Layer 3 VPN Services over IPv6 Backbone Networks: Requirements, Technology, and Standardization Efforts

Layer 3 virtual private networks (L3VFN) enable organizations to connect geographically dispersed sites to one another across the packet switched network of a service provider. The most popular form of L3VPN is based on BGP/MPLS (border gateway protocol/multiprotocol label switching) technology in which the service provider offers a network-based IP VPN routing and forwarding service to its customers across its own IPv4-based MPLS backbone network. With the deployment of IPv6-based backbone networks underway, there is an emerging requirement to support these same L3VPN services across a native IPv6 backbone network. This introduces a requirement to provide routing and tunneling of IPv6 VPN (and IPv4 VPN) packets across an IPv6 backbone network. Softwires is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Working Group chartered to address the requirement of providing a generalized, network-based, multi-address family, IP routing and tunneling capability across native IP backbone networks pursuant to IPv6 transitions. Elements of the softwires work can form the basis of an L3VPN over IPv6 solution. After providing a brief overview of how L3VPN works in various topologies, this article presents the requirements for L3VPN services over an IPv6 backbone network and discusses a possible solution set that builds over the softwire technology and related IETF standards. Finally, we outline future directions and how the softwire technology can support new services and improved scalability     

Unified control infrastructure for carrier network evolution

Migration strategies for the network control infrastructure are discussed, to evolve carrier networks toward an optical transport backbone optimized for IP traffic. The strategies presented aim to protect carriers' investments in their current multiservice and IP-routed networks, while expediting the backbone migration toward a unified packet-over-optical core for IP and multiservice transport. This unified core network simplifies the network layers and control systems, and consolidates data and multiservice traffic to reduce network cost with improved bandwidth efficiency. The network control system, including signaling, addressing, and routing, is analyzed in detail to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed infrastructure. Built on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) technology, the presented solutions take phased evolution steps to reduce network cost, improve bandwidth efficiency, and offer practical options for internetworking during the migration. These solutions provide carriers with competitive advantages to consolidate multiple services onto an IP-centric optical transport network. The unified control infrastructure not only offers flexible options for network upgrade with reduced network management overhead, but also supports enhanced networking and traffic engineering capabilities to ensure no compromise in the service level agreement committed to end customers.     

传送网融合技术发展趋势

本文对未来传送网中的一些融合技术进行了介绍,包括控制平面和传送平面.控制平面的融合技术包括智能光网络的演进结构和GMPLS对不同传送技术的支持,传送平面的融合技术包括"传送MPLS"和"下一代MSTP".     

GMPLS user-network interface in support of end-to-end rerouting

Carriers are enhancing their transport networks and improving their daily operations to address the increasing demand for (new) IP-based services. They require more scalable support for the increasing traffic demand and more flexible operations for connection provisioning. They are also seeking optimized resource utilization and time performance using faster and more robust recovery schemes while maintaining overall network costs. With advances in the GMPLS protocol suite including its user-network interface support, the possibility for better cooperation between transport and IP/MPLS networks is now possible. This article addresses this question by positioning and comparing the capabilities of the optical interworking forum's UNI with the Internet engineering task force's GMPLS UNI. Through three recovery scenarios, a quantitative analysis is provided that determines the gain obtained in deploying the GMPLS UNI over its OIF counterpart. Finally, a testbed demonstrating the feasibility and practicability of the GMPLS UNI implementation (which enables end-to-end connection rerouting) is presented.     

中国联通下一代网络的实践与思考

文章介绍了中国联通的多业务统一网络平台,包括多业务服务质量(QoS)保障的融合的承载平台、融合的软交换核心控制架构、多业务QoS保障的城域综合业务网络和基于IPv6的网络承载技术.依据中国联通在下一代网络(NGN)方面的实践,文章对多业务统一网络平台的先进性、效果与效益进行了总结,并指出了存在的问题.文章指出:由于未来NGN技术将向基于IP多媒体子系统(IMS)的NGN方向继续演进,同时网络承载层技术将逐步从IPv4过渡到IPv6,因此中国联通将积极探索基于IMS的NGN网络架构与组网模式,努力开展面向IPv6的应用实验与推广工作,特别是移动IPv6业务的开发和推进.     

Control and management in next-generation networks: challenges andopportunities

This article discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with a fundamental transformation of current networks toward a multiservice ubiquitous infrastructure with a unified control and management architecture. After articulating the major driving forces for network evolution, we outline the fundamental reasons why neither the control infrastructure of the PSTN nor that of the present-day Internet is adequate to support the myriad of new services in next-generation networks. Although NGN will inherit heavily from both the Internet and the PSTN, its control and management architecture is likely to be radically different from both, and will be anchored on a clean separation between a QoS-enabled transport/network domain and an object-oriented service/application domain, with a distributed processing environment that glues things together and universally addresses issues of distribution, redundancy, and concurrency control for all applications. Finally, we allude to the transition issues and show how voice-over-packet services are emerging as the bootstrap application for marshaling in the NGN architecture     

MIRAI architecture for heterogeneous network

One of the keywords that describe next-generation wireless communications is "seamless." As part of the e-Japan Plan promoted by the Japanese Government, the Multimedia Integrated Network by Radio Access Innovation project has as its goal the development of new technologies to enable seamless integration of various wireless access systems for practical use by 2005. This article describes a heterogeneous network architecture including a common tool, a common platform, and a common access. In particular, software-defined radio technologies are used to develop a multiservice user terminal to access different wireless networks. The common platform for various wireless networks is based on a wireless-supporting IPv6 network. A basic access network, separated from other wireless access networks, is used as a means for wireless system discovery, signaling, and paging. A proof-of-concept experimental demonstration system is available     

4over6:基于非显式隧道的IPv4 跨越IPv6互联机制

IPv6骨干网正在逐步建成并走向实用,纯IPv6的骨干网(如中国下一代互联网:CNGI)已经出现,而已有的大量互联网应用和服务仍存在于IPv4网络中,因此出现了大规模复杂IPv4网络通过IPv6骨干网互联的需求,然而目前没有满足这种需求的过渡机制.本文提出了一种基于IPv6的IPv4网络互联过渡机制框架,对4over6过渡机制框架进行了阐述和分析,并通过原型系统实现,对4over6机制框架进行了原理和功能验证测试.为减小路由开销,提出了ISP独立部署方案,增强了4over6机制框架的可实施性.4over6过渡机制框架具备对网络和端系统透明性、轻型和可自适应动态选路特性,网络管理维护负担小,可适应于大规模、复杂的网络互联等优点.     

Layer 1 Virtual Private Networks in Multidomain Next-Generation Networks

High-capacity e-science and consumer applications require transport networks that are dynamically provisioned. Rapid advances in next-generation SONET/SPH and optical switching along with GMPLS control have enabled many new services' provisioning capabilities. In particular, a key paradigm is the new layer 1 virtual private network framework, which allows clients to directly provision their own services without deploying expensive infrastructures. This article presents an overview of L1-VPN and describes a resource management scheme that will enable transport network virtualization across a multidomain network infrastructure. The scheme is implemented in both centralized and distributed control frameworks, and allows for dynamic sharing of transport resources. A case study of performance analysis results is presented showing a distributed control plane in a multidomain network architecture achieving higher VPN carrying capacity than a centralized control plane     

Efficient distributed restoration path selection for shared mesh restoration

In MPLS/GMPLS networks, a range of restoration schemes will be required to support different tradeoffs between service interruption time and network resource utilization. In light of these tradeoffs, path-based end-to-end shared mesh restoration provides a very attractive solution. However, efficient use of bandwidth for shared mesh restoration strongly relies on the procedure for selecting restoration paths. We propose an efficient restoration path selection algorithm for restorable connections over shared bandwidth in a fully distributed MPLS/GMPLS architecture. We also describe how to extend MPLS/GMPLS signaling protocols to collect the necessary information efficiently. To evaluate the algorithm's performance, we compare it via simulation with two other well-known algorithms on a typical intercity backbone network. The key figure of merit for restoration bandwidth efficiency is restoration overbuild, i.e., the extra bandwidth required to meet the network restoration objective as a percentage of the bandwidth of the network with no restoration. Our simulation results show that our algorithm uses significantly less restoration overbuild (63%-68%) compared with the other two algorithms (83%-90%).     

Extending generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) for polymorphous, agile, and transparent optical networks (PATON)

This article presents a vision for the emerging integrated optical networks to meet various traffic requirements and design criteria. To address the shortcomings in today's GMPLS over wavelength-routed optical networks, a new network architecture called polymorphous, agile, and transparent optical networks (PATON) is proposed. PATON uses polymorphous optical burst switching (POBS) to seamlessly integrate different signaling, switching, and reservation schemes. The main features of PATON, along with its benefits as well as design and implementation challenges, are also described. Finally, both qualitative and quantitative performance comparisons of POBS with the two representative IP/GMPLS/OCS approaches are provided     

The building blocks of a data-aware transport network: deploying viable Ethernet and virtual wire services via multiservice ADMs

SONET/SDH technologies constitute the core transport infrastructure of major telecom service providers worldwide. As the percentage of packet-oriented traffic in the overall traffic demand continues to rise, prompted by the widespread adoption of the Internet protocol suite, and recently by the fast adoption of Ethernet services, there is increasing pressure to improve the service provider's transport infrastructure in ways that make it data-aware and cost-effective for packet-oriented applications. Steps in this direction include the adoption of native physical interfaces, for Ethernet and storage area networks as service interfaces, or full integration of packet switching capabilities from Ethernet, resilient packet ring, and MPLS technologies. This article discusses the emerging building blocks for next-generation data-aware transport networks and next-generation transport network elements.     

Layer 1 virtual private networks: driving forces and realization by GMPLS

This article describes an emerging service for next-generation networks, layer 1 virtual private networks. L1VPNs allow customers desiring to connect multiple sites to be supported over a single shared layer 1 network. In the article we first describe the transport network's evolution and the shift in expectations of both service providers and customers. We provide an overview of the motivation for L1VPNs and examples of network usage. We follow by reviewing existing GMPLS mechanisms (addressing, discovery, and signaling) for realizing L1VPN functionality and identifying other work areas.     

基于GMPLS的智能光网络流量工程研究

自动交换光网络已经成为下一代光网络的发展方向,而其控制平面的分布式连接管理功能则是实现光网络智能性的关键。本文介绍了自动交换光网络的功能结构,在此基础上系统论述了分布式连接管理的功能要求,详细分析了分布式的呼叫和连接处理的实现过程,并给出了具体的参考流程和状态转移模型。     

IPv6 integration and coexistence strategies for next-generation networks

IPv6 has been designed, among other things, to provide an expanded address space to satisfy the future networking requirements. In this article, we analyze and discuss important aspects of IPv6 deployment scenarios, and propose the system architecture coexisting and integrating with IPv4/MPLS networks. We investigate on various IPv6 deployment strategies along with network design examples, comparing these techniques. Then the IPv6 deployment in service provider environments is proposed.     

Topics in Optical Communications - Operational Evaluation of ASON/GMPLS Interdomain Capability over a JGN II Network Testbed

Traffic engineering in backbone networks is an important issue in supporting an appropriate QoS level to accommodate various types of traffic flows efficiently. Automatically switched optical networks and generalized multiprotocol label switching control planes are promising functionalities to achieve the sophisticated mechanism of interdomain traffic engineering. In this article we address dynamic operational scenarios to control IP traffic flows using the ASON/GMPLS control plane. This includes cut-through IP/MPLS routers and the rerouting of failed links through the tunnel of optical label-switched paths. This article presents an operational evaluation of traffic engineering. More specifically, we present QoS recovery for protecting high priority traffic using policy controllers and fault recovery of inter-domain LSPs over the JGN II network testbed. This article evaluates and discusses the feasibility of these operational scenarios using state-of-the-art optical switching and control- plane technologies.     

GMPLS的动态路由机制研究

GMPLS由MPLS演进而来,它是MPLS向光层扩展的必然产物,路由技术是GMPLS的一项关键技术。这里简要回顾了MPLS技术,在此基础上对GMPLS中与路由相关的关键技术做了介绍,讨论GMPLS中现有的路由选择策略,论述基于GMPLS支持的对等网络模型对一种联合的网络结构及其控制平面的结构,最后提出基于GMPLS的网络中一种有QoS保证的动态路由机制。     

广义多协议标签交换GMPLS

未来的光传输网将由下列网络单元组成：路由器、交换机、DWDM系统、ADM、光交叉连接设备（OXC）等。为使由这些网络单元组成的网络具有很好的鲁棒特性,IETF的IPO工作组提出用广义的多协议标签交换（GMPLS）业动态地配置资源,充分利用保护和恢复技术提高网络的生存性,GMPLS将时隙、波长和光纤端口作为标签用于数据传发,由于各标签之间对应的数据粒度不同,GMPLS采用扩展的MPLS信令和路由来转发标签并建立相应的标签交换路径。     

Recovery of the control plane after failures in ASON/GMPLS networks

A reliable control plane plays a crucial role in creating high-level services in the next-generation transport network based on the generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) or automatically switched optical networks (ASON) model. Approaches to control-plane survivability, based on protection, and restoration mechanisms, are examined. Procedures for the control plane state recovery are discussed, including link and node failure recovery.     

GMPLS-IP层与光层融合的核心技术

GMPLS是MPLS向光网络的扩展，文章在简要介绍了MPLS技术的基本思路之后，主要介绍了将IP层与光层融合起来的GMPLS技术，包括GMPLS中的标签、路由与寻址、信令、链路管理等内容。