Intent-based Software-Defined Networking can automate mapping of customer services to transport services. We demonstrate this using a multi-layer orchestrator that provisions a complex customer service over an IP/Optical testbed.

The demonstration presents the first implementation of a resource negotiation scheme between users and a network for the provisioning of application-aware connectivity services. This active interaction enables the users, who request connectivity services with multiple application requirements, to select an alternative solution when the network does not have enough resources to satisfy the original requests.

Application-centric networking is a novel approach to construct transport networks that allows application-specific requirements to be taken into account through the entire service provisioning process: the service offered to each application is differentiated at each layer of the transport network, from IP to optical. This approach replaces the grooming of traffic with different requirements into a shared path in the transport layer, and allows for a finer control and utilization of network resources by network operators. To make this concept viable, an interface for requesting a connectivity service by applications requires an abstraction with respect to the various underlying network technologies. Interfaces based on the concept of Intents provide such an abstraction: applications can describe what they need from the network (their requirements) rather than how to achieve them. This paper describes the design and implementation of the solution we propose: DISMI, the Intent-based North-Bound Interface of a network controller.

We demonstrate multi-layer encrypted service provisioning via the ACINO orchestrator. ACINO combines a novel intent interface with an ONOS-based SDN orchestrator to facilitate encrypted services at IP, Ethernet and optical network layers.

Modern IP/Optical transport networks are seldom jointly operated and optimized, and do not cater to the usually implicit requirements of applications, which ultimately drive network traffic. In this concept paper we propose a Software Defined Networking (SDN) based Network Orchestrator to manage multi-layer transport networks while taking explicit application requirements into account. We discuss its architecture and requirements, an interface to allow applications to explicitly specify their requirements in a network-agnostic manner, and possible strategies to optimize the network taking these requirements into account.

Three types of electroabsorption modulators (EAMs) based on III-V semiconductor multiple quantum wells (MQW) are presented in this work. One is a novel monolithic integration traveling-wave EAM for an analog optical transmitter/transceiver to achieve integrated photonic mm-wave functions for broadband connectivity. Another one is composed of an integrated EAM 1D array in a photonic beam-former as a Ku-band phased array antenna for seamless aeronautical networking through integration of data links, radios, and antennas. The third one addresses the use of MQW EAMs in free space optical links through biological tissue for transcutaneous communication.

A novel X-ray detector diode, optimized for angular independent (isotropic) dose response, is presented. The diode is designed as a silicon cube with pn-junctions on all six sides, which creates a close to 3D symmetrical device. The cube edge is 300 μm or 410 μm. It is manufactured by a micromachining based process featuring deep reactive ion etching of silicon-on-insulator substrates, doping of vertical walls from gas phase and refill of etched trenches with polysilicon. For 6 MV X-rays, in the ±30° beam angle range, the variation in detector response was at best ±0.5 % for a cubic diode compared to ±3.3 % for conventional diodes, a factor 7 improvement.