Coarse-grained Scheduling with Software-Defined Networking Switches

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) enables consolidation of the control plane of a set of network equipments with a fine-grained control of traffic flows inside the network. In this work, we demonstrate that some coarse-grained scheduling mechanisms can be easily offered by SDN switches without requiring any unsupported operation in OpenFlow. We leverage the feedback loop - flow statistics - exposed by SDN switches to the controller, combined with priority queuing mechanisms, usually available in typical switches on their output ports. We illustrate our approach through experimentations with an OpenvSwitch SDN switch controlled by a Beacon controller.