hierarchy
Protection functions in the data plane
Separation of data plane from control and management planes
Addressing/Naming - Separation of spaces between data plane
and control plane

Connection centric rather than Protocol centric

Connection exists even if control plane ceases

78

Protocols and Architectures

Signaling capabilities are implemented in protocols,

whose pieces can be combined according to different

architectures.

Different SDOs contribute pieces and architectures.

Control Plane
Solutions
RFC

RFC

RFC

IA

Rec.

RFC

RFC

RFC
RFC

RFC

IETF
79

IA

IA

OIF

Rec.

ITU-T

Signaling in ASON Architecture

Architectural concepts for ASON signaling include:
Calls, connections, call/connection separation
Reference points, Addressing

Signaling protocols implemented at UNI, INNI, ENNI reference

points.

Call and Connection setup implemented in protocol with user/service

and network addressing.
Domain A

UNI

NE

NE

CALL

CONNECTIONS

80

UNI Call
Segment

Domain A Call Segment

NE

NE

E-NNI Call
Segment

UNI

Domain B

E-NNI

Domain B Call Segment

UNI Call
Segment

ASON Protocol-Neutral Signaling

ITU-T Rec. G.7713/Y.1704, Distributed Call and Connection
Management (DCM)

First version Approved Nov.01, several subsequent Amendments,

first major revision Consented Feb. 06
Protocol neutral specifications encompassing UNI, I-NNI and E-NNI,
supporting both soft-permanent and switched connections

Provides distributed call and connection management

requirements

Operations procedures, signaling network resilience to user and

network defects, signal flow exception handling
Restoration for single and multiple rerouting domains

Includes attribute specifications, message specifications, state

diagrams, Call and Connection Controller management

Basis for mapping to specific protocol solutions (G.7713.x series)

81

Protocol Specific Signaling

ITU-T Recommendations for ASON signaling protocol extensions Approved
March 03

Rec. G.7713.1, DCM Signaling Mechanism Using PNNI

Rec. G.7713.2, DCM Signaling Mechanism Using GMPLS RSVP-TE
Rec. G.7713.3, DCM Signaling Mechanism Using GMPLS CR-LDP

IETF base GMPLS signaling protocol RFCs Approved by IESG, published Jan. 03
RFC 3471, GMPLS Signaling Functional Description
RFC 3472, GMPLS CR-LDP Extensions
RFC 3473, GMPLS RSVP-TE Extensions

IETF Informational RFCs containing ASON GMPLS signaling protocol extensions

(aligned with G.7713.2 & G.7713.3) and IANA Code Point Assignments Approved
by IESG, published March 03
RFC 3474, IANA Assignments for GMPLS RSVP-TE Usage and Extensions for ASON
RFC 3475, IANA Assignments for GMPLS CR-LDP Usage and Extensions for ASON
RFC 3476, IANA Assignments for LDP, RSVP, and RSVP-TE Extensions for Optical UNI
Signaling

82

OIF User Network Interface

Signaling Specifications

Control Plane work driven by Carrier Working Group requirements

Architecture consistent with ITU-T ASON Recs. G.8080, G.7713

Signaling specifications in IAs based upon IETF GMPLS RFCs and ITU-T Recs.
G.7713.2/3
Specifies detailed usage of selected options in protocols

OIF UNI 1.0 Signaling Specification published Oct. 01

Defines the signaling protocols and mechanisms implemented by client and

transport network equipment from different vendors to invoke services
Feature focus on SDH/SONET VC-3/STS-1 and higher

OIF UNI1.0R2: UNI 1.0 Signaling Specification, Release 2 published Feb. 04

OIF-UNI-01.0-R2-Common - User Network Interface (UNI) 1.0 Signaling
Specification, Release 2: Common Part
OIF-UNI-01.0-R2-RSVP - RSVP Extensions for User Network Interface (UNI) 1.0
Signaling, Release 2

Updates UNI 1.0, but does not change UNI 1.0 functionality
Reflects subsequent developments in other standards bodies
Builds upon lessons learned from the OIFs multi-vendor interoperability event
conducted at OFC 2003

83

OIF User Network Interface

Signaling Specifications (cont)
OIF UNI 2.0
Incorporates architectural enhancements per ITU-T ASON Rec.
G.8080 and G.7713 evolution

Base features
Support of Ethernet services (almost complete)
Support of G.709 (complete)
Enhanced security (complete)
Call/connection separation (complete)
Support of sub-STS1 granularity (complete)

84

OIF External Network Node Interface

Signaling Specifications

Control Plane work driven by Carrier Working Group requirements

Architecture consistent with ITU-T ASON Recs. G.8080, G.7713,
G.7715, G.7715.1
Signaling specifications in IAs based upon IETF GMPLS RFCs and ITU-T
Recs. G.7713.2/3
Specifies detailed usage of selected options in protocols

OIF E-NNI 1.0, Intra-Carrier E-NNI Signaling IA, published Feb. 04

Enables end-to-end connection management by providing a uniform
way for carriers to interconnect network domains; feature support
consistent with UNI 1.0/1.0R2

OIF E-NNI 2.0, E-NNI Signaling IA, work in progress

Updated with E-NNI Signaling 1.0 Principal Ballot comments (from
Feb. 04)
Updated to reflect ITU-T Recommendation and IETF RFC progress
Includes updates based upon lessons learned from 2004 and 2005 OIF
World Interoperability Demonstrations
Includes features to support UNI 2.0

85

ITU-T/OIF and IETF

Signaling Protocol Differences

ITU-T G.7713.2

Consistent

RFC3473 and
other base RFCs

OIF UNI 1.0 R2

OIF E-NNI 1.0

Additionally specifies
detailed usage of
selected options in
protocols

Both utilize signaling protocols defined

In IETF GMPLS RFCs

Due to concerted effort, the signaling protocols are mostly the same!

Same RSVP-TE PATH/RESV processing

Same RSVP-TE refresh mechanism
No change to defined RSVP objects
No new messages

What are the differences between ITU-T/OIF and IETF ASON/GMPLS

signaling protocols?

Three new call-related objects, and some new C-Types associated with UNI and E-NNI
Need for usage of ResvTear/RevErr (no change to procedures if used)

86

Signaling Protocol Interworking Scenario

Dynamic signalling and routing control over OTN/SONET/SDH network
Dynamic signalling for Ethernet services using ASON interlayer architecture
ITU-T/OIF
OIF UNI

Provider A

OIF
E-NNI

IETF
Provider B

Protocol
i/w

Provider C

Client

Client

OIF Signalling based

on G.7713,
G.7713.2, G.7713.3
Ethernet services
based on G.8010,
G.8011, MEF.10
87

IETF
UNI

OIF ENNI routing based

on G.7715, G.7715.1

RFC
RFC
RFC
RFC

3472
3473
3946
4203

RFC 4139
RFC 4208

OIF ASON/GMPLS Interworking Project

OIF guideline document on Signaling Protocol Interworking of
ASON / GMPLS network domains
Document defines signaling protocol interworking methods
between network domains utilizing OIF/ITU-T and IETF GMPLS

Interworking of ASON UNI and E-NNI (based on GMPLS RSVP-TE with

ASON extensions, per G.7713.2 and OIF IAs) and IETF interfaces (based
on GMPLS RSVP-TE, per RFC 3473 and RFC 4208)

Detailed interworking scenarios and functions; e.g.,

Required translation, resolution or re-mapping of address and
identifier objects
List of messages or objects supported in one specification, but not the
other, along with the resultant behavior
List of objects which are examined or processed in one specification,
but are tunneled or opaque to the other

Describes pragmatic implementations of interoperable solutions

88

Interlayer Call Technology

Client makes an Ethernet call to destination
Network triggers SONET/SDH calls to match Ethernet service request
Control plane sets up Ethernet and SONET/SDH connections, and controls
GFP/VCAT

Ethernet
callEthernet
call
completes
Client

SONET/SDH
call
OXC

UNI-C

Ethernet
call
progresses
OXC

Client

UNI-N

UNI-C

UNI-N
Ethernet

Ethernet
GFP
VCAT

Interlaye
r call
invoked

89

GFP
VCAT

UNI-N

UNI-N
SONET/SDH

connection
s

Ethernet
connection

Interlayer Signaling
Interlayer architecture enables business boundary between layers.
Service separation between layers is at interlayer NCC relationship
Note that VCAT is a separate layer
ETH NCC

ETH NCC

ETH MAC Client

ETH MAC Client

Layer boundary

VC-3 NCC

VC-3 NCC

Interlayer
Within Layer

90

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

91

Basics of IP Routing
IP routing protocol
Exchange of information between IP routers that allow them to
determine how to forward IP packets
There are different types of routing protocols
Distance Vector (RIP, IGRP)
Path Vector (BGP)
Link State (OSPF, IS-IS)

Link State Routing protocols in particular support distribution of

network topology as links and nodes
For IP, every router must have exactly the same network topology
information (links, nodes, and link wts.)
Every router must run exactly the same path computation algorithm
Failure to insure these last two requirements can result in routing
loops and black holes

92

Operation of Link State Routing Protocols

Node B

Node D

Node G
Node H

Node A
Node J
Node E
Node C

Nodes establish routing adjacencies

Exchange local link information
Forward received link/node information
93

Node F

Routing Topology Database

Request Info

Link State Advertisements (LSA)

and other advertisements form
the Topology Database

DB A Summary
DB B Summary

Identify link by remote link

endpoint
Carry link information, e.g.,
capacity, weight

Periodic or triggered updates

Node A

Node B

Topology
DB

Topology
DB

reliably flooded

Neighbors keep identical

topology databases

Each node ends up with the full

topology of the network

94

D
C A

D
C A

Shortest Path Calculation Determines

Packet Forwarding
Shortest Path Techniques
Links are
characterized by
a single link
weight

2
NE
2

NE
4

1
NE
7
NE
1

NE
5

2
2

2
2

2
NE
3

NE
6
2

95

How is this Useful for Transport Networks?

Basic Network Inventory
Routing Protocols provide network link inventory
Useful for operations and planning

Topology and Resource Utilization

Required for distributed connection path
selection/computation

Disaster Recovery
Want timely information of whats available in the
network (nodes, link, spare capacity, etc)

96

Extended for Non-IP Networks in IETF

GMPLS
New Link and Router advertisements in RFC 3630,
4202/3
Kept separate from IP link information to avoid
confusion
Opaque LSAs kept out of the IP Topology DB
Link Switching Type and Metric
Non-IP types, e.g., TDM, WDM

Link Characteristics, e.g., Protection

Linear (1+1, 1:1, 1:N), Ring, etc...

Diverse Routing Information

Shared Risk Link Groups (SRLGs)

Other non-IP link characteristics

97

ASON Routing Specifications and Activities

Protocol-neutral routing fundamentals (G.7715, G.7715.1,
G.7715.2)

Function of routing and routing protocols in ASON

ASON link state routing
New routing protocol requirements for ASON

Protocol-specific routing (OIF)

OSPF extensions based on ASON routing requirements
Application of topology abstraction

Future work
PCE

98

ASON Routing

Routing Components
Monitor port

Policy port

Config port

RC
CCC/
NCC

CC

PC

CC - Connection Controller
RC - Routing Controller
LRM - Link Resource Manager
PC Protocol Controller
99

LRM

Primary function for ASON

transport routing is to
provide path
computation to
Connection
Management (Control
Plane).
Key modules are shown in
light blue:
Path computation and
associated distribution
of topology information
is done by the Routing
Controller (RC)
Conversion into a
specific routing protocol
and associated protocol
functions (e.g., state
machines) are done by
the Protocol Controller
(PC)

ASON Routing

IP Routing and Transport Network Routing

LSA

OSPF

Topology
Database

IP router Peers

Shortest Path
Algorithm (Dijkstra)

G.7715 Compliant
Protocol

L1 Bearer
Topology

Control Plane

Peer Routing Controllers

Source Route
Algorithm

Signaling

Data Plane
IP Forwarding
Table

SDH Path

Header
IP

Cross
Connec
t

Control Plane
Data Plane
SDH Path

IP address Next Hop

Transport Routing and Forwarding

IP
Forwarding

IP Routing and Forwarding

Data Plane in Transport Networks and classic IP Networks differ

For classic IP, every packet is forwarded based on address translation

For label switching (generalized to TDM or WDM), once a cross connection is
made, data flows without needing further path computation

100

ASON Routing
Some differences between IP and Transport Network Routing
Classic IP Routing
Distribution of Routing Always distributed
Protocol Entities

Domain-specific: may be
distributed or centralized

Path computation

Identical path computation May be different path

algorithm at each node
computation algorithms at
different nodes

Forwarding process

Path computed for each

packet at each node

Forwarding
dependency

Data cannot be forwarded

without stable routing
database

Looping

101

Transport Routing

Path computed only at

connection setup, usually
only at the source

Data can be forwarded on

existing connections but
new connections cannot be
created
Potential problem any time Prevented by strict source
the routing table changes routing

ASON Routing
Specifications

ITU-T Rec. G.7715, ASON Routing, Approved in July 02

Applicable after network has been subdivided into Routing Areas, and necessary
network resources accordingly assigned
Focus upon inter-domain routing supporting optical transport networking
application
Provides architecture, requirements, high-level attributes, messages, and state
diagrams from a protocol-neutral perspective

Protocol neutral routing requirements include support for, e.g.,

Hierarchically contained Routing Areas

Non-congruent routing adjacency topology and transport network topology
Independence from intra-domain protocol and control distribution choices
Policy constraints on information exchange (e.g., imposed at E-NNI)
Architectural evolution (levels, aggregation, segmentation)
Multiple links between nodes, allowing for link and node diversity.

Encompasses different classes of protocols (e.g., link-state, path vector)

Facilitates comparison of specific inter-domain routing protocol proposals
against quantifiable requirements

102

Link State Routing

Objective
Disseminate and update a common network topology view
across all nodes in a domain

Basic Link State Routing Functions:

Hello/Link Adjacency Procedure
Database Synchronization Procedure
Periodic or Event-driven Link Status Updates

Link State Routing Protocols

OSPF
IS-IS
PNNI
103

ASON Routing

Architecture & Requirements Link State

ITU-T Rec. G.7715.1/Y1706.1, ASON Routing Architecture and
Requirements for Link State Protocols, Approved Feb. 04

Based upon ASON foundation Recommendations (G.8080, G.7715)

Further architectural analysis for link state routing

Encompasses exchange of routing information between

hierarchical routing levels, including visibility re reachability

and topology
Node and Link routing attributes
Path computation and routing are impacted by layer specific, layer
independent, and client/server adaptation information elements
Routing protocol must be applicable to any transport layer
network, and representation of routing attributes should not
preclude their applicability to other transport network layers
Layer specific characteristics (per link attribute)

104

G.7715.1 Link Characteristics

Layer Specific

Capability

Usage

Characteristics
Signal Type

Mandatory

Optional

Link Weight

Mandatory

Optional

Resource Class

Mandatory

Optional

Local ConnectionType

Mandatory

Optional

Link Capacity

Mandatory

Optional

Link Availability

Optional

Optional

Diversity Support

Optional

Optional

Local Client Adaptations

Optional

Optional

Supported

105

Comparison with IP Link State Routing

Protocols
ASON Link State Routing relies on basic link state functions
Adjacency
Database synchronization
Periodic or event-driven advertisements

Differences
Control plane and data plane topology may be different
Automated discovery of routing peers cannot be done based on SCN
topology data plane neighbors may not be neighbors in the SCN

Optical routing advertisements are for Traffic Engineering

rather than IP routing table
Optical link state advertisements are marked as opaque and not
used for IP routing

Instead a separate transport topology database is created

106

Separation of Data and Control Plane

Pre-ASON, routing protocols have assumed a Label
Switching Router

Single node with both data and control plane functions

Single source for data, signaling and routing messages

ASON explicitly separates these

Data plane entities can be separate from control plane
Routing entity can be separate from signaling entity

Routing Implication
Must be able to separately identify the data plane entity
(link or node) from the routing controller

107

Examples of different Distributions

Possible distribution of control
Fully distributed (1:1) each network element also
participates in the control plane
Fully centralized (1:n) only one network element or
proxy participates in the control plane
Variable (m:n) small number of network elements or
proxy servers participate in the control plane

Some potential applications

Proxy for a legacy (management controlled) domain
Centralization of interoperability/E-NNI translation
functions for ease of administration

108

Client Reachability Advertisement

Routing Protocols have assumed a peer model where
client is a full peer to network elements

Clients are advertised as IP address reachability

Access links are part of the TE topology

ASON explicitly separates client and network address

spaces

Clients are identified by a separate namespace

Routing to clients needs to be supported by a separate
mechanism
Client reachability advertisement
Directory type service

109

Layering in the Data Plane

Pre-ASON, optical routing specifications gave a single
parameter for link capacity

Assumes that any signal type can use the link, subject to
pure bandwidth availability
Does not take into account layering issues

ASON requires routing to advertise per signal type

connection availability

Takes into account possible limitations (link supports

some signal types but not others)
Takes into account blocking issues (smaller signal type can
block larger signal type due to positioning in the frame)

110

Hierarchy in the Routing Architecture

Pre-ASON, routing protocols have had limited hierarchy
support

OSPF and IS-IS have limited levels (see next slide for OSPF)
PNNI has richer hierarchy up to 104 theoretical levels

ASON requires flexible hierarchy in the routing

architecture

To match transport network organization

For greater scalability
For greater policy control
Protocol extensions to support hierarchy are needed

111

Routing Hierarchy compared to OSPF

Existing routing protocols need extension to meet
ASON requirements. E.g., for OSPF,
Area boundaries fall within a router (vs. IS-IS area
boundaries, which fall on links so router belongs to a single RA)
Needs extensions for more than two hierarchical routing
levels
Requires operator intervention for re-definition of areas

Transport network architecture (G.805) allows more

flexible partitioning and multiple levels

112

ASON Routing Hierarchy

RA

Level 1
RA.1
RA.3

Level 2

RA.2

RA.1.1

Level 3

RA.1.2

RA.2.2

RA.3

RA.2.1

In ASON, multiple levels of hierarchy are supported

Domains at lower levels are encompassed by higher levels

Domains are organized as part of carrier administration

113

Protocol Extension Work in Standards

ITU-T
Has defined requirements but not protocol at this point

IETF
Has begun work through analysis of ASON requirements and
evaluation of existing routing protocols
Some initial proposals for extensions are in progress
Will need review through OSPF and IS-IS groups

OIF
Has developed and tested prototype extensions to meet
ASON requirements
Working with IETF/ITU-T to extend the standards

114

OIF External Network Node Interface

Routing Specifications

E-NNI Routing 1.0, Intra-Carrier E-NNI Routing using

OSPF, approved by Q1/07 Principal Ballot
Consistent with ITU-T ASON Recs. G.8080, G.7715 and
G.7715.1 architecture and requirements
Prototypes an instantiation of a routing protocol addressing
ASON routing requirements

Intended to enable interoperable multi-domain SPC

and SC services similar to those implemented for the

OIF Worldwide Interoperability Demonstrations in 2004
and 2005
Documents routing protocol requirements supporting the ENNI 1.0 interface, and prototype encodings used in OIF
Interop testing
Will support services provided by OIF UNI 1.0R2, UNI2.0 and
E-NNI Signaling 1.0

115

OIF E-NNI Prototype Extensions

Separation of Routing Controller and Node Identifier
Routing Controller is the control plane entity, Node ID identifies
the transport plane entity
Enabled by the addition of Local/Remote Node ID parameters in
the link status update
Identifies the link ends (data plane topology) separate from the
advertising entity (control plane topology)

Advertisement of TNA
TNA is OIFs terminology for client address
Reachability to TNA is advertised through OSPF prototype
extension
This supports a separate client namespace, in theory could be
non-IPv4

116

OIF E-NNI Prototype Extensions

Link Bandwidth
OIF extension specifies available connections for each
signal type (e.g., STS-1/VC-3, STS-3c/VC-4, etc.)
More detailed and accurate than a simple measure of
total available bandwidth for the link

Routing Hierarchy
Currently not implemented but under study
Leaking of information up and down levels and protection
from looping are key elements

117

E-NNI Topology Advertisement

Client
Device

Domain A

Domain B

OIF UNI
NE

NE

NE

RC

Client
Device

NE

OIF UNI

RC
RC

SCN

Domain C

Carrier
Network

RC
RC
NE

NE

OIF UNI

Each domains Routing Controller (RC) advertises to its peers

across the E-NNI boundary
An abstracted topology can be advertised

118

Routing Domain Abstraction Models

Abstraction must improve scalability, yet
provide more than just reachability information

1
Real domain
topology

2
3

Abstraction Models
1. Abstract node domain collapsed to a single
node; most scalable, least accurate

2. Abstract link series of interconnected edge

nodes; less scalable, more accurate

3. Pseudo-node variation of abstract link that

also shows potential server layer connectivity

119

Abstract
topology

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

120

Motivation of Control Plane Management

To achieve and sustain automatic call & connection service
management (service management), there are many things that
need to be managed

Control plane (Cp) entity management

Initialization, configuration, policy setting
Ongoing monitoring, maintenance, recovery

Transport plane (Tp) management for ASON

ASON functionality Installation & configuration
ASON resource provisioning (e.g., names) & hand-over (from Mp to Cp)
Ongoing monitoring, maintenance, & recovery

Control plane (Cp) & Management plane (Mp) ongoing

interaction for

121

Connection management by Mp as needed

Centralized routing (i.e., Mp calculated)
Call performance measurement
Management of call admission control
Transfer of call/connection between Mp Cp

Challenges of Control Plane Management

Ensure consistent management policy across multicarrier environment, e.g.,

Network wide consistency for Cp configuration, such as

time-out setting for timers

Balance between delegation (to Cp) and ultimate control

(by Mp) (i.e., centralized vs. distributed) e.g.,

Avoid duplication of data & process

Maintain consistency between Mp and Cp database
Restore consistency without affecting active services

Smooth migration from Mp-driven service management

(Call/Connection mgmt) to hybrid or Cp-driven SM

Faults correlation and root cause analysis across Cp and
Tp in multi-domain multi-layer environment
122

Scope of Cp Management & Interactions

re
c
Di

Re
po
rt s

Data communication Supports

network
Re
r
po

Supports
Directs

ts

123

cts

Control plane

re
Di

Reports

Supports

Directs

ts

Management plane

Reports

Transport plane

Transport Resources in Mp and Cp View

SNP
CP

Relationship between the architectural entities in

Transport plane, Management plane, and Control plane

Adaptation
CTP
TTP
Subnetwork

Trail Termination
TCP
SNP

SNC

Link Connection

Transport entities
Adaptation function
Trail Termination function
CP: Connection point
TCP: Termination connection point
Management plane view
TTP: Trail Termination Point
CTP: Connection Termination Point

124

SNP Link Connection

Control plane view

SNP: Subnetwork Point
SNPP: SNP Pool
SNPP Link

Trail

SNC

Standards for Control Plane Management

TMF MTNM v3.5

Management
Plane

NMS
ITU-T G.7718
EMS

EMS

EMS

OIF-CDR-0.10
GR-1110-CORE

ITU-T G.7718.1

MTNM
Control
Plane Transport
Plane

125

G.7718.1

G.7718
Network
Element

G.8080

G.7710

M.3010

Architecture & Requirements

Rec. G.7718/Y.1709, Framework for ASON Management,
Approved Feb. 05

Deemed essential for supporting viable network deployments

Addresses the management aspects of the ASON control

plane and the interactions between the OSS (NMS, EMS)
and the ASON control plane
Provides architecture and requirements context
Management perspective on control plane components and
constructs, control-related services, domain, transport resources,
policy
Management of restoration and protection

ASON management requirements

FCAPS
Heavy input from Service providers
126

G.7718 ASON Management Requirements

Fundamental requirements:
Impact of Mp failure, Mp-Cp interface failure, and Cp failure

Configuration management
Control plane resources
Identifiers, addresses, protocol parameters (signaling & routing)

Routing areas
RA hierarchies, (dis) aggregation, assignment of Cp resources

Transport resources (in control plane view)

(de)allocation, names and identifiers, discovery, topology, resource and capacity inventory

Call and connection

setup(SPC)/modification/release

Policy

Fault management
Control plane components, resource/connection/call (service),

Performance management
Control plane components

Accounting management
Usage and call details record
127

TMF MTNM v3.5 Control Plane Management

MTNM for Multi-technology management

TMF
TMF
TMF
TMF

513 Requirements & Use cases

608 Protocol-neutral model (UML)
814 CORBA solution
814A Implementation Statement Templates and Guideline

Version 3.5 addition: Control plane & VLAN management

Key modeling approaches
Re-use the v3.0 Multi-layer approach for
Routing area (ML-RA), SNPP (ML-SNPP), SNPP Link (ML-SNPP Link),

Re-use of the Subnetwork connection (SNC) object for

Cp Connection

Scope:
Limited to retrieval of Control Plane resources, retrieval of network
topology and end-to-end Call/Connection management (provisioning
of SPCs)
128

OIF-CDR-01.0 for OIF UNI 1.0 Billing

OIF-CDR-01.0, Call Detail Records for OIF UNI 1.0 Billing, Approved
April 02
Implementation Agreement (IA) for the usage measurement
functions that an Optical Switching System will need to perform in
order to enable carriers to bill for OIF UNI 1.0 optical connections
using their legacy billing systems.
Usage measurement functions: Automatic Message Accounting
(AMA)
Data generation: UNI 1.0 CDR Information Content, as generic as
possible
Data formatting (resulted in CDR)
Billing AMA Format (BAF)
ASCII CDR (ACDR) Format
XML CDR (XCDR) Format

Data transmitting (of CDR): Typically via FTP between management

system and billing system

129

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

130

Interoperability Demonstrations
Objectives / Goals
OIF Perspective
Member evaluation, validation, proof of concept of current OIF draft
specifications & IA for interoperable network solutions
Feedback assessment from multi-vendor testing environment to
standardization/specification work

Carrier Perspective
Early adoption, evaluation, of interoperability testing results
demonstrated in multi-vendor environment.
Feedback to vendor community on early implementations and
integrations based on practical experiences and lessons learned

Industry Perspective
Showcase OIF contributions, build market awareness of emerging
technologies, services and networking solutions.
Public forums (Optical conference & exhibitions) utilized

131

Interoperability Demos Role in Standards to Deployment

Deployment
OIF supports close relation of
standardization and R&D and
early implementations

Interoperability
Tests & demonstrations
Standards
Specifications

OIF
ITU-T
IETF

132

Field trials
Carrier
sites

OIF

Feedback

OIF performs / organizes the next

major step towards implementation
interoperability evaluations of
prototype implementations:
Prove of concept
Feedback to standardization
Fosters follow up activities

Ethernet Switched Connection Characteristics

Ethernet
Client

Carrier A
Domain

Carrier B
Domain

NE

Ethernet
UNI-C

OIF E-NNI

OIF E-NNI

OIF UNI
NE

Ethernet
Client

Carrier C
Domain

NE

NE

SDH
UNI-N

OIF UNI
NE

NE

Ethernet
UNI-N

Ethernet Layer Call/Connection Flow

UNI-C

SONET/SDH Layer Call/Connection Flow

OIF UNI 2.0 support for Ethernet clients

OIF UNI 2.0 call control based on ASON specifications
Transport devices integrate multi-layer functions at control plane and

data plane level

Ethernet Private Line Service (E-Line Service Type) triggered by OIF UNI
2.0 connection requests and provisioned by E-NNI
133

2005 Worldwide Interoperability Demo

7 participating carrier labs around the world: China, Japan,

France, Germany, Italy and USA

13 participating vendors
First multi-layer & multi-domain call/connection demonstration
Orchestrates actions between client and server layers
Integration of control plane (UNI2.0 Ethernet, E-NNI) and NGSONET/SDH (GFP-F/VCAT/LCAS) functions
Sow of on-demand Ethernet Private Line service by using

Creation of end-to-end calls and connections across multiple

network layers, network domains, multiple vendors equipment,

multiple carrier labs
OIF IAs based on ITU-T ASON standards including:
Requirements and Architecture (G.8080, G.7713, G.7715, G.7715.1)
Signaling protocols (G.7713.2)

World Interoperability Demonstration public observation:

SUPERCOMM 2005 (June 7-9, 2005, Chicago, IL)

134

Interoperability Demonstrations
Global Test Network Topology
USA
Avici
Ciena
Cisco

AT&T

Alcatel
Ciena
Cisco
Fujitsu
Lucent
Mahi
Nortel
Sycamore
Tellabs

Asia

Deutsche
Telekom
Alcatel
Ciena
Cisco
Marconi
Lucent

France
Telecom
Avici
Marconi
Sycamore
Verizon

135

Europe

Telecom
Italia

Marconi
Huawei
Lambda OS

Avici
Cisco

NTT
Avici
Fujitsu
Sycamore

Ciena
Huawei
China
Telecom

OIF Interoperability Labs in 2005

Lannion,
France
Waltham,
MA-USA

Middletow
n, NJ-USA

Beijing,
China
Berlin,
Germany
Torino,Italy

SuperComm 2005
booth
136

Musashino,
Japan

137

2007 Worldwide Interoperability Demo

On-Demand Ethernet Services over multi-domain

transport networks
7 participating carrier labs around the world: China,
Japan, France, Germany, Italy and USA
Public demonstration at ECOC2007, Sept 16 20th, 2007:
ECOC2007 Workshop on Global Interoperability in MultiDomain and Multi-Layer ASON/GMPLS Networks
ECOC2007 exhibition: Live demonstration of the OIF
Worldwide Interoperability Test results
ECOC2007 accompany program: Lab tours to DT premises,
demonstrating live the ASON/GMPLS functions of the OIF
Worldwide Test Network, the MUPBED European scale
network and enabling hands on real telecom world for
the visitors
138

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

139

Application 1: CP for Bandwidth

Defragmentation
Scenario
After running the NG-SONET/SDH network for a while, available time slots
over SONET/SDH links become fragmented (I.e., many discontinuous, small
size clusters of bandwidth). Network Operations can invoke the control plane
on a regular basis to (1) identify the clusters for each span in the network,
and (2) run a defragmentation algorithm to pack in-use time slots into a
contiguous space.
Core Technologies
NG-SONET/SDH Defragmentation over
a single vendor domain
Site 2
OTN Control Plane (Auto-Discovery &
SONET
Path 1Self Inventory)
Site 1 2
OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/NMS update)
Path 23

SONET

Path 13
SONET

140

Site 3

Application 2: A-Z Provisioning via EMS/NMS

and Control Plane
Scenario
NMS/EMS receives a service order for SONET STS /SDH VC from an enterprise
customer that has three sites in the region. The order specifies points A & Z
(e.g., from Site 1 to Site 2), payload rate, transparency, protection class, and
other constraints.
The NMS/EMS issues a command to the source node (attached to Site 1), which
then triggers the control plane to setup the SONET/SDH path to Site 3 according
to the requirements specified in the order. Similarly, when the customer
terminates the service, NMS/EMS will invoke the control plane to tear down the
path.

Core Technologies
OTN Control Plane (E-NNI, I-NNI)
OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/NMS SPC support)

Site 2
Path 1Site 1 2

SONET

A
SONET

Path 13
SONET

141

Path 23

Site 3

Application 3: Bandwidth on Demand (BoD)

in Transport Networks
Scenario
An enterprise customer with three sites subscribes to BoD
SONET/SDH service with a range of SONET/SDH payload rates. The
service plan applies to all SONET/SDH connections between the
sites. Based on business needs, the customer uses UNI signaling to
dial-up the service between any two sites, sends information over
the SONET/SDH path for a unspecified period of time, then hangs
up.
NG-SONET/SDH GFP/VCAT
Site 2
OTN Control Plane (O-UNI, E-NNI,
SONET
Path UNI
1and I-NNI)
Site 1 2
OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/NMS SC
Path 2support, TMF814)
3
SONET
Two Sub-Cases
Path 1 Case 3a: With NG-SONET/SDH
3
SONET
Virtual Concatenation (VCAT)
Site 3
Case 3b: Without VCAT

142

Application 3 (cont): Scheduled BoD

Customers with highly predictable traffic profile
Service bandwidth provisioned according to user provided time-ofday and/or day-of-week schedules, with the capability to make
bandwidth changes as needed.
Automatic tailoring service bandwidth to traffic profile
Measured Bandwidth Usage of a SAN Application

200

200 Mb/s

Mb/sec

160
120
100 Mb/s

80
40
19 Mar
(Th)

143

20 Mar
(F)

21 Mar
(Sa)

22 Mar
(Su)

23 Mar
(M)

24 Mar
(Tu)

25 Mar
(W)

Source: EMC

Application 4: GbE Service with Bandwidth

Schedule
Scenario
An enterprise customer with three sites subscribes to a GbE service with
customized bandwidth schedules for weekdays and weekend/holidays as shown
below.
Weekend

Weekdays
Schedule\Path

Path 1-2

Path 1-3

Path 2-3

Schedule\Path

Path 1-2

Path 1-3

Path 2-3

8 am 5pm

200M

100M

50M

8 am 5pm

50M

50M

50M

6pm 11pm

300M

200M

100M

6pm 11pm

50M

50M

50M

12am 7am

50M

500M

500M

12am 7am

10M

10M

10M

Site 2

Core Technologies
NG-SONET/SDH GFP/VCAT/LCAS
OTN Control Plane (E-NNI, I-NNI)
OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/NMS w/scheduling support)

144

Site 1

Path 12

GbE
Path 23

GbE

Path 13

GbE

Site 3

Application 5: BoD - GbE Service

Scenario
An enterprise customer with three sites subscribes to a BoD GbE
service with a specified peak rate (P). The service plan applies to
all GbE connections between the sites. Based on business needs,
the customer uses UNI signaling to dial-up the service between
any two sites, sends information at rates <= P for a certain period
of time, then hangs up.

Core Technologies
OTN

Control Plane (O-UNI, E-NNI, and I-NNI)

OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/NMS support)

Site 2
UNI

Site 1

Path 2-3

GbE

Path 1-3

145

GbE

Path 1-2
UNI

GbE

Site 3

Application 6: OSS Simplification

Traditional OSS
Service Accountin
Service
g
Assuranc
Activatio
e
& Security
n
Fault
Customer Net Topology
Correlations Billing
Assignments
Path
Admission
Facility
Computation Exceptions Control
Fault
Resource
Parameter
Isolation
Access
Cntl
Mapping
Equipment
Testing
CoS Assign.
Srvc Circuit
Protection &
Restoration
Inventory

NG-OSS
Inventory
Customer
Assignments
Facility

Service Accountin
g
Assuranc
e
&
Security
Fault
Correlations Billing
Exceptions Admission
Control
Resource
Access Cntl

Passive roles for all control plane

supported functions
Fault
Net Topology
NG-OTN
Isolation
Control Plane
Path
Computation Exceptions
Testing
Equipment Parameter
Mapping
&
Srvc Circuit CoS Assign. Protection
Restoration

Transport Network

146

Transport Network

Application 7: Control Plane for

Auto-Discovery and Self-Inventory
Scenario
Upon start up of a CP-equipped network, all NEs will discover
each other, identify resources, and create a high quality
network database containing the complete topological view
of the network and a highly accurate resource map.
During network operation, the database will be instantly
updated to reflect any change of network state, such as
resource usage/addition, path setup/tear-down, etc.
A high quality network database is essential to the high
quality OAM&P required for NG-OTN

Core Technologies
OTN Control Plane (I-NNI, E-NNI)
OTN Mgmt Plane (EMS/OSS update)

Site 2
Path 1Site 1 2
SONET

147

SONET

Path 13
SONET

Path 23

Site 3

Application 8: Control Application Plane

enabled Network interworking

Applications communicate with Adaptation Function through API

Adaptation Function administrates access to UNI
Application integrates an API or manual control

148

ASON/GMPLS Tutorial Outline

Introduction
Requirements & Architecture
Signaling
Routing
Control Plane Management
OIF Interoperability Demonstrations
Control Plane Applications Use Cases
Concluding remarks

149

ASON Reqts. & Architecture Recap

Requirements intended to enable support for

business/commercial operating practices
Formalized specification technique utilizing components and
interfaces that can be associated in various ways to describe
actual control plane implementations

150

The actual location/distribution of the control plane components is

not constrained, allowing for the range of fully distributed to
centralized implementations
Architecture does not require that the reference points always be
instantiated as external interfaces (UNI, E-NNI); instantiation of
interfaces and degree of information sharing are based upon operator
business model/policy
A single instantiation of an ASON control plane may control multiple
layer networks with an explicit definition of the interlayer
interaction (including none)

Reference point concepts similar to those of Resource and

Admission Control Function (RACF) model

Standards Development Organizations

(SDO) Interaction
-

1999/2000 MPLS: flat peer model,

data/signaling congruent, IP only, data behavior
(e.g., connection tear-down w/o request)
ITU-T ASON Umbrella
OIF
Implementation
Agreements
IETF GMPLS Umbrella

2001: Carrier requirements across IETF, OIF, and

ITU-T re need for support of commercial business
& operational practices
2003: Evolution of GMPLS signaling protocol, used
as normative base for ASON extensions
2004-2006: Ongoing communications among all
three SDOs on requirements and protocol work

Goal - Evolution towards convergence

of requirements & protocols

151

Network of the Future Future Internet

Clean Slate Internet Design (FIND, GENI)
Activities in Europe and USA
Goal: Basic re-design of the (multi-layer) network architecture, including
Internet

Paradigm shift: Customer view (business and residential) impose a

number of additional, mostly non-technical requirements

The Internet turned into a non-trusted business environment

Service-centric design of architectures, protocols and networks
Usability / ease of use is a major aspect for future applications and services,
requiring significant efforts in automation

Fundamental technical changes in network functions imposed by clean

slate design

152

Naming & addressing

Routing & signaling
Security functionality, especially authentication (advanced AAA)
Scalability
Optimization of topologies and hierarchies
Commercial role of the Internet (non-trusted environment)
Monitoring functionality (regarding network functionality)

Technical Implications of Network re-design

Clean slate design will shake the technical foundations of
protocol design as well as network architectures and
operations

Protocol: Protocols and architectures are expected to

change considerably (optics, slim modular protocol stack)

Data plane: Multi-technology environment for provisioning

of end-to-end services

Control and management plane: The Internet might

actually look more telco-like an intriguing thought!

153

Thank you!!
Q&A
[email protected]

www.oiforum.com
154

Backup

 OIF documents and links

Reference Material for ITU-T ASON and Transport
Recommendations

Glossary

156

OIF Documents
OIF presentation and newsletters
www.oiforum.com

OIF Implementation Agreements

http://www.oiforum.com/public/impagreements.html

OIF workshops on ASON/GMPLS implementations in test and

carrier networks

http://www.oiforum.com/public/meetOIW050806.html
http://www.oiforum.com/public/meetOIW073106testbeds.html
http://www.oiforum.com/public/meetOIW101606.html

157

ITU-T Recommendations
Accessibility Information

Go to the publications link and choose download per URL:

http://www.itu.int/publications/EBookshop.html

There is an explicit button from the download publications page

where you can register up front for 3 free Recommendations

158

Some Key ITU-T ASON Recommendations

Fundamental (Protocol-Neutral) Architecture & Requirements
G.8080, Architecture for the automatically switched optical network
(ASON), 2006 Revision to be published imminently
G.7713, Distributed call and connection management (DCM), 2006
Revision, to be published imminently

G.7718, Framework for ASON Management, February 05

G.7714, Generalized automatic discovery for transport entities,

159

August 05 revision
ITU-T G.7715/Y.1706 - Architecture and Requirements for Routing in
the Automatic Switched Optical Networks, July 2002
ITU-T G.7715.1/Y.1706 - ASON Routing Architecture and requirements
for Link State Protocols, Feb. 04
ITU-T G.7712/Y.1703 - Architecture and specification of data
communication network*, March 03
ITU-T T G.7716 - Control Plane Initialization, Reconfiguration, and
Recovery, target Consent Nov. 06

Textbooks covering ITU-T Architecture

Aspects (e.g., Functional Modeling, ASON)
Broadband Networking: ATM, SDH, and SONET; Michael Sexton and Andrew
Reid; ISBN 0-89006-578-0 (see in particular Chapters 2 4)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0890065780/ref=sib_rdr_dp/103-2003697-9480609
?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=283155

Achieving Global Information Networking; Varma and Stephant et al; ISBN:

0890069999 (see in particular Chapters 1-4)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0890069999/ref=dp_return_1/103-20036
97-9480609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

SDH/SONET Explained in Functional Models : Modeling the Optical

Transport Network; Huub van Helvoort; ISBN 0-470-09123-1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470091231/ref=sib_rdr_dp/103-20036
97-9480609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=28
3155

Optical Networking Standards : A Comprehensive Guide for Professionals ;

Khurram Kazi; ISBN: 0387240624 (to be published June 2006; see for
example - Chapters 2, 16)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0387240624/qid=1147161139/sr=1-1/ref=
sr_1_1/103-2003697-9480609?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

160

Some Key ITU-T Functional Modeling Rec.

Fundamental Architecture & Equipment
ITU-T Rec. G.803, Architecture of transport networks based on the

161

synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), March 2003

ITU-T Rec. G.805 - Generic functional architecture of transport networks,
March 2000
ITU-T Rec. G.809 - Functional architecture of connectionless layer networks,
March 2003
ITU-T Rec. G.872, Architecture of optical transport networks, November 2001
ITU-T Rec. G.8010, Architecture of Ethernet Layer Networks, February 2004
ITU-T Rec. G.8110, MPLS layer network architecture, January 2005
ITU-T G.8110.1, Architecture of Transport MPLS (T-MPLS) Layer Network,
publication imminent
ITU-T G.783, Characteristics of synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH)
equipment functional blocks, March 2006
ITU-T G.8021, Characteristics of Ethernet transport network equipment
functional blocks,
G.8121, Characteristics of Transport MPLS (T-MPLS) Equipment Functional
Blocks, publication imminent
Etc.

Glossary
ACDR
AMA
ASON
AP
API
BAF
BoD
CC
CCC
CDR
CORBA
CP
Cp
DA
DCM
ECF
EMF
EMS
E-NNI
ETF
FCAPS

162

FTP
IA
I-NNI
LCAS
LRM
MIB
Mp
NCC
NE
NMS
MLRA
MLSNPP

ASCII CDR
Automatic message accounting
Automatically switched optical network
Access point
Application programming interface
Billing AMA Format
Bandwidth on Demand
Connection controller
Calling/called call controller
Call detail record
Common object request broker architecture
Connection point
Control plane
Discovery agent
Distributed Call and Connection Mngmt
Equipment control function
Equipment management function
Element management system
External NNI
Equipment transport function
Fault, Configuration, Accounting,
Performance, Security
File transfer protocol
Implementation agreement
Internal NNI
Link capacity adjustment scheme
Link resource manager
Management information base
Management plane
Network call controller
Network element
Network management system
Multi-layer routing area
Multi-layer SNPP

MTNM
NNI
OH
OSF
OSS
OTN
PC
RA
RC
SC
SCN
SNC
SPC
SNP
SNPP
SRG
STM
TAF
TAP
TCE
TCP
TNA
TP
Tp
TTP
UNI
UML
VC
VCAT
VLAN
WSF
XCDR
XML

Multi-technology network management

Network-network interface
Overhead
Operations system function
Operations support system
Optical transport network
Protocol controller
Routing area
Routing controller
Switched connection
Signaling communication network
Subnetwork connection
Soft permanent connection
Subnetwork point
SNP Pool
Share risk group
Synchronous Transport Module
Transport atomic function
Termination & adaptation performer
Transport capability exchange
Termination connection point
Transport network address
Termination point
Transport plane
Trail termination point
User-network interface
Unified modeling language
Virtual container
Virtual concatenation
Virtual local area network
Workstation function
XML CDR format
Extensible modeling language