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:

Workshop 1 — 5G Core Networks Workshop 2 — Radio Access Networks

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.
Slides
20 min
9:35
Lab 1 — SDN Data Plane Programmability
Build a network topology in Mininet and program OVS switches directly with flow rules.
Lab materials
60 min
10:35
Coffee break
15 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.
Slides
25 min
11:15
Lab 2 — Network Programmability with ONOS
Connect your topology to ONOS and use the REST API in Python to query the network, and observe automatic re-routing after a link failure.
Lab materials
60 min
12:15
Lunch break
60 min
1:15
Concepts 3 — Network Slicing and Programmable Transport
How network virtualization enables transport slicing, hard vs soft isolation, and how SRv6 provides path control using standard IPv6 extension headers.
Slides
30 min
1:45
Lab 3 — Path Steering with SRv6
Assign SRv6 segment IDs, program a Segment Routing Header on an ingress host, and steer traffic through a middlebox.
Lab materials
60 min
2:45
Coffee break
15 min
3:00
Lab 4 — Transport Slicing
Bring everything together. Combine SDN, SRv6, and OVS queuing to achieve transport slicing.
Lab materials
70 min
4:10
Wrap-up and Q&A
Open discussion and workshop feedback.
Feedback form
10 min

Start with setup, keep the workshop references nearby, and use the feedback form at the end of the session.

Workshop setup Setup instructions for the bootstrap script, including when to run it and what it prepares. Basic Linux commands A compact reference for the shell, Mininet, ONOS, and OVS commands used in the labs. Learning outcomes See what participants should understand and be able to do by the end of Workshop 3.