Applying hybrid SDN in LTE/EPC architecture using OpenFlow and NetFlow concepts

Virtualization of wireless networks has received more and more research attention. In order to reduce the investment of mobile network operators and to improve the network performance, LTE (Long Term Evolution) virtualization is one important study cases in the scope of wireless virtualization. To investigate the advantages of virtualization on the LTE air interface. As we know Cloud computing is an operation model that integrates many technological advancements of the last decade such as virtualization. In our previous work; we analyzed the 3GPP LTE/EPC architecture and showed that a redesign of this architecture is needed to suit future network usages and to provide new revenue generating services. Moreover, we proposed a new concept with a new control plane based on the OpenFlow (OF) protocol and NetFlow (NF) technology for the LTE/EPC architecture that enables flexibility, programmability aspects and monitoring with deep content intelligence, extending capability to remote locations and forwarding. In this paper, we are interested in the NetFlow aspect that used to build up feedback control systems that optimize performance, automatically adapting the network to meet changing demands and presents the analysis to the network administrator in a variety of ways such as charts, dashboards, and thresholds. In addition, we evaluate the performance of our proposed architecture and compare it to that of 3GPP LTE/EPC architecture.