A DDS/SDN Based Communication System for Efficient Support of Dynamic Distributed Real-Time Applications

Abstract

Many distributed real-time applications have dynamic requirements regarding communication delay and bandwidth. The Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware is a key enabling technology used to support such applications. Indeed, the publish/subscribe distribution model of DDS with the ability to assign dynamic QoS (Quality of Service) parameters to DDS distribution services is able to take into account changes in the exchanged data flows and in the required QoS. This variability is taken into account at the middleware level to adjust some of DDS QoS mechanisms but is rarely propagated to the network layer to provide dynamic network communication services that fit the varying DDS distribution service needs. Usually, an over provisioned network is used, leading to network resource wastage. This paper addresses this issue and proposes a communication architecture that combines DDS with a new emerging class of communication networks named Software Defined Networks (SDN) to support efficiently dynamic distributed applications. SDN bring flexibility to the network and enable the provision of on-demand dynamic network communication services.