One of the manufacturers that seems to have made considerable progress on implementing vaunted software defined networking (SDN) technology is Cyan, which announced today that it has added four SDN-based application programming interfaces (APIs) for its packet optical infrastructure. Other enhancements to Cyan’s packet optical infrastructure include support for MPLS-TP, 100G DWDM, and eight-degree 96-channel ROADM capability.
The new APIs build on Cyan’s Blue Planet API capability which “turns the network into a programmable resource,” said Abel Tong, director of solutions marketing for Cyan, in an interview. The four new API capabilities announced today include:
- Optical services
- SNMP trap forwarding
- Physical and logical inventory
- Site management
Cyan already has customers using the SDN capability of its optical platform, including regional network operator Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative. MBC uses Cyan’s SDN capability for automation and rapid service turn-up, Tong said.
MPLS-TP
As Tong explained, “MPLS-TP is a simplified version of MPLS” designed to enable MPLS to provide connection-oriented Ethernet and to more closely mimic Sonet functionality in metro networks.
Until now MPLS has been primarily deployed in core networks but as Ethernet traffic on metro networks grows, network operators are looking at deploying the simpler form of MPLS in the metro. “They want to take out dynamic control aspects to get a deterministic” network, Tong said.
MPLS-TP aims to provide a scaleable solution for Ethernet in the metro as the number of Ethernet connections climbs, said Tong.
100G
Cyan has a substantial number of rural network operator customers – and increasingly those customers are looking to support 100 Gbps connectivity to support mobile backhaul and data center applications, Tong said.
The eight-degree ROADM capability that Cyan is launching can help make that possible by supporting the switching of wavelengths operating at up to 100G.
NTT Cyan SDN Deployment
In addition to MBC, another network operator that has gone public about its Cyan SDN deployment is NTT Communications, which is using the Cyan product to control devices for data center interconnect, Tong noted. NTT is turning up gigabit wavelengths between data centers using the product, he said.
