Design, Analysis, and a Terabit Implementation of a Source-Routing-Based SDN Data Plane

This article demonstrates the design, analysis, implementation, and operation of a 1-Tb/s carrier-class programmable data-plane SDN system. The system is based on the principles of programmable data planes and is implemented using a recent software-defined networks (SDNs) manifestation, called bitstream, and FPGAs. It supports P4 parsing to facilitate a 1-Tb/s-capable SDN, carrier-class network element. We discuss how bitstream fits in a service provider network architecture. A node-level FPGA implementation using a reconfigurable match-tables technique is presented. We show that bitstream brings programmability to the data plane without the need for large custom silicon. A controller that interoperates with P4 is developed. A terabit carrier-class SDN node that demonstrates layer-0 to layer-4 protocols is built and shown in a test bed. We show FPGA-level, controller-level, and service-level operations. A management plane for carrier-class performance measurements and provisioning is showcased. A qualitative and quantitative study benchmarking this article versus other approaches is put forth. We show benchmarking for different services, such as equal-cost multiple paths and sub-50 ms restoration from the test-bed implementation.