In this presentation, I will introduce Goldstone – an open-source NOS for optical packet transponder.
It utilizes many existing open source components which have been developed in Open Compute Project (OCP) and Telecom Infra Project (TIP) including Open Network Linux (ONL), SONiC, Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and Transponder Abstraction Interface (TAI) to provide a full-fledged open source solution. ONL is used as the base operating system and provides a wide range of open network device support. On top of ONL, Kubernetes is employed to enable containerized application management, which realizes flexible and modular software composition. SONiC/SAI is deployed as a fleet of containers when the target hardware comprises Ethernet switch ASIC, whereas TAI is used when the target hardware has coherent transponder components. Because of its modular architecture, Goldstone can be extended to support networking devices, which don’t have Ethernet ASIC, but may include conventional transponders, ROADMs or amplifiers in the future.

Goldstone was originally started as a prototype NOS for Edgecore’s Cassini Platform by the proposal from NTT Electronics. This has led to a production deployment by mixi in Japan.