Cloud and Edge Networking

9Cloud Networking Protocols

With the advent of digital architectures and Cloud Networking, traditional protocols based on IP packet routing and MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) are being replaced by new generations that either use transport at level one, that is, at the physical layer, or that use Internet protocols but adapt them to have centralized control and a different control plane than the data plane. This new generation is trying to make its way into the new arsenal of operators and cloud providers.

The first solution that is developing in the digital infrastructure is to transport information at the signal level. The terminal sends its frame in the form of digital signals to an antenna which sends the received signals back over an optical fiber to the data center. The signal processing is achieved in the data center. The main technique used to transport the signal is RoF (Radio over Fiber). Another solution that can be seen as intermediate between existing and RoF is to keep signal processing at the antenna and to transmit the information in binary form (0 and 1) in an Ethernet frame. The electronic cabinet that carries out the signal processing emits Ethernet frames filled with binary data without understanding the transported data. We are dealing with a level 2 transport (frame level). The advantage of this last technique is using the existing networks in Ethernet form without having to rewire the environment in an optical fiber.

The new transport protocols are ...