NTT Tests VPNs on IP-Optical Net

TOKYO -- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, President and CEO: Satoshi Miura) has developed a technology to create multiple virtual networks upon a common physical network infrastructure, leveraged by the integrated control of optical and IP networks. The concept was proven through experiments in which we succeeded to operate multiple virtual networks simultaneously upon a wide-area testbed.

Our virtual network architecture enables to launch services quickly and to operate them independently upon a common network infrastructure in spite of their diverse requirements. We plan to demonstrate these results at the upcoming SC10 held in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), November 13-19, 2010, by international connection between the test network and the exhibition booth.

We have established a novel concept of dynamic construction of virtual networks. In our architecture, the physical network infrastructure which we call it an IP-optical network is consisted of IP routers, OXCs (optical cross connects) and optical fibers. Such resources are virtually sliced and allocated to service operators. Using the allocated resources, service operators are allowed to setup optical paths between the router pairs in order to form IP links. Set of these IP links provides the IP topology to deliver the service, and we call this a virtual network.

Resource isolation in the physical layer ensures to avoid traffic conflicts between virtual networks. This also enables virtual networks to be operated with high degree of freedom compared to current IP networks that are managed only in the IP layer. They can also control the lower layer, the optical paths, for further optimization. Furthermore, the integrated control of IP-optical networks enables quick setup of virtual networks.

In the experiment, we have implemented multiple virtual networks over a wide-area network constructed upon the national testbed network, JGN2plus. We have succeeded in individual operation of such virtual network that transmit ultra-high density video streaming whose data rate is up to about 6 Gbps, and virtual network that reconfigures its topology dynamically by setting up and tearing down the optical paths.

NTT Communications Corp. (NYSE: NTT)