Open Networking Foundation appoints Huawei’s

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF), a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of open Software-Defined Networking (SDN), has announced the appointment of Dr. Serge Manning, senior manager for corporate standards at Huawei, as the chairperson of the ONF Wireless and Mobile Working Group. This new Working Group was created to to collect use cases and determine architectural and protocol requirements for extending OpenFlow™-based technologies to wireless and mobile domains.

“Serge brings decades of telecommunications experience to his position as chair of our Wireless and Mobile Working Group,” said Dan Pitt, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation. “His expertise and the work of this new Group will be important as we more deeply engage with wireless and mobile operators around the globe. With the exponential growth of mobile data, there is an inherent need to simultaneously operate over multiple wireless technologies. By studying the open SDN requirements of wireless and mobile networks, OpenFlow and related ONF endeavors can be enhanced to bring even greater benefit to this space.”

A function of the Wireless and Mobile Working Group will be to collect, merge, and refine use cases for wireless and mobile network use of open SDN technology. The goal is to propose common ground architectural frameworks that will encompass different elements of OpenFlow-based or OpenFlow-oriented wireless and mobile network domains. Already the group has created three projects, related to the mobile packet core, wireless backhaul, and integrated fixed/wireless operation in the enterprise. The Working Group is designed to help foster the adoption of OpenFlow and SDN technologies by the wireless and mobile worlds making possible new kinds of innovative solutions while improving the speed at which products keep pace with future market demands.

“I look forward to working closely with other technical Working Groups within ONF to expand carrier and operator knowledge of the benefits of SDN for their networks,” said Dr. Manning. “Standards such as OpenFlow are highly applicable to wireless and mobile networks, even though there has not been a wide exploration of the specific needs and requirements of these networks to date. That is why we were created.”

During Dr. Manning’s more than two decades in the telecommunications industry, he has held a variety of positions within both the vendor and operator communities, including software development, systems architecture, implementation of technical standards, and technology evaluation. An active ONF participant, Dr. Manning contributes to the Market Education Committee (MEC), and he co-authored the ONF solution brief titled “OpenFlow Enabled Mobile and Wireless Networks.”