Rule caching in SDN-enabled mobile access networks

An SDN enabled mobile access network is a future network with great potential to support scalable and flexible network applications. To support various network applications, the SDN-enabled mobile access network usually uses forwarding rules in SDN devices. With a limited rule space in existing SDN devices, a rule caching mechanism is an efficient way to improve network performance. In this article we propose SRCMN, which is a new caching structure to improve network performance with a limited rule space in the SDN-enabled mobile access network. We design a two-layer rule space in each SDN device, which is managed by the SDN controller. We also design a cache prefetching mechanism with the consideration of user mobility. By conducting extensive simulations, we demonstrate that our proposed structure and mechanism significantly outperform original rule space management under various network settings.