Meeting lawful interception requirements for selected IP traffic offload and local IP access traffic

Cellular network operators are dealing with the increased data requirements of their customers by attempting to offload traffic from the mobile core network. The 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards have defined several strategies that allow for offloading user traffic from the mobile core network. The 3GPP standards also define requirements for the mobile networks to support lawful interception of subscriber traffic. The current methods employed by mobile network operators to perform lawful interception are insufficient to support the traffic offload methods. This paper describes the current lawful interception landscape as well as the methods to perform traffic offload. It then proposes the architecture and methods that allow for traffic offload while satisfying law enforcement needs.