Virtualization and Softwarization in Optical Access Networks

Abstract

Optical access networks are undergoing a transformation from conventional dedicated equipment to configurations using general-purpose hardware, as the requirements are diversifying owing to the emergence of various advanced applications. By applying software-defined networks (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) to the access system, SDN-enabled broadband access (SEBA), a virtualized access platform that abstracts various access systems and can be commonly controlled by software on general-purpose hardware, has been commercially deployed by some overseas carriers. As a future form, an architecture is being considered, in which lower layer network applications share resources on general-purpose hardware with edge applications by expanding the software domain of the system. In this paper, we touch on the virtualization of optical access networks, trends in the standardization of NFV/SDNs, the status of open source software (OSS) development, and trends in research to expand the domain of softwarization and their technologies.