AETOS: An Architecture for Offloading Core LTE Traffic Using Software Defined Networking Concepts

Abstract

It goes without saying that cellular users of today have an insatiable appetite for bandwidth and data. Data-intensive applications, such as video on demand, online gaming and video conferencing, have gained prominence. This, coupled with recent innovations in the mobile network such as LTE/4G, poses a unique challenge to network operators in how to extract the most value from their deployments all the while reducing their Total Cost of Operations(TCO). To this end, a number of enhancements have been proposed to the ”conventional” LTE mobile network. Most of these recognize the monolithic and non-elastic nature of the mobile backend and propose complimenting core functionality with concepts borrowed from Software Defined Networking (SDN). In this thesis we shall attempt to explore some existing options within the LTE standard to mitigate large traffic churns. We will then review some SDN-enabled alternatives, and attempt to derive a proof based critique on their merits and drawbacks.