SDN在无线局域网中的研究进展

Research Progress on Software Defined Networking in WLANs

软件定义网络(Software Defined Networking,SDN)的基本思想是将数据平面与控制平面解耦和,从而简化网络管理。无线网络应用该思想,开放无线网络可编程接口,分离无线控制平面与数据平面,诞生了软件定义无线网络(Software Defined Wireless Networking,SDWN)。重点介绍了SDWN中软件定义无线局域网(Software Defined Wireless Local Area Networks,SDN-Wi Fi)的研究进展。首先从SDN-Wi Fi的诞生背景入手,梳理总结了SDN-Wi Fi的分层网络体系架构;然后,介绍了SDN-Wi Fi中几种关键技术的研究进展,包括WLAN中的接入技术和漫游技术,密集部署和集中管理,以及负载均衡等问题;然后,论述了目前研究SDN-Wi Fi的几种不同的方法,包括实际网络环境的部署和SDN-Wi Fi仿真工具的研究;最后,分析并展望了未来SDN-Wi Fi所面临的挑战和发展趋势。

The basic idea of Software Defined Networking(SDN) is to decouple the data plane and the control plane of the network, and then simplify network management. The application of SDN in wireless network promotes the rise of Software Defined Wireless Networking(SDWN). This paper presents and discusses recent research progress on software-defined wireless local area networks(SDN-Wi Fi). Starting with a brief discussion on the background of SDN-Wi Fi, we summarize and present the layered network architecture. More importantly, we introduce recent research process on several key technologies of SDN-Wi Fi,such as the access technologies and handover schemes in WLANs, the dense deployment and centralized management schemes,and the load balance between APs, etc. Furthermore, we summarize recent experimental studies on SDN- Wi Fi, including both the practical testbed results and the simulation evaluations. Finally, the challenges and the development trends of future SDNWi Fi are discussed.