Software Defined Mobile Networks (SDMN)

9Technology Evolution in Mobile NetworksCase of Open IaaS Cloud Platforms

Antti Tolonen and Sakari Luukkainen

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

9.1 Introduction

The current upgrade of mobile networks to LTE technology is a significant technological change that might facilitate an opportunity to introduce novel complementary technologies to the networks. Mobile network operators must invest in new network solutions to remain competitive in terms of mobile data transfer speeds. However, they struggle with the increasing cost of dedicated network hardware and declining revenues. Therefore, there is a clear need for new technologies that, on the one hand, provide increased network performance and value and, on the other hand, lower the overall cost.

One proposed alternative is network function virtualization (NFV). In this approach, the network functions would be implemented in software and provided on top of cheap, generic computing and networking hardware. To support the elastic provision of the virtualized functions, private “telco clouds” are one option. Cloud computing has become the prevalent business model in IT owing to its on-demand flexibility. However, it might struggle with, for example, the latency and fault tolerance requirements of the mobile network operators accustomed to the performance of dedicated hardware.

Despite challenges, NFV and cloud computing hold promise for cost-effective provision of mobile network functions. ...