Software-defined mobile network: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:38, 10 February 2015

Latest revision as of 13:58, 7 July 2021

(17 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Orphanuse dmy dates|date=FebruaryJuly 20152021|cs1-dates=y}}

'''Software-defined Defined Mobilemobile Networkingnetworking''' ('''SDMN''') is an approach to the design of mobile networks where all protocol-specific features are implemented in software, maximizing the use of generic and commodity hardware and software in both the [[core network]] and [[radio access network]] (RAN).

== History ==

'''Software Defined Mobile Networking''' ('''SDMN''') is an approach to the design of mobile networks where all protocol-specific features are implemented in software, maximizing the use of generic and commodity hardware and software in both the [[core network]] and [[radio access network]].

Through the 20th century, telecommunications technology was driven by hardware development, with most functions implemented in special-purpose equipment.

In the early 2000’s2000s, generally available CPU’sCPUs became cheap enough to enable commercial [[software-defined radio]] (SDR) technology and [[softswitch]]es.

SDMN extends these trends into the design of mobile networks, moving nearly all network functions into software.

The term "software-defined mobile network" first appeared in public literature in early 2014, used independently by Lime Microsystems<ref name="Lime"/><ref name="BladeRF"/> and researchers from [[University of Oulu]], Finland.<ref name="Wiley"/>

== Limitations of hardware-based mobile networks ==

Mobile networks based on special-purpose hardware suffer from the following limitations:

* They have limited provisions for upgrades and usually must be replaced entirely when new standards are introduced.

* The individual components are not scalable in terms of performance and capacity, because the capacity of a component is fixed by the hardware implementation.

* Specialized equipment and its associated specialized software require vendor-specific training for the mobile operator's staff.

* Specialized hardware systems are usually supported and serviced by a single vendor, resulting in [[vendor lock-in]].

== Characteristics of SDMN designs ==

=== Use of software-defined radio ===

[[Software defined radio]] (SDR) is an important element of SDMN, because it replaces protocol-specific radio hardware with protocol-agnostic digital transceivers.

While many earlier digital radio systems used [[Field programmable gate array|field-programmable gate arraysarray]]s (FPGAs) or special-puposedpurposed [[digital signal processorsprocessor]]s (DSPs) for calculations on baseband radio waveforms, the SDMN approach moves all of the baseband processing into general-purpose [[Centralcentral processing unit|CPUsCPU]]s.

SDMN radio systems also use hardware with publicly-documented interfaces that is designed to be readily reproducible by multiple manufacturers.

=== AdvantagesCommodity components ===

SDMN designs avoid the use of components that are specialized as to their functions or that are available from only a single vendor.

The SDMN approach has many advantages over conventional mobile network designs.

This is true of both the hardware and software elements of the network.

=== Software switching and transcoding ===

The telephony switches of SDMN networks are software-based, including software transcoding for speech codecs.

=== Centralized, distributed, or hybrid? ===

A new SDN architecture for [[wireless distribution system]]s (WDSs) is explored that eliminates the need for multi-hop flooding of route information and therefore enables WDNs to easily expand.<ref name="Lipman_2015"/> The key idea is to split network control and data forwarding by using two separate frequency bands. The forwarding nodes and the SDN controller exchange link-state information and other network control signaling in one of the bands, while actual data forwarding takes place in the other band.

== Advantages of SDMN ==

The SDMN approach has many advantages over conventionalhardware-based mobile network designs.

* Because SDMN hardware is protocol-agnostic, upgrades are software-only, even across technology generations. In the radio network, these changes can even be made on a site-by-site basis.

* Because SDMN hardware is designed to be easily sourced and reproduced:

Line 16 ⟶ 42:

** Support staff can be trained more quickly because they are already familiar with the underlying software systems.

** Many aspects of the SDMN can be monitored and managed with pre-existing tools, because they are already available in the commodity operating systems.

* Because SDMN network components run on general purpose computers, the network components can be scaled up in capacity by adding more computing power.

== History ==

Through the 20th century, telecommunications technology was driven by hardware development.

In the early 2000’s, generally available CPU’s became cheap enough to enable commercial SDR technology and [[softswitch]]es.

SDMN extends these trends into the design of mobile networks, moving nearly all network functions into software.

The term "software-defined mobile network" first appeared in public literature in early 2014, used independently by [http://www.limemicro.com Lime Microsystems] <ref>https://secure.marketwatch.com/story/lime-microsystems-bladerf-legba-partner-on-first-software-defined-mobile-network-2014-04-30 Lime Microsystems: bladeRF, Legba partner on first software defined mobile network</ref> and researchers from [[University of Oulu]], Finland.<ref>https://sites.google.com/site/callforchapterssdmn/ Call for Chapters (WILEY Publishers) Software Defined Mobile Networks (SDMN): Beyond LTE Network Architecture</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}|refs=

<ref name="Lime">http://www.limemicro.com Lime Microsystems</ref>

<ref name="BladeRF">http://secure.marketwatch.com/story/lime-microsystems-bladerf-legba-partner-on-first-software-defined-mobile-network-2014-04-30 Lime Microsystems: bladeRF, Legba partner on first software defined mobile network</ref>

<ref name="Wiley">https://sites.google.com/site/callforchapterssdmn/ Call for Chapters (WILEY Publishers) Software Defined Mobile Networks (SDMN): Beyond LTE Network Architecture</ref>

<ref name="Lipman_2015">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1109/MNET.2015.7166188 |title=Software-defined wireless networking: Centralized, distributed, or hybrid? |date=2015 |last1=Abolhasan |first1=Mehran |last2=Lipman |first2=Justin |last3=Ni |first3=Wei |last4=Hagelstein |first4=Brett |journal=IEEE Network |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=32–38}}</ref>

}}

[[Category:Telecommunications]]

{{Uncategorized|date=February 2015}}

[[Category:Telecommunications infrastructure]]

[[Category:Mobile telecommunications]]