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Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are transforming Data Center (DC), Telecom, and enterprise networking. The programmability offered by P4 enables SDN to be more protocol-independent and flexible. Data Centers are increasingly adopting SmartNICs (sNICs) to accelerate packet processing that can be leveraged to support packet processing pipelines and custom Network Functions (NFs). However, there are several challenges in integrating and deploying P4 based SDN control as well as host and sNIC-based programmable NFs. These include configuration and management of the data plane components (Host and sNIC P4 switches) for the SDN control plane and effective utilization of data plane resources. P4NFV addresses these concerns and provides a unified P4 switch abstraction framework to simplify the SDN control plane, reducing management complexities, and leveraging a host-local SDN Agent to improve the overall resource utilization. The SDN agent considers the network-wide, host, and sNIC specific capabilities and constraints. Based on workload and traffic characteristics, P4NFV determines the partitioning of the P4 tables and optimal placement of NFs (P4 actions) to minimize the overall delay and maximize resource utilization. P4NFV uses Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) based optimization formulation and achieves up to 2. 5X increase in system capacity while minimizing the delay experienced by flows. P4NFV considers the number of packet exchanges, flow size, and state dependency to minimize the delay imposed by data transmission over PCI Express interface.
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This content will become publicly available on October 28, 2026
Demystifying the Mobile Control Plane Characteristics for Ubiquitous Connectivity
The evolution of mobile networks toward ubiquitous connectivity envisioned by International Mobile Telecommunications-2030 has caused a surge in control plane traffic. A deep understanding of the control plane’s internal characteristics and mechanisms is crucial for delivering optimal services. However, existing measurements often neglect the control plane or treat it as an opaque box, focusing on overall performance instead of its intrinsic characteristics. In this paper, we introduce a 3GPP-compliant control plane evaluation framework and conduct the first in-depth analysis of the characteristics and overheads exhibited by various network functions (NFs) under large-scale connectivity conditions, based on empirical measurements. We selected three core network systems and conducted performance measurements on 500,000 User Equipment during UE registration and PDU session establishment procedures. We reveal the substantial resource demands and limited scalability of the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and the Network Repository Function (NRF). Furthermore, our analysis identifies a significant need for an enhanced state management mechanism. The insights derived from our measurements underscore the immense potential for optimization within the core network. Key optimization pathways include enhancing protocol stack processing, mitigating potential leverage-based attacks, and implementing an integrated state management framework.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2030063
- PAR ID:
- 10659099
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 610 to 627
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Mobile Networks Control Plane
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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