Open Networking Lab (ONLAB)
Open Networking Lab (ONLAB) is a Research and Development (R&D) organization focused on Software Defined Networking (SDN) and open networking platforms for carriers, clouds, and large-scale network operators.
- Applied research and prototyping in SDN and open networking architectures for carrier and cloud environments.
- Development of open source networking platforms and controller software for programmable, software-driven networks (networking infrastructure).
- Collaboration with service providers, industry partners, and academia on SDN-based reference designs and deployment models.
- Evaluation and validation of SDN technologies, protocols, and frameworks for use in production-grade networks.
- Education, outreach, and documentation to support adoption of open networking and SDN concepts in industry and research communities.
More About Open Networking Lab (ONLAB)
Open Networking Lab (ONLAB) focuses on SDN and open networking technologies aimed at operators that manage carrier-scale, data center, and cloud infrastructures. Its work centers on SDN controller platforms, open network operating concepts, and programmatic control of switching and routing resources, targeting environments where centralized control and abstraction of the underlying hardware can simplify operations and enable new service models.
The organization engages in R&D of open source networking software that is typically categorized under networking infrastructure and network automation (networking infrastructure). This includes controller-layer software that interacts with underlying forwarding devices via open protocols such as OpenFlow and related southbound interfaces, as well as northbound APIs that permit integration with orchestration platforms, OSS/BSS systems, and cloud management stacks. Through these efforts, ONLAB’s projects provide a platform for building policy-based Traffic Engineering (TE), service chaining, and virtualization-aware network control.
ONLAB positions its work for use in carrier and cloud environments that require logically centralized control, multi-tenant isolation, and support for both physical and virtualized network elements. Its architectures align with common SDN reference models that separate the control plane from the data plane and expose programmable abstractions to higher-level applications. This orientation allows network operators to design services and control logic in software, while maintaining interoperability with commodity switching hardware and open networking devices.
The organization collaborates with telecommunications providers, cloud operators, and academic institutions to test and validate SDN frameworks at scale. These collaborations typically focus on TE use cases, network function virtualization (NFV) integration, and multi-layer network coordination across IP, optical, and data center fabrics. ONLAB’s work often appears in proof-of-concept deployments and pilot networks that evaluate how SDN controllers, open protocols, and white-box switching platforms behave under production-like conditions.
Within an enterprise technology directory, Open Networking Lab (ONLAB) aligns with categories such as networking infrastructure, SDN controllers and orchestration, network automation and programmability, and open source networking platforms. Its outputs are used by technical teams that evaluate controller architectures, open networking frameworks, and SDN-based designs for carrier backbones, mobile networks, and cloud data centers, as well as by researchers who extend SDN concepts into new network domains.