A service-based model for the hybrid software defined wireless mesh backhaul of small cells

Jose Nunez-Martinez,Josep Mangues-Bafalluy,Jorge Baranda

doi:10.1109/cnsm.2015.7367388

Jose Nunez-Martinez, Josep Mangues-Bafalluy + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/cnsm.2015.7367388

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Publication Date: Nov 1, 2015
Citations: 15	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Centre Tecnologic De Telecomunicacions De Catalunya

Abstract

The backhaul of upcoming dense 5G Small Cell (SC) networks needs a full redesign, but there is no clear consensus on how to deploy such infrastructure. A low-cost backhaul solution is that provided by a wireless mesh network. Additionally, Software Defined Networking (SDN) is being considered as an alternative to distributed approaches to lower network infrastructure costs while enabling programmability and flexibility mostly for wired networks. This paper evolves the canonical SDN model by presenting a service-based hybrid SDN (hSDN) model that alleviates the problems caused by the unreliability of the in-band control channel formed by a wireless mesh backhaul between the SDN controller and the SCs. At the infrastructure level, we propose a wireless mesh backhaul combining sub-6GHz and millimeter wave links with long range microwave links. This architecture pursues the coexistence of network services located on top of a centralized SDN controller, with distributed network services, such as routing. To show the robustness of our proposed model, we compare a service-based hSDN model and a canonical SDN model under perfect control plane communication channel. In our service-based hSDN model, we further compare two distributed routing schemes used as fallback control plane mechanisms when the SDN controller is unreachable. Simulation results with ns-3 show improvements of up to 1.5x and 6x in terms of throughput and latency, respectively.

Highlights

The mobile data growth is expected to continue for emerging 5G networks
We propose a service-based hybrid SDN (hSDN) model [7] that combines the pure centralized Software Defined Networking (SDN) approach with a distributed control logic approach based on the robustness of existent distributed protocols
This paper presents our service-based hSDN model to manage a wireless mesh backhaul that shares the flexibility and programmability given by the canonical SDN centralized approach and the robustness of distributed control planes, offering the proper compromise between centralization and distribution of network services

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The mobile data growth is expected to continue for emerging 5G networks. Given the limited spectrum availability, reducing the cell radii by deploying extremely dense Small Cell (SC) networks, which we will refer to as DenseNet, represent and effective way to increase capacity. The main contribution of this paper is to sum the benefits of centralizing and distributing network services by presenting a service-based hybrid SDN [7] (hSDN) architecture to manage the backhaul of DenseNets. Results show the better adaptability of the service-based hSDN architecture to dynamic backhaul reconfigurations compared to the centralized SDN, showing improvements of up to 6x in terms of latency. Within a service-based hSDN architecture we compare two distributed control plane: BDN [1] and GPSR [9], a State of the Art (SoA) routing protocol for wireless networks, as fallback distributed routing mechanisms when the SDN controller is down.

THE DENSENET ARCHITECTURE

DENSENET

15 Mbps 30 Mbps 45 Mbps 60 Mbps Offered Workload

Findings

CONCLUSIONS