TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • DSP Leaders
  • Great Telco Debate
    • |
    • Follow
    • |
    • Subscribe
  • |
  • More
  • Webcasts
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Great Telco Debate
  • |
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • |
    • Subscribe
    • |
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

News

News

Don't forget the transmission network for SDN

Jun 18, 2013

SDN is proving very good at highlighting industry fault-lines and one of those long-standing fractures is surely at the packet/optical layer - on one side of the line are the optical vendors who tend NOT to favour the complete integration of packet and optical into a single managed entity.

On the other, of course, their opposites from the IT side of the industry tend to advance the packet network as the overriding (as it were) thing, with optical reduced to point-to-point links. Those are two extremes in the debate, but you get the idea.

SDN implementation naturally becomes a forum for this political wrangle as it involves 'managing' the whole and therefore must make assumptions.

As Uwe Fischer, CTO of Coriant, the recent optical spin-out from Nokia Siemens Networks points out, some vendors want the packet layer and its management to dominate with the optical layer subservient "and the elements there commoditised". Fischer and Coriant would prefer to see an effective hybrid approach, he claims.

"There's so much [a separate] transport network can do if it's managed properly to optimise performance end-to-end," claims Uwe. SDN promises to provide that sort of granular management and Fischer resents the lack of attention the transmission network is currently getting in the SDN upsurge currently rocking the industry.

To help redress the balance Coriant has announced the commercial availability of its Intelligent Optical Control (IOC) which Uwe claims is the industry's first 'concrete' SDN solution at the optical layer.

Things that an SDN controlled optical layer can do end-to-end? First of course, lower latency. Less delay-inducing packing and unpacking packets on their journey across the infrastructure. This will clearly be a very valuable option if and where SDN makes it possible to selectively stuff flows with delay-sensitve traffic.

Coriant is also claiming vast savings on CAPEX and (for similar reasons) service implementation and general agility also get a boost.

"Operators can now implement new services up to 90 per cent faster," claims the Coriant blurb. "Tests confirmed, for example, that the set-up time for a 100G data center service dropped from hours to minutes."

Related Topics
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • News

More Like This

5G

BAI snaps up Telefónica UK’s CTO for global role

Jan 19, 2021

Open RAN

VMware preps lightweight version of its Telco Cloud for Open RAN

Jan 18, 2021

6G R&I

What’s up with… Deutsche Telekom, BT, Huawei

Jan 18, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

The UK government and its services need a ‘digital reboot’, says report

Jan 18, 2021

Open RAN

Open RAN architectures at heart of UK 5G projects

Jan 18, 2021

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

1:4:29

Great Telco Debate: Live Debate – Day 2 (On-demand)

1:18:20

Great Telco Debate: Live Debate – Day 3 (On-demand)

43:08

Developing an ecosystem for vRAN

2:23

The TelecomTV Snapshot: The Great Telco Debate 2020 - CSP Highlights

  • TelecomTV
  • Decisive Media

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media

Menu
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
 
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About Us
Our Brands
  • TelecomTV Tracker
  • TelecomTV Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • The Great Telco Debate
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070

Request a Media Pack

Follow
  • © Decisive Media Limited 2021. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Legal Notices