Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization have great potential to improve the flexibility and responsiveness of networks, decrease operating /capital expenses, and add new, innovative features to many different types of communications networks. Standard bodies have begun defining a common software interface to optical transport SDN. In the meantime, SDN principles can be extended to the optical arena, but must be done with care to ensure compatibility with emerging standards.
In this white paper, MRV will explain our approach to Optical SDN, the current status of industry standards, and where we believe Optical SDN will add value to customers’ networks, both today and in the future. We will introduce the components of Optical SDN that are designed into MRV’s new generation of optical transport equipment and show how they can allow customers to leverage advanced, software-based architectures, in order to add flexibility and resource optimization to the optical transport.