ASP-DAC 2015 keynote speech II programmable network

Network Virtualization such as SDN (Software Defined Network) or NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) is the important technology in the new generation network architecture. This provides flexible networking for various kinds of network usage demand. Network virtualization requires the definition of a user specific network called as “slice” and the method for programming a slice design of programmable forwarding nodes in network. The key aspect is to introduce the programmability in network. This can provide new value for users and application providers by working together with computation and peripheral technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, mobile devices and so on. Also, the delivery time of a slice can be shorter than in existing network. “Programmable Network” has huge potential to change the games in creating network service. In this talk, the R&D activities of network virtualization and its programmability methods are introduced to explain how the flexibility is realized as hardware and software system. Then, we discuss how we utilize programmable network for creating network services. The several use cases such as 4K/8K contents distribution, resiliency of network system, and edge distributed computing are introduced to show the possibility of creating new value by Programmable Network. Finally, we discuss the possibility of applying EDA technologies for supporting the design flow of a user specific network in Programmable Network.