Internet Protocol- (IP-) enabled network equip-ment will enable the creation of software-defined networks that can intelligently manage complex and converged future networks and the continuous growth of bandwidth demand.

This is the view of Chinese technology giant Huawei American Research Centre carrier IP solutions marketing director Jean-Marc Cabrol. Huawei is producing IP-enabled network equipment and components to serve in future converged, software-defined networks.

“A service-orientated network will be required to meet the demands placed on networks in future and must be scalable because bandwidth growth will continue and must be sustainable in the long term in terms of cost and power consumption. IP and optical network layers will play a key role in these converged, smart networks. Scalability can be leveraged from optical trunks for networks and these converged networks will support all fixed and mobile forms of connectivity.”

IP-enabled network components, which enable all the various network layers to function intel-ligently to reduce load and eliminate bottlenecks, will also enable novel services to be provided over this smart network, including intelligent power consumption management, the autonomous and efficient routing of data packets and managing breaks in the network.

“We are already noticing a convergence in ser- vice provision and content provision, where con-tent is packaged along with high-bandwidth connectivity services for consumers of the con-tent, making rich content provision a commercial reality. We predict further convergence of content and services in future,” says Cabrol.

Part of Huawei’s goal is to ensure that the equipment it manufactures can be used in any future software-defined networks. It has also produced the Atom IP router, which can be used to make old network components IP-enabled. IP-enabled components can, therefore, be monitored and managed in a future software-defined network while providing additional immediate functionality.

Further, network function virtualisation (NFV) will also play a critical role in moving away from hardware-bonded functions to software-based functions that enable flexibility in sending traffic and service chaining without creating bottlenecks in intermediate switches. Encoding each data packet with the information for its intended destination using IP enables a reduction in network resource use and intelligent service chaining without significantly affecting user experience and connection speed.

Packets containing their own switching data also enable geographically disparate databases to be integrated and resources shared without impacting on user’ experiences. NFV will also improve the data link layer of networks and enable bandwidth scale to be increased without changing the architecture of networks.

“Virtual dynamic allocation of resources is required to accommodate the increased scale of services. It is also required to enable more granular service provision and a network to be increased in scale, such as on-demand increased bandwidth services bundled with content services,” he says.

“The long-term validity of infrastructure is important and the new capabilities of IP and NFV allow for the existing network and architecture to be integrated seamlessly from the control plane. The new capabilities also allow for disparate elements to be controlled and potentially auto-mated using IP and SDN to provide further scal-ability and functionality,” concludes Cabrol.