Implementing a smart SDN switch with LISP control plane as network function (short paper)

Software Defined Network (SDN) is considered as the key paradigm for the development of future networks, but there is still a lack of operational solutions, especially for an Internet Service Provider environment. In this work we propose the idea of an advanced SDN device, referred to as Smart SDN Forwarding Device (SSFD), able to implement Network Functions (NFs) on top of the Data Plane: in this way, it will be possible to realize hybrid SDN/IP networks and to reduce the load on the SDN Controller. We also provide a prototype, realized by means of open source software, that represents a first step toward the deployment of an operational device. The performance evaluation realized connecting the SSFD prototype to the experimental LISP network, shows that its performance are very close to the ones of a legacy device: the delay introduced for the control level operations is limited and negligible from an user perspective.