NOBEL Project

1. NOBEL Project WP4 - Network Management and Control/Protocols WP1 - Architectural aspects for end-to-end services Service TF Piero Castoldi Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna NOBEL Plenary meeting Torino – 24 November 2005

2. Outline • Review of service definitions within NOBEL • Short or medium term scenario • Long term scenario • Possible contribution for D33/NOBEL II – Call for interest

3. Review of Service definitions within NOBEL (1) • Based on WP1 (D21, D30 in progress) and WP4 (D18, D25) • In WP1 [from D30 in progress] • User service: Human can use these services (e.g. web services, telephony, videoconferencing and video-on-demand). One of the main issues related to user services is the Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC). • Network service: services that provide connectivity to the user (classified in NOBEL as L1, L2, L3 VPN Services and Public&Business IP). Network services are used by user services. • Implementations case studies: grid applications, broadcast TV, Storage Area Networks, Video on Demand • In WP4 [from D25] • Application service: a (possibly interactive) service that implies the set-up of one or more network services and the logic needed for correlate them (e.g. storage, back-up service, on-demand streaming services). • Network service: (technology-dependent) connectivity services provided by the current or future UNI standards and classified in WP1 as VPN services and IP services.

4. Review of Service definitions within NOBEL (2) Network Services • Definition of Network Services is common between WP1 and WP4 • WP1 mainly focus on what are the necessary “service dimensions” (see WP4-D2) of network services and typical values • WP4 mainly focus and the connectivity technology to provide network services and how to trigger and control them.

5. Review of Service definitions within NOBEL (3) User/Application Services • User services (WP1) and Application services (WP4) almost refer to the same concept: WP1 definition refers to human user, WP4 definition refers to the application running in the device used by the human (slightly broader concept, it includes distributed applications) • WP1 mainly focus on “mapping case studies” (or opportunities) of User Serviceson Network Services and what values should be assigned to parameters of service dimensions • WP4 scope in the Service TF goes beyond the association of application services and network services, rather it covers the automatic/intelligent mapping & triggering of network services both based on application service requests and network ability to offer them

6. Short/medium term scenario (1) Introduction of automatic operation in the NOBEL network for triggering network services [D25]: • It is not possible to transparently trigger all network services defined in NOBEL using the UNI • Even if an evolution of the UNI can be conceived, this evolution should be tailored in different flavors depending on the type of controlled transport network (UNI is technology-dependent) • Current set-up of advanced network services (e.g. VPNs) is done via the Management Plane • The UPI (User to Provider Interface) is revisited in D25 and its use for automatic service provisioning via MP is outlined as a short/medium term approach for automatic service provisioning

7. Short/Medium–term scenario (2) • MP involved in service provisioning (centralized approach), e.g. on-request VPN • Automatic services provided through UPI with machine-based interaction

8. Long term scenario (1) Introduction of automatic/intelligent mapping of user/application services onto network services and their relevant triggering [D25]: • The approach to solve this problem is to adopt a distributed entity composed by Service Elements (SE) • The SEs interact with the Control Plane with a specific interface • The SEs interact with the customer/client-network with a specific interface named USI (User to Service Interface) • The SE exchange informative messages and are responsible for translating request of application services into network services properly triggering the Control Plane • The exact functionalities of the SE is a topic left for further discussion • The exact service capabilities available at the USI is a topic left for further discussion

9. Long-term scenario (2) • User-controlled service provisioning provided by dedicated Service Entities (SE)s through USI (distributed approach), e.g. on-demand VPN • Transparent service provisioning based on signaling protocol among SEs

10. Possible contributions for D33Call for interest First objective of Service TF: finalize the short/medium term scenario, i.e. demonstrate an enhancement of NOBEL architecture supporting a service interface beyond the UNI. • Primary focus on application services that are strictly related to and dependent on network services (e.g. storage applications). • What features supported by UPI for network service set-up (Sant’Anna, Telenor, .… • What are the UPI limitations that make us call for the long term approach outlined below (Sant’Anna, Telenor, ....

11. Possible contribution for D33/NOBEL IICall for interest Second objective of Service TF (not expected to complete in NOBEL I) finalize the long-term scenario, i.e. build a flexible and future proof service oriented NOBEL network architecture supporting application/user services. In NOBEL II Sant’Anna will also contribute to WP1, possibly split work between WP1 and WP4 and collaboration with Signaling TF and VPN TF: • Focus on automatic/intelligent (i.e. application-network cooperative) set-up of network services based on a request of an application/user service (Sant’Anna, …… • Define functionalities, message exchange, architecture of the SEs in view of the previous point, i.e. try to shape the so-called “service plane” (Sant’Anna, …. • Define supported primitives over the USI to achieve the goal (Sant’Anna, …..