Service-aware split point selection for user-centric mobility enhancement in SDN

IP mobility anchor works as the redirection/split point of the packet destined to the mobile terminal (MT), as well as IP address/prefix assignment and mobility binding management in the legacy mobility management protocols. In software-defined networking (SDN), the split point can be managed by the SDN controller or controller application, as the control of the network is separated from the forwarding entities. The demand of user QoE is ever increasing and they always want to get the best service continuity served in mobility management. Differentiated split point selection per service type could be one of the effective measures to enhance user QoE in a mobility management environment. In this paper, we propose a service-aware split point selection mechanism for usercentric mobility management enhancement in SDN. Specifically, we propose the mobility control architecture, which can classify service flow type and determine advantageous split point depending on a service flow type. We analyze the performance of the proposed split point selection mechanism compared to target mechanisms. We also measure the performance metrics on an ONOS-based SDN testbed to identify the superiority of the proposed mechanism.