IEEE 5GU 2014

Software Defined 5G Mobile Backhaul

Abstract:

A major challenge of future mobile networks is providing 
the needed elastic scaling to the increased traffic demand, 
number of users and applications with acceptable cost. 
Another challenge is suitability for numerous communications 
applications while curbing unwanted traffic on the air 
interface and the mobile devices. This paper proposes a 
vision of how these challenges can be met by applying the 
concept of Software Defined Networking (SDN) to mobile 
networks. We also discuss the needed migration path that 
minimizes unnecessary replacement investments. While we 
have verified some key parts of the vision with experiments, 
we realize that the effectiveness of the proposed approach 
depends on the adoption of SDN technology for other 
purposes so that mass production of SDN switches leads to 
significant economies of scale. The paper shows how we can 
model mobile networks using SDN concepts and migrate the 
3GPP mobile architecture to SDN. The resulting control 
plane of the mobile architecture consists of a group of 
SDN applications starting from the base stations i.e., 
virtual eNodeBs, Backhaul transport, Mobility management, 
Access, Caching, Monitoring, and Services delivery. The 
data plane consists of simplified access points and SDN 
and Carrier Grade Ethernet switches. Our experiments are 
based on using OpenFlow as the interface between the planes.


IEEE Library Access

@INPROCEEDINGS{Costa:5GU2014, 
author={J. Costa-Requena and R. Kantola and J. Llorente and V. Ferrer and J. Manner and A. Y. Ding and Y. Liu and S. Tarkoma}, 
booktitle={1st International Conference on 5G for Ubiquitous Connectivity}, 
title={Software defined 5G mobile backhaul}, 
year={2014}, 
pages={258-263}, 
month={Nov},}

J. Costa-Requena et al., "Software Defined 5G Mobile Backhaul," 1st International Conference on 5G for Ubiquitous Connectivity (5GU), 2014.