Software-defined networking approach for enhanced evolved packet core network

The evolved packet core (EPC) network is the mobile network standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project and represents the recent evolution of mobile networks providing high-speed data rates and on-demand connectivity services. Software-defined networking (SDN) is recently gaining momentum in network research as a new generation networking technique. An SDN-based EPC is expected to introduce gains to the EPC control plane architecture in terms of simplified, and perhaps even software-based, vendor independent infrastructure nodes. In this paper, we propose a novel SDN-based EPC architecture along with the protocol-level detailed implementation and provide a mechanism for identifying information fields exchanged between SDN-EPC entities that maintains correct functionality with minimal impact on the conventional design. Furthermore, we present the first comprehensive network performance evaluation for the SDN-based EPC versus the conventional EPC and provide a comparative analysis of 2 networks performances identifying potential bottlenecks and performance issues. The evaluation focuses on 2 network control operations, namely, the S1-handover and registration operations, taking into account several factors, and assessing performance metrics such as end-to-end delay (E2ED) for completion of the respective control operation, and EPC nodes utilization figures.