Dispatching PACKET_INs to the right SDN control application via context interpretation in Mobile Core Networks

Abstract

Telco operators started to apply the SDN technologies also in the design of Mobile Core Networks (MCNs). In this change towards SDNized Mobile Core Network, it is crucial to understand how conventional interfaces among different mobile network entities should evolve. The issues derived from this change have not been tackled by current research approaches. This paper presents the first initiative to close this research gap. We tackle the key problem of how to identify which mobile SDN applications (APPs) should be invoked once a PACKET_IN (the OpenFlow message that transport information from the data plane to the control plane) is received at the control level. We propose data structures, a model, and detailed examples of three important PACKET_IN context interpretation for MCNs. Initial experiments, based on Floodlight controller and Mininet emulation environment were carried out. The results indicate that it is feasible to use our proposed approach to dispatch PACKET_INs to the right SDN APP. The delay introduced due to invocation of such mechanism to interpret the context of the PACKET_IN and activate the appropriate mobile SDN APPs is only in the order of microseconds. Our proposal can be used to simplify current Mobile Core Network interface design by exploiting the SDN mechanisms. We believe, this work helps to pave the way towards fully SDNized Mobile Core Networks.