Centralization vs. De-Centralization: Where Does the Network Control Plane Stand?

Abstract

The centralization or distributedness of control exists beyond the area of telecommunication. Some systems, such as the biological nervous system or administrative and political regimes, exhibit the same interrelationship between the two types of control. These systems serve as an inspiration to designing hybrid control planes in data networks. This work aims to combine centralized and distributed protocols to form an adaptively-controlled hybrid system that exploits the advantages of both centralized and distributed control. The system is then allowed to shift either completely or partially from a centralized system to a distributed environment so as to deliver a desired performance. When applied to telecommunication networks, this approach allows us to fully exploit the advantages of both SDN and legacy networks for enhanced overall network robustness.