OVS Meets PQ-TLS: Exploring Post-Quantum TLS for SDN's Southbound API

Abstract

Software-defined networking (SDN) is a novel networking paradigm that enables network programmability and centralized control for network devices. The southbound application programming interface (API) is used to control and manage the underlying data plane devices. The existing southbound API relies on TLS with legacy cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECDSA. In this paper, we explore the performance of the southbound API with postquantum TLS (PQ-TLS) support. We present a proof-of-concept of using PQ-TLS in SDN's southbound API. We study the performance of pure and hybrid PQ-TLS modes across different security levels and compare them with legacy TLS in terms of latency and CPU utilization. We also compare the performance of different post-quantum signature and key establishment schemes.