Decentralized Intent-driven Coordination of Multi-Domain IP-Optical Networks

Abstract

Intent-based networking is increasingly used to improve network control and management. Network operators have already begun to adopt this paradigm, which leads to a simplified and automatized network operation. The operators can interact with their intent-driven networks through the Northbound Interface (NBI). Given a standardized NBI, the same approach can scale to coordinate intent provisioning across multi-domain networks in a decentralized fashion. This can outdate traditional decentralized protocols and open new opportunities for flexible and scalable communication mechanisms. This paper proposes a minimal and general high-level architecture, relying on a standard IBN (Intent-Based Networking) architecture, for multi-domain intent deployment in IP-optical networks. Our architecture is consistent between diverse network operators that use the same NBI, respects confidential information, promotes accountability, and can scale for various network services. To achieve this, we introduce a hierarchical system-generated intent schema with automatic intent delegation between the different domains.