CleanG: A Clean-Slate EPC Architecture and ControlPlane Protocol for Next Generation Cellular Networks

Abstract

Cellular networks play a dominant role in how we communicate. But, the current cellular architecture and protocols are overly complex. The 'control plane' protocol includes setting up explicit tunnels for every session and exchanging a large number of packets among the different entities (mobile device, base station, the packet gateways and mobility management) to ensure state is exchanged in a consistent manner. This limits scalability. As we evolve to having to support an increasing number of users, cell-sites (e.g., 5G) and the consequent mobility, and the incoming wave of IoT devices, a re-thinking of the architecture and control protocols is required. In this work we propose CleanG, a simplified software-based architecture for the Mobile Core Network (MCN) and a simplified control protocol for cellular networks. Network Function Virtualization enables dynamic management of capacity in the cloud to support the MCN of future cellular networks. We develop a simplified protocol that substantially reduces the number of control messages exchanged to support the various events, while retaining the current functionality expected from the network. CleanG, we believe will scale better and have lower latency.