Shim layer abstraction in multi-protocol SDN controller

摘要

A Service Abstraction Layer (SAL) provides network level abstraction enabling applications to interface via multiple software-defined networking (SDN) protocols with network devices in a heterogeneous network (devices in the network support a variety of SDN protocols) and in an opaque fashion in order to fulfill desired services by one or more of the protocols. Abstraction is not limited or mapped to any particular protocol. Protocols can change and applications can vary. Support for new protocols can be added later as plug-ins.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
at a software defined network (SDN) controller, receiving from a plurality of applications via application programming interfaces (APIs) of different types requests for services to be performed by a plurality of network devices that communicate with the SDN controller by a plurality of different SDN protocols; mapping the requests for services to appropriate ones of the plurality of different SDN protocols to fulfil the services of the requests, wherein the mapping includes, for each request for services:
generating a feature request from the request for services based on a service-to-feature-registry;storing information that maps network device capability based features to a plurality of plugins each for a respective one of the plurality of different SDN protocols; anddynamically selecting one of the plurality of plugins based on a feature contained in the feature request to a given network device or set of network devices,wherein the mapping between the requests for services and the plugins is performed in a services abstraction layer so as to provide network level abstraction enabling the plurality of applications to interface via the different SDN protocols with the network devices to implement a heterogeneous network in which the network devices support the different SDN protocols in an opaque fashion in order to fulfill the requests for services using the different SDN protocols; and sending from the SDN controller to respective ones of the plurality of network devices control messages from the selected plugins according to appropriate ones of the plurality of different SDN protocols.