Designing and Prototyping of SDN Switch for Application-Driven Approach

Abstract

Currently, the Internet has become a limiting factor for its evolution. Applications are being developed from a new perspective of network utilization, demanding more Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of User Experience (QoE). Approaches that aim to redesign the architecture, for example, Software Defined Networks (SDN), have become popular in the field of computer networks in an attempt to minimize the problems experienced by TCP/IP. In theory, SDN Networks naturally leave all the flexibility and programmability of the network in charge of the control plane, disregarding the data plane’s ability to improve the QoS and QoE for users. This work presents the specification and the development of a prototype of Switch with MAC driven by the applications for SDN networks. Although it is possible to reconfigure the behavior of the network element, the MAC remains the same. Compared to other similar approaches, this proposal can expose, through the fine-grained, the low-level forwarding rules logic to the control plane through an orchestrator module, systematically allowing reprogramming. We carried out a case study using the Entity Title Architecture (ETArch) to show the ability of Switch to handle parameters, such as priority and bandwidth, in real-time.