|
Lambda Provisioning
On-demand set up of a multi-domain optical connection
Download the SC2003 Poster (4.1 MB) or
read the HTML version presented here.
Why
|
Many applications require huge amounts of bandwidth; some require even the
same amount of bandwidth as the combined traffic on a backbone (about 10
gigabit per second). Examples of these appl icat ions are found in
astronomy, particle physics, earth observation, bioinformatics and remote
visualization. It would require huge investments in the network to transport
this additional data over the backbone. In particular, routers are very
expensive (up to $10 million), while they are not necessary for long lived
static flows. It is cheaper to transport data for these applications over
dedicated optical connections, bypassing to the regular Internet. The
challenge is to create a flexible and dynamic optical infrastructure, which
supports multiple administrative domains and ad-hoc set-up of connections.
|
Radiotelescopes in Dwingelo
|
Concept
The basic functionality of an optical infrastructure is the ability to
create dedicated optical connections, called lambdas, between two end-hosts.
Optical Cross Connects (automated patch panels for optical connections) are
used to create and break connections on the fly. For scalability, the
network is divided in multiple administrative domains, with software in each
domain controlling the optical cross connects. A user requests a lambda from
the controller in his or her domain. This controller will make the
appropriate configurations in that domain and will negotiate with
controllers in other domains on behalf of the user to get connections there.
| PIN | Photonic Interdomain Negotiator |
| PDC | Photonic Domain Controller |
| AAA | Authentication, Authorization and Accounting |
| RBE | Rule Based Engine |
| ASM | Application Specific Module |
Implementation
There are two domains in the optical infrastructure shown above: StarLight
in Chicago and NetherLight in Amsterdam. In this example, the interdomain
communication is the responsibility of PIN software. In the StarLight
domain, PDC is used for setting up the optical cross connect; In
NetherLight, an AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) server is
used to control the intradomain provisioning. The AAA server uses a policy
and a Rule Based Engine (RBE) to make decisions.
Participants
This research is a collaboration between the Advanced Internet Research
group at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the Electronic Visualization
Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Part of the research is
funded by DataTAG and SURFnet. We are working in the Global Grid Forum (GGF)
to standardize protocols, so that it can be used in a Virtual Lab for
e-Science.
|
|
