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From model to implementation: a network algorithm programming language

Science China Information Sciences volume 63, Article number: 172102 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

Software-defined networking (SDN) is a revolutionary technology that facilitates network management and enables programmatically efficient network configuration, thereby improving network performance and flexibility. However, as the application programming interfaces (APIs) of SDN are low-level or functionality-restricted, SDN programmers cannot easily keep pace with the ever-changing devices, topologies, and demands of SDN. By deriving motivation from industry practice, we define a novel network algorithm programming language (NAPL) that enhances the SDN framework with a rapid programming flow from topology-based network models to C++ implementations, thus bridging the gap between the limited capability of existing SDN APIs and the reality of practical network management. In contrast to several state-of-the-art languages, NAPL provides a range of critical high-level network programming features: (1) topology-based network modeling and visualization; (2) fast abstraction and expansion of network devices and constraints; (3) a declarative paradigm for the fast design of forwarding policies; (4) a built-in library for complex algorithm implementation; (5) full compatibility with C++ programming; and (6) user-friendly debugging support when compiling NAPL into highly readable C++ codes. The expressiveness and performance of NAPL are demonstrated in various industrial scenarios originating from practical network management.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported partly by Huawei (Grant No. YBN2016030056). Jian WANG, Jie AN, Mingshuai CHEN, and Naijun ZHAN were supported partly by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant Nos. 61625206, 61732001). Jie AN and Miaomiao ZHANG were supported partly by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 61472279). The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions raised in the reviewing process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Computer Science, Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Jian Wang, Mingshuai Chen & Naijun Zhan

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jian Wang, Mingshuai Chen & Naijun Zhan

  3. School of Software Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Jie An & Miaomiao Zhang

  4. Network Integration Technology Research Department, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, 518129, China

    Lulin Wang

  5. School of Computer Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Ting Gan

Authors
  1. Jian Wang
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  2. Jie An
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  3. Mingshuai Chen
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  4. Naijun Zhan
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  5. Lulin Wang
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  6. Miaomiao Zhang
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  7. Ting Gan
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Correspondence to Ting Gan.

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Wang, J., An, J., Chen, M. et al. From model to implementation: a network algorithm programming language. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 63, 172102 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-019-2644-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-019-2644-8

Keywords

  • software-defined networking (SDN)
  • network algorithm programming language (NAPL)
  • network abstraction