Page 306 - Big data - Concept and application for telecommunications

5 Big data - Concept and application for telecommunications

7.4.3 Application layer management functional component

The ALM functional component provides management functionality for managing SDN-AL resources covering
FCAPS management for these SDN-AL resources. It is also involved in cross-layer orchestration driven by the
SDN-AL.

The ALM functional component provides SDN applications' code repository management, SDN applications'
lifecycle management (creation, modification, and deletion of SDN applications), performance monitoring of
SDN applications to meet the SLA requirements, detection, isolation, recovery of SDN application faults and
security management of 3rd party SDN applications (authentication, identity management).
7.4.4 Multi-layer management orchestration functional component

The MMO functional component supports functionalities for the lifecycle management of SDN
application/network services across the entire SDN operator's domain and orchestrates multi-layer resource
management. It coordinates management operations among the SDN-AL, SDN-CL, and SDN-RL, especially the
relationship among virtualized and physical resources across these SDN layers.
7.4.5 External relationship management functional component

The ERM functional component provides management functionality to interwork with external management
entities. The ERM functional component plays a role of the representative interface of SDN management
toward the external management entities. Its main functionality includes abstraction of SDN management
information, request and reply of management operations with external management entities, policy
management, data analytics, accounting and development operations (DevOps) operations.

8 SDN functional profiles

SDN comes with the programmability of the SDN-CL, the SDN-AL and MMF. The already installed
functionalities including appropriate APIs of all SDN layers and MMF that can be used to support different
SDN use cases (e.g., mobile networks, optical transport, cloud environment, or network functions
virtualization (NFV)) are called SDN functional profiles. These functional profiles can be merged if necessary.
Moreover, SDN operators may add additional functions that are required for specific use cases. The definition
of basic and use case-specific functionalities is not in the scope of this Recommendation and will be described
in separate Recommendations. The base functional profile consists of common functions shall be included in
all SDN use cases.
NOTE – The base functional profile for the SDN-CL includes, but is not limited to, the following functionalities:
– topology discovery and topology change monitoring (nodes, hosts, and links);
– monitoring of links (link statistics) and nodes;

– on-demand path computation, selection and monitoring (multiple paths between any
source-destination pair);
– shortest-path forwarding using single or multiple paths;

– asynchronous and synchronous update of data forwarding rules (flow programming).
Lifecycle management of each functional profile is a target of MMF.

9 Environmental considerations
SDN provides a flexible and robust means to control underlying network resources including the capability of
redirecting traffic from one link to another one, and/or from one switch to another. This influences traffic
distribution in the network, and enables network operators to switch off equipment that is not in use, or
reduce power consumption of the equipment by changing the mode of its operations.
Traditionally, control functionality of network resources resides in each network element. SDN relocates this
functionality to a logically centralized SDN controller. This can simplify network elements and contribute to
the reduction of their power consumption. The simplification can also contribute to switch network elements

298 Network and infrastructure