Using BPEL workflow processing for cross-layer orchestrations in IP-over-optical networks: A proof of concept

The rapid growth of network services is forcing operators to use of inter-layer coordination between the IP and the transport network management systems in order to optimize resource utilization within the carriers network ecosystem. However, the diversity of technology and the related management systems within the IP and transport networks poses significant challenges in developing a single unified management ecosystem for both IP and transport networks. In this work, we present a basic prototype of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based framework proposed in the EU project ONE for programmable orchestration of IP and transport management processes. The proof-of-concept prototype uses web services and BPEL to facilitate programmable inter-layer coordination, and was tested on a number of use cases. We measured the performance penalty of using the SOA framework against the traditional JAVA based provisioning approaches used in integrated multi-layer management, and show that the penalty incurred in execution times were sufficiently small while bringing several significant advantages during the software design, development, integration and maintenance, which is simple and highly effective.