There are benefits to providing flexibility/programmability to the data plane, such as changing a modulation format from 16QAM to QPSK when span loss has increased (such as switching the optical path to a protection route). Judge's Comment.
Software-defined networks (SDNs) enable programmability in the control plane, not the data plane. Xilinx' Software Defined Specification Environment for Networking, SDNet, is a next-generation fully programmable networking platform that provides functionality that extends programmability and scalability beyond SDN throughout the entire network architecture. Xilinx calls this concept "Softly" Defined Networking.
The SDNet Specification Environment enables prototyping, development and deployment of packet processing functions on Xilinx All Programmable devices. The resultant "Softly" Defined Networks are based on a programmable data plane with content intelligence and a rich southbound API control plane connection. Service providers are able to dynamically provision unique services without interruption to the existing service, requalifying hardware, or initiating a truck roll. Network equipment providers can differentiate products by deploying content-aware data plane hardware, programmed with the SDNet environment, Xilinx says.
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