Nowadays there is a trend in the networking community to provide programmability to network functionalities, the so-called Software Defined Networking (SDN). The clearest example of this trend is the OpenFlow protocol developed within the Open Network Foundation, which aims at providing novel mechanisms to control network hardware. Within the newly created IEEE 802 EC Study Group OMNIRAN, special attention has been placed on how to provide SDN functionality to IEEE 802 technologies, e.g., IEEE 802.11, best known as Wi-Fi.
With the objective of providing an overview of the current state of the art and the challenges to be addressed by IEEE 802 technologies in order to enable SDN operation, a team of scientists* led by Dr. Antonio de la Oliva, Visiting Associate Professor at University Carlos III Madrid and an ongoing collaborator with Institute IMDEA Networks, has imparted a tutorial on "Wireless SDN in Access and Backhaul". The tutorial was held in Dallas, Texas (USA), on November 12th, 2013 at the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee plenary meeting.
This is a summary of the topics discussed at this event:
Software-Defined Networking is a network architecture approach becoming widely adopted by the industry. Through the use of this technology, operators are able to deploy network applications, increasing the flexibility and control over current deployments. The tutorial addressed applications of SDN in wireless access and backhaul networks, with a focus on issues relevant to IEEE 802 technologies. Tutorial background on the basics of SDN and OpenFlow was provided as an introduction to the subject.
The slides used during the presentation can be found at http://ieee802.org/Tutorials.shtml
*The tutorial was presented by the following scientists:
- Roger Marks, EthAirNet Associates
- Juan Carlos Zuniga, InterDigital Communications
- Antonio de la Oliva, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
- Paul Congdon, Tallac Networks
- Serge Manning, Huawei
- Luis Contreras, Telefónica
