Page 229 - ITU-T Focus Group IMT-2020 Deliverables

ITU-T Focus Group IMT-2020 Deliverables 3

5 Conventions

None.

6 Overview of IMT-2020 end-to-end network management
Since the current network architecture may not be appropriate to support various IMT-2020 network
requirements, enhancement of the network architecture has been studied. Among the enhanced capabilities
including distributed function deployment, network slicing, and resource allocation, IMT-2020 also requires
a study on new aspects of end-to-end network management whose results are described in this
Recommendation.

6.1 Motivation
Based on the understanding of the new trends of networking technology as mentioned above, Phase 1 of FG
on IMT-2020 identified the following three gap analysis items related to the end-to-end network
management:
• Multiple network management protocols in different network domains make it difficult to support
unified network operations over multiple network domains. A unified end-to-end network
management should be considered to ensure compatibility and flexibility for the operation and
management of an IMT-2020 network.

• OAM protocols are not standardized in some parts of IMT networks such as the front haul network.
Standard OAM protocols should be studied for fault management and performance management
between network equipment that may be commonly used across the IMT-2020 network.
• There are two aspects to consider for the network management and orchestration for the network
softwarization. The first aspect is how to manage and orchestrate the softwarized network
components. The second is how to softwarize network management and orchestration
functionality. The current technology gaps to be filled in are provided.
There are additional items to be studied further respect to the end-to-end network management such as
network slicing, integrated access, open-source platform and etc. Therefore, this Recommendation specifies
an end-to-end network management framework for IMT-2020 in a systematic approach including
aforementioned gap analysis items as well as those additional items.

6.2 Underlying Technologies

Together with SDN, NFV and cloud computing technologies, network softwarization is established for rapid
service creation especially a new service. With seamless service assurance and management across global
and local network, virtual and physical resources are managed with real-time operation systems and
processes. Software-defined networking dynamically connects distributed and diverse workloads, networks
and devices. White box switches are blank standard hardware that supports a set of basic networking
features customized to meet any specific business and networking needs. End-to-end virtual network paths
or slices are created continuously with dynamic reconfiguration. By leveraging standard virtualisation
technology, network equipment such as switch and storage is consolidated onto industry standard high
volume servers located in data centers, network nodes and end user premises. The embedding of the cloud
in the network plays a key role to optimize network performance. It is crucial to include end-to-end network
management for softwarized infrastructure.
6.2.1 Software-defined networking (SDN)

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an umbrella term encompassing several kinds of network technology
aimed at making the network as agile and flexible as the virtualized server and storage infrastructure of the
modern data center. The goal of SDN is to allow network engineers and administrators to respond quickly to
changing business requirements. In a software-defined network, a network administrator can shape traffic
from a centralized control console without having to touch individual switches, and can deliver services to
wherever they are needed in the network, regardless of what specific devices a server or other device is
connected to. The key technologies are functional separation, network virtualization and automation through
programmability. Further study is needed for SDN.

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