A Survey of Existing Testbeds for Programmable Networks

Abstract

Toward the delivery of the network as a service, network softwarization and virtualization are considered as compelling enablers. Numerous testbeds worldwide are gradually evolving into programmable experimentation platforms, which offer the researchers a plethora of tools and enablers for flexible and adaptive experimentation, high degree of control, automated setup, and programmable elements in different portions and of the network. This work initially introduces the architectural principles, key design characteristics, and capabilities of such testbeds; afterward, it provides a comprehensive survey of the existing testbed facilities for programmable networks, categorized based on their primary scope. Software‐defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV), SDR, network slicing, cloud and/or multiple access computing (MEC), and IoT technologies are correlated with the analyzed testbeds offering a complete taxonomy of the existing solutions. A discussion on open challenges concludes this work.