Welcome to Workshop 3 in the Rogers Executive Workshop Series, presented as part of the Rogers Chair in Network Automation.
This workshop complements the previous sessions in the series:
The first workshop focused on 5G core deployment, network slicing, slice monitoring and data processing, and dynamic resource scaling, while the second explored 5G RAN deployment, closed-loop controls in O-RAN, and xApps development for monitoring and control.
In this third workshop, we turn our attention to the transport network, which interconnects the RAN and the core. Participants will learn how Software-Defined Networking (SDN) enables programmable and automated transport infrastructures. Through a combination of lectures and hands-on labs, participants will explore programmable forwarding using Open vSwitch and Mininet, centralized control using the ONOS SDN controller, and path control using SRv6, culminating in a simplified transport slice controller that demonstrates the key concepts.
Workshop Schedule
Concepts
Labs
Breaks
9:00
Introduction
Welcome, logistics, and agenda overview.
15 min
9:15
Concepts 1 — Programmable networking
Why traditional networks are difficult to change, and how SDN addresses this by separating the control plane from the data plane.
20 min
9:35
Lab 1 — Programmable forwarding with OVS + Mininet
Build a network topology in Mininet and program OVS switches directly with flow rules. You are the control plane.
60 min
10:50
Concepts 2 — OpenFlow, controllers and intents
The OpenFlow model behind Lab 1, how an SDN controller automates it, and how intents express network policy at a higher level of abstraction.
25 min
11:15
Lab 2 — Controller-based connectivity with ONOS
Connect your topology to ONOS and use the REST API in Python to query the network, install host intents, and observe automatic re-routing after a link failure.
60 min
1:15
Concepts 3 — Network slicing and SRv6
How network virtualization enables transport slicing, hard vs soft isolation, and how SRv6 provides path control using standard IPv6 extension headers.
30 min
1:45
Lab 3 — SRv6 path programming
Assign SRv6 segment IDs, program a Segment Routing Header on an ingress host, and steer traffic through a middlebox. Inspect the SRH in transit with tshark.
45 min
2:45
Lab 4 — Transport slice controller
Bring everything together. A provided controller combines ONOS, SRv6, and OVS queuing to demonstrate transport slice provisioning — then extend it with your own second slice.
70 min
3:55
Wrap-up and Q&A
Open discussion and workshop feedback.
10 min
Quick Links