W h i t e
P a p e r
22 and 23 May, 2014

Successful interoperability among 100Gbit-class core, metro andaccess optical networks with Software Defined Transport Networktechnology- A step toward the future integrated control of network between data centers KDDI R&D Laboratories, Inc. (“KDDI R&D Labs.,” President & CEO: Yasuyuki Nakajima), MitsubishiElectric Corporation (“Mitsubishi Electric,” President & CEO: Masaki Sakuyama), National Institute ofInformation and Communications Technology (”NICT,” President: Dr. Masao Sakauchi), Keio University(“Keio Univ.,” President, Professor: Atsushi Seike), Ixia Communications K.K. (“Ixia,” County General
Manager: Kenji Murakami) and TOYO Corporation (“TOYO,” President and CEO: Masaru Gomi) havesuccessfully built interoperable 100Gbit/s-class core, metro or access optical networks using SDN(Software defined networking)*1 technology. The technology tested this time is expected to be applied tothe technology realizing a wide-area cloud network that connects data centers and handles large-volumeof data.
This open interoperability demonstration is being conducted at the 10th International Conference on IP +Optical Network (iPOP2014) held in Musashino-city, Tokyo between May 22 and 23.
[Background]
The volume of data transmitted within or outside data centers has dramatically increased with thespread of cloud business and use of big data, and it is expected to be about 8 times more in 2020 than thatin 2012. In light of this, the network within and around data centers will require 100Gbit/s-class optical
network devices and the mechanism to separate and manage network resources for efficiently converging
various services having different communication qualities, bandwidths and such in a single carrier’s
network. On the other hand, an increase in the operational cost would be an issue when the network
comprised of multiple devices and networks achieves higher speed and becomes more complicated.
Though the technology to enable integrated management of such a complicated network by use of open
source interfaces such as SDN/OpenFlow*2 has attracted attention as a means of reducing the operationalcost, integrated management of a large-scale network handling a large volume of data with a single
device has been difficult to achieve.
[Project result and outline of open demonstration]
These six organizations were the first in the world to witness the Software Defined Transport Networksuccessfully controlling a large-scale network including 100Gbit/s-class transport network in an
integrated manner. To enable such control, each network control device deployed in the core, metro oraccess optical network*3 (please refer to Figure 1 below) has provided information to the integratedcontrol system (SDN controller), considering the physical network controlled by itself as a simplified
logical network. An open demonstration at iPOP2014, the international conference held between May 22
and 23, is showing visitors a virtual optical network built between emulated data centers with 100Gbit/s
optical network devices (prototypes). The metro core optical networks have been built as optical networks

connecting data centers with 100Gbit/s wavelength division multiplexing equipment*4 (supplied byMitsubishi Electric) and 100Gbit/s-class optical packet and circuit integration switches*5 (supplied byNICT). In the access part connecting to emulated data centers (supplied by IXIA and TOYO), an“elastic*6” device prototype*7 of next-generation optical aggregation network*8 (supplied by Keio Univ.) has
been deployed, and the optical network built with different types of devices has been controlled by theSDN/OpenFlow-based integrated control system*9 (supplied by KDDI R&D Labs.). The integrated control
system has built a virtual optical network at the request (request for a bandwidth) from data center users.
This has been the world’s first open test*10 of SDN/OpenFlow control of 100Gbit/s-class transport.

-“The iPOP 2014 Conference addresses important topics and issues related to SDN in particular forCarrier networks with backbone network technologies such as IP/MPLS and Optical Transport Networks.
I believe that this showcase related to SDTN is conducive to introduction of SDN to Carrier networks,”
Naoaki Yamanaka, Professor, Keio University and General co-chair of iPOP2014, said.
- “We made-up a first 100Gb/s-class SDTN demonstration with abstracted core/metro/access opticalnetworks consisting of the latest 100Gb/s-class WDM equipment, optical packet switching equipment andso forth controlled by OpenFlow-based SDN controllers in this showcase. This is so attractive
demonstration for future inter-datacenter or Carrier networks,” Takehiro Tsuritani, Senior Manager,
KDDI R&D Laboratories Inc. and Chair of iPOP2014 Showcase Committee, said.

Figure 1 Configuration of Optical Network between Data Centers*1: SDN (Software Defined Networking) is a network technology that enables you to dynamically makesettings and changes to the network configuration using software. In this white paper, the term

Software Defined Transport Network (SDTN) refers to the technology for dynamically making
changes to the settings on the optical transport network.
*2: OpenFlow is a registered trademark of Open Networking Foundation (ONF).
*3: Information in the access network is gathered in the metro networks, and the core network is built
by aggregating metro networks.
*4: Optical communication device that transports multiple-wavelength optical signals on an opticalfiber - the device used for the test this time is capable of transporting 100Gbit/s of data perwavelength or a few terabits of data per optical fiber line. This work is partly supported by the R&D
project on “Digital Coherent Optical Transceiver Technologies (FY. 2009)” and “High-speed OpticalEdge Node Technologies (FY. 2010-2011)” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC) of Japan.
*5: Optical device that provides a communication path suitable for the purpose - an optical circuit isprovided to end users who require high-definition image transmission or high quality
communication for telemedicine or TV conference, and the optical packet switching is used for web
access, e-mail forwarding and transfer of sensor data from a large number of devices.
*6: “Elastic” refers to the nature that allows users to flexibly change the signal bandwidth according tothe requested bandwidth.
*7: The prototype supplied by Keio Univ. has been created based on the achievements obtained in the“Research and development on elastic optical aggregation technology,” a NICT-commissioned
research project.
*8: The aggregation network resides in between the access networks for services deployed locally andthe core networks connecting communication stations and serves as a concentrator network for all
services that aggregates traffic from the access networks before forwarding it to the core network.
The next-generation optical aggregation network is aimed at realizing the integrated network
supporting each service using the network virtualization technology and SDN technology byextending the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology and expanding the part where signals areconverted into optical signals by integrating the aggregation network into the access network tocreate the active optical distribution network.
*9: The integrated control system (prototype) supplied by KDDI R&D Labs. has been created based on
the achievements obtained in the “Scalable and efficient orchestration of Ethernet services using
software-defined and flexible optical networks (STRAUSS),” a project commissioned by the MIC.
*10: This test will be conducted as part of the “Research and development project on Multi-Technology
Transport Network Control Technology” promoted by the Interoperability Working Group (Chair:Naoaki Yamanaka, Professor for Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio Univ.) of the Research
Promotion Council of Keihanna Info-Communication Open Lab. This council has been working tocontribute to the development of economy in the Kansai region by promoting the research anddevelopment in the ICT field through government-industry-academia collaboration. The

Interoperability Working Group consisting of 9 organizations including KDDI R&D Labs.,
Mitsubishi Electric, NICT and Keio Univ. is one of the working groups of this council and has been
making various proposals and performing verification on the interoperability of the next-generation
optical network.

<Contact for inquiries about this white paper>- Dr. Takehiro Tsuritani, KDDI R&D Labs.
E-mail tsuri@kddilabs.jp- Sota Yoshida, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Information Technology R & D Center
E-mail: Yoshida.Sota@eb.MitsubishiElectric.co.jp- Prof. Naoaki Yamanaka, Keio University
E-mail yamanaka@ics.keio.ac.jp- Dr. Hiroaki Harai, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
E-mail: harai@nict.go.jp- Ixia Communications K.K.
Email: salesjapan@ixiacom.com- Katsumi Sato, TOYO Corporation
E-mail: spirent-web@toyo.co.jp