There have been continuous efforts and progress regarding
the research and development of future network technologies in recent years,
such as network virtualization and software defined networking, information
centric networking (ICN), cloud networking, autonomic management, and open
connectivity. ITU-T started working on the standardization of FNs in late 2009,
and it has developed some initial Recommendations that lay out the essential
directions for subsequent detailed work.
This article presents the background
and the context of FNs’ standardization, and the deliverables and future plans
originated from the initial standardization work performed by ITU-T.
