[Florianopolis, Brazil, Aug 29, 2016] Huawei 2012 Labs has demonstrated its first Application-Driven Network (ADN) prototype at ACM Sigcomm 2016, the flagship conference for computer networks and communications.

This ADN prototype demonstrates the business value of auto-slicing and dynamic resource allocation according to requirements from applications and users, in the multi-user-multi-application scenario. The demonstration also shows that ADN can improve the satisfaction ratio of users by between 3 to 5 times, compared to the traditional TCP/IP paradigm. ADN provides new network architecture for network operators to address the challenges of on-demand services and better network resource utilization.

\ The first ADN prototype was demonstrated at Sigcomm 2016

The ADN prototype released at the ACM Sigcomm 2016 conference is an automatic system implemented on general virtual switches, and is aimed at automatic resource scheduling based on the philosophy of being driven by applications. The demonstration illustrates three typical applications: a bandwidth-sensitive application (such as video streaming), a delay-sensitive application (such as gaming) and a combination of both (such as for VR applications). The demonstration shows how ADN guarantees the performance requirements of these applications over the same network. It also demonstrates that thanks to the application classification and automatic slicing techniques of ADN, the Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics (in terms of delay, bandwidth and satisfaction ratio) can be improved by between 3-5 times, even when the network utilization is as high as 94%.

Guided by the information consumption theory, network control theory, and information dissemination theory, the ADN prototype has shown its capability in application awareness, intelligent control on the data plane, virtualization of resources, fast/slow control, and coordination techniques, which further prove the feasibility of ADN network architecture as well as its advanced features of intelligence and automation.

The ADN prototype shows how ADN is able to satisfy the QoE requirements of applications, and to meet the requirements of content providers, network operators and others, based on its principle of ‘application efficiency first’ under a scenario where VR videos, vehicular connections, and IoT applications coexist over a unique network.

Since the first announcement in 2015, Huawei has been continuously sharing its results in ADN (such as with ADN measurement architecture and ARP (Adaptive Randomized Parallelism) theory) with industrial and academic researchers. At the ACM Sigcomm 2016 conference, researchers from Huawei’s 2012 Labs spoke about the ADN prototype with experts in networking research, as well as with researchers and professors from across the world.

Additionally application scenarios, business models and key techniques were shared with all Sigcomm2016 attendees. The success of the ADN demonstration highlights the transition from theory to reality, fulfilling the concept of a user-centric and application-driven solution.

A link to a video of ADN can be found below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slKZ0ZlCNlM

Original article: http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2016/8/The-first-ADN-prototype-demonstrated

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[Hong Kong, China, June 24, 2016] The First Future Network ADN Forum was hosted at the Hong Kong Science Park, from June 21 to 22. More than 10 leading network experts and enterprise CEOs shared their thoughts on visions and architectures for ADN, as well as progress in business models, prototype verification, scenario-specific applications, and key technologies. Attendees included more than 100 university professors, scholars, and industry experts.

\ Keynote speakers at the forum

Business models for future networks must meet the requirements of content production, content operation, and network operation. At the forum, several professors shared their theoretical research results concerning the feasibility of differentiated service models.

Their theories have shown that Application-driven Network (ADN) architecture can offer multiple benefits under typical Internet scenarios. It will allow Internet service providers to deliver differentiated services, content providers to pursue continuous service innovation, regulators to formulate specific regulatory policies based on service types and also allow consumers to enjoy a superior service experience.

During the session on innovative architecture for future networks, expert speakers and attendees engaged in lively discussions on Software-defined Networking (SDN), beyond SDN, Named Data Networks (NDN) and Information Centric Networks (ICN). Future networks will face the challenge of ensuring service performance and capacity expansion under ultra-large heterogeneous network architecture. Future network architecture must support application awareness at the service layer and smart control at the data plane. The ADN architecture is able to allocate optimal network resources for different services in a dynamic network environment. Therefore, ADN is an ideal network architecture that helps users, operators, and equipment vendors to achieve shared success.

Zhang Gong, Director of the Future Network Theory Laboratory under Huawei’s 2012 Laboratories, said, “It will be important for future networks to adopt an application-driven architecture. The end-to-end communication model must be defined based on applications’ characteristics and experience requirements. Ideas and achievements shared by professors at this forum are closely relevant to the ADN concept.”

He added, “There are three key design principles for the ADN architecture. First is service abstraction, which is crucial to creating information consumption models for different applications. Second is resource virtualization, which supports resource separation for services and network reuse. Third is smart control, which supports flexible scalability and rapid rollout in sync with service changes.”

Hosted by Huawei, the First Future Network ADN Forum featured speeches by many experts, including Professor John. C. S. Lui, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Professor Jon Crowcroft, Cambridge University; Professor Don Towsley, University of Massachusetts; Professor Zhang Zhili, University of Minnesota; Professor Zhang Beichuan, University of Arizona; and Professor K. K. Ramakrishnan, University of California, Riverside.

Additional speeches were given by: Professor Chen Kai, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Professor Liu Bin, Tsinghua University; Professor Hu Chengchen, Xi’an Jiaotong University; Professor Richard Ma, National University of Singapore; Tan Kun, senior researcher at Microsoft Research; and Professor Qi Yaxuan, CEO of Yunshan Networks.

These experts shared their insights into the ADN vision, theories, architectures, key technologies (such as, network programming, control and measurement), business models, and applications for typical scenarios.

The open, lively discussions at the forum aimed to improve research into future networks and accelerate the implementation of ADN concepts. Open collaboration among universities, enterprises, and standards organization is the only way to achieve shared success.

Original article: http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2016/6/First-Future-Network-ADN-Forum

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[San Diego, US, Dec.10, 2015] Huawei today announced a radical new vision and concept for carrier network architecture - the Application-driven Network (ADN) - at IEEE Globecom 2015 held in San Diego. Developed in the Future Network Theory Lab of Huawei’s 2012 Laboratories, the ADN will prioritize network applications and service demands in network design and evolution, unlike traditional approaches that focus on network resource utilization and optimizing network operations.

Huawei is the first to propose that networks should put applications first, and believes this concept will radically change how networks, both fixed and wireless, will be designed and constructed in the future.

\ Huawei Fellow Dr Wen Tong announces the ADN innovations at Globecom 2015

Huawei Fellow, Dr. Wen Tong commented: “Our innovative ADN architecture vision puts applications at the network’s core to deliver significant application-efficiency gains for networks. Unlike traditional network architectures, ADNs will support application abstraction, network re-programmability, global and local coordination of network resources, and application decoupling by service layering. With these advantages, ADN is poised to meet a variety of future application demands, for example, in 5G networks.”

What makes ADN different is its top-layer network architecture design: It does not simply map several applications to a physical network, which serves as a pipe with limited functionality. Instead, ADNs will enable networks that are customizable from end-to-end depending on application demands to deliver a superior user experience.

With its flexible architecture for hierarchal management, ADNs will dynamically adapt to network changes that follow the power law effect. Huawei has conducted theoretically study that an ADN architecture can create more stable networks, accommodate future application-led change demands, and cope better with the impact of other uncertainties in terms of services. In addition, ADN will transform network operation models, enabling a fundamental shift in focus from network-led KPIs to service experience-led KPIs, allowing carriers to improve and create new network revenue streams.

A new vision that integrates NFV and SDN technologies

ADN will support 5G network slicing and will bolster both near and long-term network evolution. ADNs will differ from existing NFV and SDN concepts, but will integrate NFV and SDN technologies that yet to deliver economic benefits into a comprehensive network architecture that focuses on user experience. While ADN concerns network architecture, NFV and SDN are component technologies to realize the application driven end-to-end architecture.

Original article: http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2015/12/Huawei%20Unveils%20the%20Vision%20for

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