Internal Landscape

It’s worth looking at the projects within the LFN umbrella in the context of the network itself.

LFN projects offer functionality related to the different layers required for building a modern network.

This starts with the Transport Layer (also referred to as the 'Datapath')FD.io.  At the Transport Layer, where user data is moved from one point to another, speed and reliability are key.  The FD.io project focuses on fast packet processing, promising to move data up to one hundred times faster.  FD.io’s io’s work applies to multiple layers of the network including Layer 2 Data, Layer 3 Network, Layer 4 Transport, Layer 5 Session and Layer 7 Application.

OPNFV.  Since past attempts to enable an open ecosystem by separating network hardware from software have failed, OPNFV is a LFN project which enables common hardware infrastructure to support any vendor’s Virtual Network Functions.

Open Daylight.  Software-Defined Network Controller which optimises flow of traffic across the network, this includes functions such as gathering statistics and making routing decisions.

Open Switch.

ONAP.  As Networks evolve and use Open Source to introduce new capabilities more quickly, the Operational and Business Support Systems also need to change.  ONAP is the LFN Open Source project which introduces management and orchestration functions to ensure the OSS and BSS keep pace with and can manage and support a more dynamic network.  ONAP’s domain is immediately adjacent to the network, with ONAP including inventory and closed loop automation.

PNDA

SNAS.io

Tungsten Fabric

The next layer is the Network Operating System, where the essential software components required for building a network device are integrated and packaged together. Open Switch is a Network Operating System that abstracts the complexity and hardware implementation details of network devices, and exposes a unified interface towards the higher network layers.

The Network control layer is where end to end complex network services are designed and executed. It relies heavily on network modeling, that allows network designers to create the desired services. ONAP, Open Daylight and Tungsten Fabric take network service definitions as input, break them into their more basic building blocks, and then interface with the lower layers of the network to instantiate and control the service components. The network control layer also provides the interface to Operational and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) where ONAP provides the management and orchestration functions that ensure OSS/BSS can manage modern dynamic networks.

The top layer of the network functionality includes the components which provide visibility into the state of the network as well as automated network management. PNDA and SNAS can collect high volumes of network data in real time, and make them available to external management systems. ONAP is another entity that collects network performance and fault data. All the collected data can be used by the ONAP policy driven control loop automation which can take action to dynamically control the network in response to changing demand. Network faults may also be detected in this layer and in many cases the combined analytics capabilities of the projects can be used to trigger automation that provides self healing functionality to the network.   

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