Overview
The project SPARC « Split architecture carrier grade networks » is aimed at the investigation and implementation of a new split in the architecture of the Future Internet and its building blocks. The design of the new architecture will focus on the split of control, forwarding and data processing elements. The objective of the Split Architecture is a modularisation of logical and physical functionality in order to manage complexity.
Split Architecture will have a particular impact on the following areas:
• Separate optimisation of network and functional building blocks, e.g. application modules, controller software, forwarding engine
• Reduce dependencies on legacy protocols and design principles
• Lower market entry barriers
• Increase market volumes of modules
Funding
Results
The SPARC project through its numerous realisations will:
• Overcome structural limitations of the current Internet architecture resulting from an increasingly larger set of applications and of devices and edge networks to be supported
• Enable dynamic and efficient support of various traffic patterns for synchronism, end-to-end quality, location independence, mobility and future service architectures
• Contribute to new concepts for flexible and cognitive network management and operation frameworks for dynamic, ad-hoc and optimised resource allocation and control, administration with accounting that ensures both a fair return-on-investment and expansion of usage, differentiated performance levels that can be accurately monitored, fault-tolerance and robustness associated with real-time trouble shooting capabilities
• Participate and realise standardisation of the OpenFlow protocol from a European perspective