NEC develops software enabling fast verification of dynamic changes in SDN network states

***For immediate use September 11, 2014

 

 

Tokyo, September 11, 2014 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) has developed software technology that enables fast verification of the effective operation of networks built using Software-Defined Networking (SDN). This technology analyzes application software, which controls routes taken by data packets passing through a network, and verifies all of the network states updated by the application software, thereby ensuring the construction of a more highly reliable, highly available network.

 

The new technology performs verification approximately ten times faster than the depth-first search algorithm, a typical search algorithm used in conventional verification algorithms. This enables a reduction of the lead time required to build a network as well as enhances the reliability and availability of the completed network.

 

Key features of the new software include the following:

1) Skips the verification of identical network states

The new technology skips the verification of network states that are identical to ones that have already been verified. This eliminates redundant processing and reduces the time taken for verification.

 

2) Verification is performed in consideration of the transfer sequence of communication packets

Communication packets pass through network switches in many different orders. When multiple communication packets are transferred to the same destination, conventional technologies verify all the network states based on all of the different orders in which the packets go through the switches. The newly developed technology verifies only one transfer order, whatever order it is, thereby significantly reducing the time taken for verification.

 

3) Verification is performed at once to several packets with the same routing path

Conventional technologies verify operations for each piece of attribute information of communication packets, such as the destination address, which takes a great deal of time.

 

NEC’s newly developed technology performs batch verification processing of all communication packets with a common piece of attribute information, such as the destination address. This enables a significant reduction in the number of network states that need to be verified, resulting in improved verification efficiency.

 

“In recent years, efficient network administration and the prompt introduction of services are in demand by both companies and public offices, and expectations are on the rise for SDN, which responds flexibly to such needs with application software,” said Akio Yamada, General Manger of Knowledge Discovery Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation. “This new technology that we have developed enables faster operation verification of application software that controls SDN networks, thereby enabling the provision of network services with greater reliability and availability.”

 

NEC presents this innovation on September 17 at APNOMS 2014, held in Taiwan from September 17 to 19.

 

This project was consigned via the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' "Research and Development of Network Virtualization Technology."

 

 

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