Calix has joined the ON.Labs ONOS project as a collaborator in an effort to expand the reach of non-Java applications for SDN-enabled last mile access networks.
The vendor said ONOS has tasked it with creating an Apache Kafka northbound interface within ONOS, allowing existing and new applications written in virtually any language to integrate with ONOS via Kafka clients.
By making this contribution, ONOS will be made available to a wider number of non-Java applications, enabling ONOS to expand its scope of control.
Among the new applications this agreement will create will be those that are required to run network infrastructure in the access network such as CPE and Ethernet switches, which will be made portable and reusable.
Calix itself has been driving its own SDN-enabled elements via its AXOS architecture. The AXOS architecture includes containerized software components ride on top of a unique hardware abstraction layer that preserves software independence from the underlying hardware.
AXOS has already been incorporated into a number of its G.Fast and Carrier Ethernet aggregation products like its E5-308 platform.
Joining ONOS as a contributor also enables Calix to potentially attract larger carriers that are looking to virtualize functions in their access network. ONOS already includes some of the largest telcos such as AT&T, China Unicom, NTT Communications, SK Telecom, and Verizon.
AT&T (NYSE: T), for one, is getting ready to conduct field trials of the Central Office Re-architected as Data Center (CORD) concept in the coming weeks. CORD incorporates SDN, NFV and cloud with commodity infrastructure and open building blocks. The CORD solution POC spans the traditional central office access, including Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON) and G.fast, as well as home/enterprise customer premises equipment (CPE). Part of this effort will include a virtual OLT (vOLT), which is part of the disaggregation phase of AT&T's implementation of NFV.
The telco said that using CORD concepts will enable it to speed up the deployment of its 1 Gbps services to more markets.
For more:
- see the release
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