FTT-openFlow, on the way towards real-time SDN

Abstract

Software-defined networking proposes a new paradigm to operate computer networks. Where routers and switches execute predetermined distributed protocols, OpenFlow offers to replace them with devices where the logic that determines the flows of packets is freely programmable and centralized. Applied to the field of real-time networks, this freedom would allow design networks to overcome existing standards and to make experimentation easier. However, neither OpenFlow nor Ethernet were designed having real-time constraints in mind. FTT-Ethernet is a master-slave protocol allowing the meeting of real-time constraints using commodity Ethernet hardware. This paper's aim is to study: (i) how FTT (Flexible Time Triggered) principles could be applied to OpenFlow, allowing its usage in a hard real-time context; (ii) which benefits OpenFlow can bring to the FTT paradigm.