Enabling network programmability in LTE/EPC architecture using OpenFlow

Nowadays, mobile operators face the challenge to sustain the future data tsunami. In fact, today´s increasing data and control traffic generated by new kinds of network usage puts strain on mobile operators´, without creating any corresponding equivalent revenue. 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 control plane based on the OpenFlow (OF) protocol for the LTE/EPC architecture that enables flexibility and programmability aspects. In this paper, we are interested in the programmability aspect. We show how the data plane can be easily configured thanks to OF. In addition, we evaluate the signaling load of our proposed architecture and compare it to that of 3GPP LTE/EPC architecture. The preliminary findings suggest that managing the data plane with OF has little impact on the signaling load while the network programmability is improved.