Application-centric, energy-efficient network architecture, ACTION, based on flexible optical network

The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of Internet traffic volume lies in the 30-70% [1] range. For several good reasons (to handle unexpected traffic spurts, link failures and traffic growth), network resources are significantly over-provisioned in today´s networks, and it is quite common to see link utilization in the 30%-40% range [2]. While new optical fibers can be laid, the costs of such deployment should be weighed against the costs of solutions that enable network operation at higher utilization levels. For example, new developments in optical technologies, such as flexible elastic optical networks, enable the provisioning of variable-bandwidth, variable-QoS (Quality of service) transmission pipes. In addition, current and future multi-media services have widely divergent bandwidth and QoE (Quality of Experience) requirements. ACTION (Applications Coordinated with Transport, IP and Optical Networks) is a multi-QoE, application-centric, highly energy-efficient network architecture that leverages flexible elastic optical network technologies. This project is supported by both the NSF, USA, and NICT, Japan, under the JUNO (joint collaboration between Japan and US) program. This paper provides a brief overview of the project.