ORANSC Network Topology Simulator NTS by Alex Stancu
O-RAN-SC Network Topology Simulator (NTS) by Alex Stancu 2019 -06
NTS Purpose § Network Topology Simulator § Software tool, simulates devices that have a NETCONF interface § Exposes YANG models with custom values for the attributes § Can be used for SDN Microservice development 2 § Allows fast prototyping § Can catch bugs that otherwise appear only in production § Very lightweight, can be used for performance validation § Can be extended with any YANG model 2 12/17/202 2
NTS – high level overview (1) § Based on sysrepo, Netopeer 2 server and docker § Sysrepo is a YANG based configuration and operational datastore for Linux applications 3 § Netopeer 2 Server is a NETCONF server implementation 3 12/17/202 3
NTS – high level overview (2) § NTS Manager runs inside a docker container and manages the simulation § Each simulated device is a docker container § Each simulated device exposes 10 NETCONF sessions § 7 connections are SSH based § 3 connections are TLS based § The NTS Manager administrates the creation/deletion of the docker containers for the simulated 4 devices Docker container NTS Manager spawns NETCONF via SSH Simulated device 1 4 12/17/202 Simulated device 2 … Simulated device n NETCONF via TLS 4
NTS – high level overview (3) § NTS Manager is controller through NETCONF/YANG § NTS Manager exposes attributes for managing the simulation § NTS Manager exposes attributes for viewing the operational state of the simulation 5 runtime) § The user can modify dynamically (at § The number of simulated devices § The number of devices mounted to ODL § The SDN Controller connection details 5 12/17/202 5
NTS – feature overview (1) § NETCONF capabilities: § NETCONF 1. 0 (RFC 4741) § NETCONF 1. 1 (RFC 6241) § Candidate 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § Notification 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § Rollback-on-error 1. 0 (RFC 6241) 6 § Startup 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § Validate 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § Writable running 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § x. Path 1. 0 (RFC 6241) § NETCONF Call Home support (RFC 8071) § YANG 1. 0 (RFC 6020) and YANG 1. 1 (RFC 7950) support 6 12/17/202 6
NTS – feature overview (2) § Management through NETCONF/YANG § Run-time modification of number of simulated devices § Automatic mounting of simulated devices to SDN Controller (currently ODL) § Ability to generate NETCONF notifications (can be customized) § Run-time modification of the notification 7 frequency § NETCONF filtering abilities: § x. Path § Subtree § Support for augmented YANG models § Usage of the simulator even until all the simulated devices are started 7 12/17/202 7
Use Case 1: NETCONF via SSH and/or TLS 8 12/17/202 8
NETCONF via SSH and/or TLS 1. Start one simulated device via the NTS Manager a. 7 NETCONF via SSH endpoints b. 3 NETCONF via TLS connections 2. Mount the simulated device to the O-RAN-SC-non-rt-RIC 3. Observe that the 7 SSH endpoints 9 are connected 4. Observe that the 3 TLS endpoints are unable to connect a. The O-RAN-SC-non-rt-RIC does not have a valid certificate to connect via TLS 5. Add a valid certificate to O-RAN-SC-non-rt-RIC 6. Observe that the 3 TLS endpoints are connected 9 12/17/202 9
Use Case 2: O-RAN interfacing 10 12/17/202 10
O-RAN interfacing 1. Access one mounted device on the RIC 2. Observe that O-RAN YANG models are exposed 3. Interact with ietf-interfaces model, which is augmented by o-raninterfaces model a. b. c. d. Get Modify Create Delete 11 4. Interact with ietf-hardware model, which is augmented by o-ranhardware model 5. Interact with o-ran-software-management model 11 12/17/202 11
Thank you! 12/17/202 12
- Slides: 12