Hybrid SDN architecture for resource consolidation in MPLS networks

This paper proposes a methodology for resource consolidation towards minimizing the power consumption in a large network, with a substantial resource over provisioning. The focus is on the operation of the core MPLS networks. The proposed approach is based on a software defined networking (SDN) scheme with a reconfigurable centralized controller, which turns off certain network elements. The methodology comprises the process of identifying time periods with lower traffic demand; the ranking of the network elements, based on their utilization and criticality; the rerouting of the traffic off the least utilized elements; and finally, the switching off of the appropriate nodes or links. An algorithm for traffic rerouting, based on the MPLS traffic engineering techniques is proposed and its performance is evaluated in terms of the achieved energy efficiency in accordance with predefined connectivity and quality of service constraints.