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Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT
Scientific instruments like radio telescopes depend on high-performance networks for internal data exchange. The high bandwidth data exchange between the components of a radio telescope makes use of multicast networking. Complex multicast networks are hard to maintain and grow, and specific installa...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Electrical Engineering
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613256430911488 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Slabber, Martin |
| author2 | Ventura, Neco |
| author_browse | Slabber, Martin Ventura, Neco |
| author_facet | Ventura, Neco Slabber, Martin |
| author_sort | Slabber, Martin |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Scientific instruments like radio telescopes depend on high-performance networks for internal data exchange. The high bandwidth data exchange between the components of a radio telescope makes use of multicast networking. Complex multicast networks are hard to maintain and grow, and specific installations require modified network switches. This study evaluates Software Defined Networking (SDN) for use in the MeerKAT radio telescope to alleviate the management complexity and allow for a vendor-neutral implementation. The purpose of this dissertation is to verify that an SDN multicast network can produce suitable paths for data flow through the network and to see if such an implementation is easier to maintain and grow. There is little literature regarding SDN for radio telescope networks; however, there is considerable work where different aspects of SDN are discussed and demonstrated for video streaming. SDN with multicast for video streaming, although simpler, forms the background research. Considerable work was put into understanding and documenting the different aspects of a radio telescope affecting the data network. The telescope network controller generates the OpenFlow rules required by the SDN controller and is a new concept introduced in this work. The telescope network controller is fitted with two placement algorithms to demonstrate its flexibility. Both algorithms are suitable for the expected workload, but they produce very different traffic patterns. The two algorithms are not compared to one another, they were created to demonstrate the ease of adding domain specific knowledge to an SDN. The telescope network controller makes it easy to introduce and use new flow placement algorithms, thus making traffic engineering feasible for the radio telescope. Complex multicast networks are easier to maintain and grow with SDN. SDN allows customised packet forwarding rules typically unattainable with standard routing and other standard network protocols and implementations. A radio telescope with a software-defined data network is resilient, easier to maintain, vendor-neutral, and possesses advanced traffic engineering mechanisms. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37816 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:15.376Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37816 Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT Slabber, Martin Ventura, Neco Mwangama, Joyce Electrical Engineering Scientific instruments like radio telescopes depend on high-performance networks for internal data exchange. The high bandwidth data exchange between the components of a radio telescope makes use of multicast networking. Complex multicast networks are hard to maintain and grow, and specific installations require modified network switches. This study evaluates Software Defined Networking (SDN) for use in the MeerKAT radio telescope to alleviate the management complexity and allow for a vendor-neutral implementation. The purpose of this dissertation is to verify that an SDN multicast network can produce suitable paths for data flow through the network and to see if such an implementation is easier to maintain and grow. There is little literature regarding SDN for radio telescope networks; however, there is considerable work where different aspects of SDN are discussed and demonstrated for video streaming. SDN with multicast for video streaming, although simpler, forms the background research. Considerable work was put into understanding and documenting the different aspects of a radio telescope affecting the data network. The telescope network controller generates the OpenFlow rules required by the SDN controller and is a new concept introduced in this work. The telescope network controller is fitted with two placement algorithms to demonstrate its flexibility. Both algorithms are suitable for the expected workload, but they produce very different traffic patterns. The two algorithms are not compared to one another, they were created to demonstrate the ease of adding domain specific knowledge to an SDN. The telescope network controller makes it easy to introduce and use new flow placement algorithms, thus making traffic engineering feasible for the radio telescope. Complex multicast networks are easier to maintain and grow with SDN. SDN allows customised packet forwarding rules typically unattainable with standard routing and other standard network protocols and implementations. A radio telescope with a software-defined data network is resilient, easier to maintain, vendor-neutral, and possesses advanced traffic engineering mechanisms. 2023-04-21T11:58:16Z 2023-04-21T11:58:16Z 2022 2023-04-21T11:58:00Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37816 eng application/pdf Department of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment |
| spellingShingle | Electrical Engineering Slabber, Martin Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| title_full | Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| title_fullStr | Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| title_full_unstemmed | Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| title_short | Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT |
| title_sort | software defined networking for radio telescopes a case study on the applicability of sdn for meerkat |
| topic | Electrical Engineering |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37816 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT slabbermartin softwaredefinednetworkingforradiotelescopesacasestudyontheapplicabilityofsdnformeerkat |