SDN-controlled energy-efficient mobile fronthaul: An experimental evaluation in federated testbeds

When evolved NodeB (eNB) flexible functional split is implemented in Cloud-Radio Access Network (Cloud-RAN) 5G systems, fronthaul connectivity between the virtualized functions must be always guaranteed. This study proposes the utilization of Software Defined Networking (SDN) to control mobile fronthaul. In particular, this study investigates the ability of the SDN-based control of reconfiguring the fronthaul to maintain virtualized network function connectivity when cell and optical access turn into sleep mode (off mode) for energy efficiency purposes. The experiments in two federated testbeds show that, upon cell and optical access turning on and off, the fronthaul reconfiguration time is limited to few tens of milliseconds.