CALIENT Tests OpenFlow API for its Optical Circuit Switch

CALIENT Technologies announced preliminary interoperability testing results of its newly available OpenFlow software-defined networking (SDN) application programming interface (API) for its S320 optical circuit switch.

In testing by Tallac Networks, using the testing facilities of the InCNTRE lab at Indiana University, the S320 OpenFlow API provided a base level of interoperability with several industry leading commercial SDN controllers. Similar compatibility was achieved with the Floodlight open-source controller that featured CALIENT-developed S320 extensions.

CALIENT said equipment operators using these controllers were able to dynamically discover and initiate connections through the switch and instigate a real-time view of the network topology. Operators also were able to define paths through the switch based on end-point addresses for easy network configuration.

“We’ve had overwhelming response to the hybrid packet-circuit switch network solution, as the flexibility and performance improvements are demonstrable. We are looking forward to getting this into more customer trials and production networks to better show off its capabilities.”

The CALIENT S320 optical circuit switch, which is based on CALIENT’s proprietary 3D microelectromechanical (MEMS) technology, supports up to 320 ports (320 input ports and 320 output ports) and has a capacity of more than 32 Tbps and supports per-port data rates of more than 100 Gbps. Completely agnostic to data protocols, the S320 allows any-to-any network connections with almost no latency (<60 ns="" p="">
http://www.calient.net