A survey of low-latency transmission strategies in software defined networking

Abstract Software-defined networking (SDN), as a revolutionary networking paradigm, provides a new solution for future network development and equipment manufacturing by separating the control plane from the data plane to make the management model more simple and efficient. However, in the era of Industry 4.0 and Big Data, data transmission latency is beginning to replace traditional performance requirements, such as stability and flexibility, as the primary design consideration for network applications and users with more stringent end-to-end latency. Especially the high latency in the delivery of key information not only makes it difficult to provide high-quality services, but also restricts the development of high-tech industries such as the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and the Internet of Things (IoT) severely. In this paper, with the goal of low-latency communication under the SDN architecture, we review and analyze relevant technologies and research findings in terms of traffic management, congestion control, load balancing, and flow table management in SDN. In addition, the contributions of some of the currently popular emerging network technologies to SDN low latency communications are listed for discussion. Finally, attention is given to the challenges that remain to be addressed and the next research trends for a promising way forward. This paper aims to provide interested researchers with insights to promote their ongoing research in low-latency communications, so as to obtain more achievements.