ECI to develop ONOS-based SDN controller

Optical transport systems vendor ECI says it will develop a software-defined networking (SDN) controller based on the Open Network Operating System (ONOS) from the ON.Lab-led ONOS open source community. The systems house says it will pair offer the controller as part of its SmartLIGHT portfolio.

ECI says it decided to base the upcoming SDN controller on ONOS "at the end of thorough research."

"We chose ONOS rather than alternative consortiums for three major reasons: 1) the ONOS platform is more suitable for WAN, which is where we play; 2) we were looking for a carrier-grade platform suited to our customers from a scale and performance perspective; and 3) its aims for truly programmable networks," said Hayim Porat, CTO at ECI.

"At the base of our ELASTIC network strategy we have sworn to provide our customers with an ecosystem which is open, vendor-agnostic, and secure. In doing so, we believe we can offer the customer the greatest flexibility in choosing what is best for them," Porat added.

The company did not say when the SDN controller would be available.

ON.Lab announced the open source ONOS project just over a year ago (see "ON.Lab, backed by AT&T and NTT, offers open source SDN operating system"); it joined with the Linux Foundation shortly thereafter (see "ONOS Project, Linux Foundation partner for SDN development"). The platform has undergone several revisions since it first appeared early this year, including the most recent Emu release.

"We look forward to ECI's contributions to the community," said Guru Parulkar, executive director and board member at ON.Lab/ONOS project. "ECI has added a great deal to our efforts by supporting the case for multilayer control of IP and optical layer networks. We are delighted that ECI shares our goals and is contributing to the initiatives of the consortium."

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.