Future cellular networks will be dense and require key traffic management technologies for fine-grained network control. The problem gets more complicated in the presence of different network segments with bottleneck links limiting the desired quality of service (QoS) delivery to the last mile user. In this work, we first design a framework for software-defined cellular networks and then propose new mechanisms for management of QoS and non-QoS users traffic considering both access and backhaul networks, jointly. The overall SDN-LTE system and related approaches are developed and tested using network simulator in different network environments. Especially, when the users are non-uniformly distributed, the results shows that compared to other approaches, the proposed load distribution algorithm enables at least 6 and 23 increase in the average QoS user downlink throughput and the aggregate throughput of 40 users with lowest throughput (edge users), respectively. Also, the proposed system efficiently achieves desired QoS and handles the network congestion without incurring significant overhead.
Among the initial efforts for programmable cellular networks, @cite_30 presents a SDCN design considering both the access and backhaul networks, simultaneously. Another recent work in @cite_11 studies the impact of joint access-backhaul on mobility management solutions in 5G networks. Specifically for various QoS flows, different schemes can be used during cell selection based on the number of hops and the available links capacities. @cite_7 presents a three tier SDN-based LTE network design for efficient mobility management. The results shows a significant delay reduction due to reduced signaling during handover event, however it lacks implementation on a system-level LTE simulator that enables to explore further benefits from the resulting integration.
@cite_30 @cite_7 @cite_11
2518348455 2234862916 1609627895 2963268335
The growing data traffic demand is forcing network operators to deploy more base stations, culminating in dense heterogeneous networks that require a high-connectivity backhaul. This scenario imposes significant challenges for current and future cellular networks, and Software Defined Networking (SDN) has been pointed as an enabling technology to overcome existing limitations. This paper shows how the OpenFlow protocol can be integrated into existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks to provide the required Quality of Service (QoS) in the network infrastructure. Three OpenFlow-based mechanisms are proposed: a traffic routing, an admission control function, and a traffic coexistence mechanism. Together, they can effectively control the bandwidth usage in the backhaul infrastructure, improving the QoS and ensuring a better user experience. Simulations were performed to validate the proposed mechanisms and highlight the benefits that can be achieved with the flexibility offered by the SDN technology. Heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) are emerging as a promising candidate for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network. With base stations (BSs) of small cells densely deployed, the cost-effective, flexible, and green backhaul solution has become one of the most urgent and critical challenges. With vast amounts of spectrum available, wireless backhaul in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band is able to provide transmission rates of several gigabits per second. The mmWave backhaul utilizes beamforming to achieve directional transmission, and concurrent transmissions under low interlink interference can be enabled to improve network capacity. To achieve an energy-efficient solution for mmWave backhauling, we first formulate the problem of minimizing the energy consumption via concurrent transmission scheduling and power control into a mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP). Then, we develop an energy-efficient and practical mmWave backhauling scheme, which consists of the maximum independent set (MIS)-based scheduling algorithm and the power control algorithm. We also theoretically analyze the conditions that our scheme reduces energy consumption, as well as the choice of the interference threshold. Through extensive simulations under various traffic patterns and system parameters, we demonstrate the superior performance of our scheme in terms of energy efficiency and analyze the choice of the interference threshold under different traffic loads, BS distributions, and the maximum transmission power. Small cell networks have been broadly regarded as an imperative evolution path for the next-generation cellular networks. Dense small cell deployments will be connected to the core network by heterogeneous backhaul technologies such as fiber, microwave, high frequency wireless solutions, etc., which have their inherent limitations and impose big challenges on the operation of radio access network to meet the increasing rate demands in future networks. To address these challenges, this paper presents an efficient design considered in the iJOIN (Interworking and JOINt Design of an Open Access and Backhaul Network Architecture for Small Cells based on Cloud Networks) project with the objective of jointly optimizing backhaul and radio access network operations through the adoption of SDN (Software Defined Networking). Furthermore, based on this framework, the implementation of several intelligent management functions, including mobility management, network-wide energy optimization and data center placement, is demonstrated. The ongoing efforts in the research, development and standardization of 5G, by both industry and academia, have resulted in the identification of enablers (Software Defined Networks, Network Function Virtualization, Distributed Mobility Management, etc.) and critical areas (Mobility management, Interference management, Joint access-backhaul mechanisms, etc.) that will help achieve the 5G objectives. During these efforts, it has also been identified that the 5G networks, due to their high degree of heterogeneity, high QoS demand and the inevitable density (both in terms of access points and users), will need to have efficient joint backhaul and access mechanisms as well as enhanced mobility management mechanisms in order to be effective, efficient and ubiquitous. Therefore, in this paper, we first provide a discussion on the evolution of the backhaul scenario, and the necessity for joint access and backhaul optimization. Subsequently, and since mobility management mechanisms can entail the availability, reliability and heterogeneity of the future backhaul fronthaul networks as parameters in determining the most optimal solution for a given context, a study with regards to the effect of future backhaul fronthaul scenarios on the design and implementation of mobility management solutions in 5G networks has been performed.