Mobile Core Network Research Articles

Automated orchestration of virtualized deployments of mobile core networks

Given the ongoing process of softwarization and virtualization of communications networks, including 5G and beyond 5G (B5G), automation has become an inevitable part of network deployment. Ensuring a robust, efficient, and zero-touch deployment process is expected to drive the advancement of B5G and 6G technologies. Automation will become increasingly critical because of increasing complexity and requirements on dynamic provisioning of these networks. A well-designed automation process can streamline the deployment of private mobile networks for Industry 4.0 or on-demand networks for mass events, ensuring efficient video signal transmission and reducing the need for physical wiring. This paper presents a Proof-of-Concept testbed tailored for the automated orchestration of virtualized deployment of a 5G mobile core network, along with insights into potential challenges and solutions. Furthermore, we compare two open-source core network implementations in terms of feasibility for virtualization, automation and performance of user plane (delay, throughput) and control plane (user equipment registration time and PDU session establishment time). We evaluate the performance of automated deployment of 5G core network locally in the testbed and based on the results we propose enhancements that reduce deployment time by 40% on average for one of the implementations. We also present the process and necessary tools to automatically orchestrate deployment of a virtualized 5G core network in a cloud infrastructure. Finally, we performed preliminary performance assessments of the automation process in the proposed cloud-based deployment.

Prospects on the adoption of a microservice-based architecture in 5G systems and beyond

The increasing softwarisation of mobile core network functions is fostering the evolution of the mobile network architecture itself, which in its fifth generation (5G) has moved towards a service provider/consumer framework and service-based interfaces. Moreover, the 5G architecture is suitable for the exploitation of the mobile technology for dedicated, non-public uses as an alternative to nation-wide deployments. The 5G core networks are a crucial part of this architectural paradigm shift, which aims at closing the gap between the telecommunications domain and the information technology world at large. The objective of this article is to discuss the adoption of software design concepts like microservices and cloud-nativeness in the context of mobile networks. Specifically, we will (i) advocate the need for a non-trivial adaptation of the 5G core network and a redesign of its functions into a microservice-based architecture, (ii) identify an approach to achieve this objective and put it into practice by decomposing three exemplary network functions, both theoretically and practically, in microservices in charge of distinct responsibilities, and (iii) propose ways forward towards the adoption and further extension of these concepts in beyond-5G mobile systems.

Fuzzy-based Misbehavior Detection for Internet of Things in Multi-access Edge Computing Environment

Today, an emerging paradigm of edge computing, called Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC), is widely used in a broad range of applications. MEC has been recently used as a driving technology for 5G networks. However, MEC encompasses some security problems, such as communicating with untrusted third-party service providers commonly known as location-based service (LBS) providers. In this paper, we propose a novel fuzzy-based misbehavior detection system for Internet of Things (IoT) in a 5G-based MEC environment to solve the previous problems. Our proposed system is comprised of a multi-tier architecture that is linked by IoT gateways and mobile core network. In our architecture, we employ a novel mechanism that embeds a security entity called Regional Certificate Authority in a 5G macro base station. This security entity acts as a passport for the IoT gateway to communicate with other security entities present in our system that are located in the core infrastructure. Besides that, our system utilizes a distributed certificate revocation mechanism for malicious LBS providers via simultaneously updating the internal blocklists employed by more than one system entity. In addition, we adopt in our architecture a novel penalty system for malicious LBS providers, which is used for penalizing providers in case proved to be malicious as well as actively isolating them from the network. On the other hand, our system provides conditional anonymity for the incident’s reporter. Also, we present various security features maintained by the proposed system to thwart well-known attacks as well as we demonstrate efficiency and robustness of our system. Finally, we provide the overhead of our system and compare it with other state-of-the-art approaches where results show that the proposed system relatively incurs the least overhead.

MVNOCoreSim: A Digital Twin for Virtualized IoT-Centric Mobile Core Networks

The rapid growth of connected devices has led to the implementation of IoT-centric platforms designed to provide connectivity for machine-to-machine type communication. Specifically, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) provide global service for IoT use cases by leveraging roaming in readily deployed physical networks. This global deployment of connected devices poses a significant challenge regarding the operation of centralized core networks with respect to dimensioning, scaling as well as system survivability in case of signaling incidents. Overload control mechanisms for IoT mobile networks offer a proactive solution for mitigating excessive signaling traffic from IoT devices in mobile core networks. However, global scaling and a heterogeneous composition of devices present network operators with additional challenges. To address these challenges, this work presents a detailed, protocol level simulation framework of a real-world IoT MVNO core network. We present both models for the expected IoT signaling load and the processing of signaling messages based on measurements in a live, production environment as well as a dedicated testbed. Finally, we present a case study on various overload mechanisms and identify critical performance characteristics to compare their performance. The results of this study categorize overload control mechanisms and shed light on the necessity for MVNOs to deal with the upcoming IoT traffic by defining appropriate overload control mechanisms in mobile core networks to ensure network survivability under unforeseen conditions.

Data Placement and Transmission Scheduling for coded multicast in mobile edge networks

Edge caching is a promising strategy to reduce the traffic load in mobile core networks, by caching popular contents at the edge of mobile networks, e.g., base stations (BSs). For the BSs to transmit data to user equipment (UEs), coded multicast can be used to improve the transmission efficiency. Moreover, in future densely deployed networks, the coverage areas of adjacent BSs are overlapped. Therefore, these cache-aided BSs can collaboratively carry out coded multicast to improve the performance of data transmission. In this paper, we consider the Data Placement and Transmission Scheduling (DPTS) problem for cached-aided coded multicast in mobile edge networks. Our objective is to minimize the total cost of data download from the data source to BSs and data transmission from the BSs to UEs. The DPTS problem is proved to be NP-hard and we first propose an Iterative Relaxation Linear Programming (IRLP) algorithm to solve it. Since the complexity of IRLP algorithm is high, we also propose another two low-complexity algorithms to solve the DPTS problem. Performance evaluation by simulation shows that the proposed algorithms can achieve a substantial reduction in total cost of data download and transmission, compared with the existing methods.

Cooperative caching strategy based mobile vehicle social‐aware in internet of vehicles

AbstractThe dramatic growth of smart in‐vehicle applications in the Internet of Vehicles and the increasing quality of experience for vehicle users have put a huge traffic load on the mobile core network. Mobile edge caching has been proposed to place content at the edge of the network to serve users in close proximity to them. However, the dynamic topology of existing edge networks and the inherent storage limitations of edge devices pose a serious challenge to vehicular edge caching. Therefore, in this article, we propose a cooperative caching strategy based on mobile prediction and social awareness that allows collaborative content decision making among edge devices. Specifically, the long short‐term memory network is used to predict vehicle trajectories, social relationships are computed using content similarity and contact rates among vehicle users to select vehicles that can serve as caching nodes, and deep reinforcement learning is employed to achieve the final caching decision. Simulation results show that the caching strategy proposed in this article achieves up to 7.7%, 24.2%, and 27.3% gains, respectively, in terms of content acquirement delay compared to the reinforcement learning algorithm, the algorithm without considering mobility, and the non‐cooperative algorithm.

HCOME: Research on Hybrid Computation Offloading Strategy for MEC Based on DDPG

With the growth of the Internet of Things, smart devices are subsequently generating a large number of computation-intensive and latency-sensitive tasks. Mobile edge computing can provide resources in close proximity, greatly reducing service latency and alleviating congestion in mobile core networks. Due to the instability of the mobile edge computing environment, it was difficult to guarantee the quality of service for users. To address this problem, a hybrid computation offloading framework based on Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) in IoT is proposed. The framework is a system consisting of edge servers and user devices. It is used to acquire the environment state through Software Defined Network technologies and generate the offloading strategy by Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient. The optimization objectives in this paper include the total system overhead of the mobile edge computing system, and considering both network load and computational load, an optimal offloading strategy can be obtained to enable users to obtain a better quality of service. Finally, the experimental results show that the algorithm outperforms the comparison algorithm and can reduce the system latency by 20%, while the network load and computational load are also more stable.

Improved flat mobile core network architecture for 5G mobile communication systems

The current mobile network core is built based on a centralized architecture, including the S-GW and P-GW entities to serve as mobility anchors. Nevertheless, this architecture causes non-optimal routing and latency for control messages. In contrast, the fifth generation (5G) network will redesign the network service architecture to improve changeover management and deliver clients a better Quality-of-Experience (QoE). To enhance the design of the existing network, a distributed 5G core architecture is introduced in this study. The control and data planes are distinct, and the core network also combines IP functionality anchored in a multi-session gateway design. We also suggest a control node that will fully implement the control plane and result in a flat network design. Its architecture, therefore, improves data delivery, mobility, and attachment speed. The performance of the proposed architecture is validated by improved NS3 simulation to run several simulations, including attachment and inter- and intra-handover. According to experimental data, the suggested network is superior in terms of initial attachment, network delay, and changeover management.

XURLLC in 6G with meshed RAN

5G Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications Technology (URLLC) will not be able to provide extremely reliable low latency services to the complex networks in 6G. Moreover, URLLC that began with 5G has to be refined and improved in 6G to provide xURLCC (extreme URLCC) with sub-millisecond latency, for supporting diverse mission-critical applications. This paper aims to highlight the importance of peer-to-peer mesh connectivity for services that require xURLLC. Deploying mesh connectivity among RAN nodes would add significant value to the current 5G New Radio (5G NR) enabling 6G to increase flexibility and reliability of the networks while reducing the inherent latency introduced by the core network. To provide a mesh connectivity in RAN, the nodes should be able to communicate with each other directly and be independent from the mobile core network so that data can be directly exchanged between base stations (gNBs) whereas certain aspects of signalling procedure including data session establishment will be managed by RAN itself. In this paper, we introduce several architectural choices for a mesh network topology that could potentially be crucial to a number of applications. In addition, three possible options to create mesh connectivity in RAN are provided, and their pros and cons are discussed in detail.

On Sustained Zero Trust Conceptualization Security for Mobile Core Networks in 5G and Beyond

The rapid increase in data traffic is forcing mobile network operators to enhance and expand their network infrastructure to meet the new requirements of customers’ Service Level Agreements (SLA). Network Function Virtualization (NFV) provides abstractions of core network functions from the vendor-specific hardware. This allows the network functions to move around the cloud, providing better performance and scaling capabilities. However, deploying virtualized mobile core network in the cloud environment opens many security concerns not only regarding communication between the Radio Access Network (RAN) and the mobile core network but also within the core network itself. In this paper, we propose a framework called virtual Evolved Packet Core - virtual Software Defined Perimeter (vEPC-vSDP) to provide secure communications within the mobile core network by using an authentication-based approach. The SDP components are virtualized and placed within the virtualized core network to provide a zero-trust environment where only authenticated and authorized core network elements can have access to one another. The analysis of the proposed vEPC-vSDP framework confirms its ability to shield the core network traffic from both external and internal attacks. The vEPC-vSDP framework was implemented and tested against Denial of Service (DoS), Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and port scanning attacks to demonstrate the resilience of the proposed framework. The results show the capability of vEPC-vSDP to provide secure communication path to mobile core network elements.

Probabilistic Analysis of Operating Modes in Cache-Enabled Full-Duplex D2D Networks

Cache-enabled Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, recognized as one of the key enablers of the fifth generation (5G) cellular network, are a promising solution for reducing the great burden on mobile core networks and backhaul links. Caching, however, imposes a new networking user Key Performance Index (KPI), which is the probability of user satisfaction. In other words, how likely is it that the user will obtain the necessary information from the network? Such probability depends on the type of transmission, (i.e., half duplex or full duplex) and on many elements related to the caching system, including the way the information is cached or the popularity of the cached information. The analysis of those elements produces different modes of operation. To evaluate the new KPI, the probabilities of each mode of operation must be extracted from the transmission and caching conditions. This paper presents a thorough analysis of those probabilities, including the relevance of the relationship between caching policies, content popularity and transmission types. Such relationships allow the smooth evaluation of user satisfaction under different conditions.

Power Grid Multi-protocol Network Topology Based on Data Exchange Strategy

With the combination of Internet of Things technology and smart grid, there are more and more application scenarios of Internet of Things in power system, which makes the whole power system more informationized and intelligent. In this paper, an intelligent data switching technology for power communication network based on multi-protocol label is proposed. The link structure model of mobile core network is constructed, and the TDMA protocol of the multi-protocol intelligent data switching node is designed by using route detection method. The dynamic routing decision and node rotation scheduling of the mobile core network are realized, and the intelligent data exchange performance is improved. Finally, the simulation experiment of the intelligent data exchange protocol is carried out, and the comparative experiment between the proposed method and other methods is carried out, which shows the superior performance of the proposed method in improving the intelligent data exchange capability of the mobile core network.

Demonstration of a Hybrid Analog–Digital Transport System Architecture for 5G and Beyond Networks

In future mobile networks, the evolution of optical transport architectures enabling the flexible, scalable interconnection of Baseband Units (BBUs) and Radio Units (RUs) with heterogeneous interfaces is a significant issue. In this paper, we propose a multi-technology hybrid transport architecture that comprises both analog and digital-Radio over Fiber (RoF) mobile network segments relying on a dynamically reconfigurable optical switching node. As a step forward, the integration of the discussed network layout into an existing mobile infrastructure is demonstrated, enabling the support of real-world services through both standard digital and Analog–Intermediate- Frequency over Fiber (A-IFoF)-based converged fiber–wireless paths. Emphasis has been placed on the implementation of a real-time A-IFoF transceiver that is employed through a single embedded fully programmable gateway array (FPGA)-based platform that serves as an Ethernet to Intermediate Frequency (IF) bridge for the transmission of legacy traffic over the analog network segment. The experimental evaluation of the proposed concept was based on the dynamic optical routing of the legacy Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), 1.5 GBaud analog-intermediate frequency-over-fiber (A-IFoF)/mmWave and 10 Gbps binary optical waveforms, showing acceptable error vector magnitude (EVM) values for the complex radio waveforms and error-free operation for binary optical streams, with Bit Error Rate (BER) values less than 10−9. Finally, the end-to-end proof-of-concept demonstration of the proposed solution was achieved through the delivery of 4K video streaming and Internet Protocol (IP) calls over a mobile core network.

A Software-Defined Networking Solution for Interconnecting Network Functions in Service-Based Architectures

Mobile core networks handle critical control functions for delivering services in modern cellular networks. Traditional point-to-point architectures, where network functions are directly connected through standardized interfaces, are being substituted by service-based architectures (SBAs), where core functionalities are finer-grained microservices decoupled from the underlying infrastructure. In this way, network functions and services can be distributed, with scaling and fail-over mechanisms, and can be dynamically deployed, updated, or removed to support slicing. A myriad of network functions can be deployed or removed according to traffic flows, thereby increasing the complexity of connection management. In this context, 3GPP Release 16 defines the service communication proxy (SCP) as a unified communication interface for a set of network functions. In this paper, we propose a novel software-defined networking (SDN)-based solution with the same role for a service mesh architecture where network functions can be deployed anywhere in the infrastructure. We demonstrated its efficiency in comparison with alternative architectures.

Correction to: Network Functions Virtualization for Mobile Core and Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Correction to: Network Functions Virtualization for Mobile Core and Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Energy efficiency through joint routing and function placement in different modes of SDN/NFV networks

Network function virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) are two promising technologies to enable 5G and 6G services and achieve cost reduction, network scalability, and deployment flexibility. However, migration to full SDN/NFV networks in order to serve these services is a time-consuming process and costly for mobile operators. This paper focuses on energy efficiency during the transition of mobile core networks (MCN) to full SDN/NFV networks and explores how energy efficiency can be addressed during such migration. We propose a general system model containing a combination of legacy nodes and links, in addition to newly introduced NFV and SDN nodes. We refer to this system model as partial SDN and hybrid NFV MCN, which can cover different modes of SDN and NFV implementations. Based on this framework, we formulate energy efficiency by considering joint routing and function placement in the network. Since this problem belongs to the class of non-linear integer programming problems, to solve it efficiently, we present a modified Viterbi algorithm (MVA) based on multi-stage graph modeling and a modified Dijkstra’s algorithm. We simulate this algorithm for a number of network scenarios with different fractions of NFV and SDN nodes and evaluate how much energy can be saved through such transition. Simulation results confirm the expected performance of the algorithm, which saves up to 70% energy compared to a network where all nodes are always on. Interestingly, the amount of energy saved by the proposed algorithm in the case of hybrid NFV and partial SDN networks can reach up to 60%–90% of the saved energy in full NFV/SDN networks.

Network Functions Virtualization for Mobile Core and Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Network Functions Virtualization for Mobile Core and Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Evaluation of Routing Performance using OSPF and Multi-Controller Based Network Architecture

Newer mobile applications are increasingly being defined using Internet Protocol, resulting in increased use of Internet Protocol and subsequent upsurge of smartphones. However, many communication service provider core networks continue to use classical routing protocols and single controller-based networks if deployed. Controller-based networks built on the foundation of software-defined networks include centralization and separation of control plane and data plane, which can address the challenges experienced with the classical routing protocols. When single controllers are used, they tend to get overloaded with traffic. The ability to use multi-controller-based network architecture to improve quality of service in the mobile IP core network is still an open issue. This paper presents a performance evaluation of multi-controller-based network architecture, running OpenFlow and Open Shortest Path First protocol. The long-term evolution simulated network architecture is created using well-known network simulator Objective Modular Network Testbed running OpenFlow and simuLTE add-on. We test and analyze data traffic for Packet data ratio and Jitter and their associated effects on a multi-controller-based network running OpenFlow versus OSPF on a mobile core network. The experiment created two topologies; multi controller-based and Open Shortest path first network. Video and ping traffic is tested by the generation of traffic from User Equipment to the network-based server in the data center and back, and traffic metrics recorded on an inbuilt integrated development environment. The simulation setup consisted of an OpenFlow controller, HyperFlow algorithm, OpenFlow switches, and Open Shortest Path First routers. The multi-controller-based network improved Jitter by 10 ms. The Open Shortest Path first showed packet data ratio values of 89% gain while the controller-based network registered a value of 86%. A standard deviation test revealed 0.7%, which shows that the difference is not significant when testing for Packet data ratio. We provided insight into the performance of multi-controller-based architecture and Open Shortest Path First protocol in the communication service provider's core network.

A Comprehensive Review on Edge Caching from the Perspective of Total Process: Placement, Policy and Delivery

With the explosive growth of smart devices and mobile applications, mobile core networks face the challenge of exponential growth in traffic and computing demand. Edge caching is one of the most promising solutions to the problem. The main purpose of edge caching is to place popular content that users need at the edge of the network, borrow free space to reduce user waiting time, and lighten the network load by reducing the amount of duplicate data. Due to the promising advantages of edge caching, there have been many efforts motivated by this topic. In this paper, we have done an extensive survey on the existing work from our own perspectives. Distinguished from the existing review articles, our work not only investigates the latest articles in this area, but more importantly, covers all the researches of the total process of edge caching from caching placement optimization, policy design, to the content delivery process. In particular, we discuss the benefits of caching placement optimization from the perspective of different stakeholders, detail the delivery process, and conduct in-depth discussions from the five phases, i.e., requested content analysis, user model analysis, content retrieval, delivery, and update. Finally, we put forward several challenges and potential future directions, and hope to bring some ideas for the follow-up researches in this area.

An Intelligent Offloading System Based on Multiagent Reinforcement Learning

Intelligent vehicles have provided a variety of services; there is still a great challenge to execute some computing-intensive applications. Edge computing can provide plenty of computing resources for intelligent vehicles, because it offloads complex services from the base station (BS) to the edge computing nodes. Before the selection of the computing node for services, it is necessary to clarify the resource requirement of vehicles, the user mobility, and the situation of the mobile core network; they will affect the users’ quality of experience (QoE). To maximize the QoE, we use multiagent reinforcement learning to build an intelligent offloading system; we divide this goal into two suboptimization problems; they include global node scheduling and independent exploration of agents. We apply the improved Kuhn–Munkres (KM) algorithm to node scheduling and make full use of existing edge computing nodes; meanwhile, we guide intelligent vehicles to the potential areas of idle computing nodes; it can encourage their autonomous exploration. Finally, we make some performance evaluations to illustrate the effectiveness of our constructed system on the simulated dataset.