Abstract
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.