Enhanced gateway selection for optimal routing in a distributed Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network

The introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) has led to a proliferation of data hungry mobile devices and services. The result is a surge in mobile data traffic compelling operators to look for solutions to improve system scalability and flexibility to cope with this traffic surge. One such solution is the distribution of the EPCs data plane entities, that is, by moving them closer to the network edge. Within the EPC's standardized gateway selection framework for IP traffic routing in a distributed environment, mobility of User Equipment (UEs) with IP traffic destined to local networks leads to nonoptimal routing. Furthermore, when a UE has multiple Packet Data Network (PDN) connections which include local and central core network connections, there is a high likelihood of the occurrence of nonoptimal routing for the local connections. Such nonoptimal routing may lead to inefficient use of backhaul network resources and may further result in degradation of Quality of Service for delay sensitive applications. In this paper, we investigate and propose a solution to the nonoptimal routing problem for local IP traffic in such an environment. The testbed implementation and evaluation shows that the proposed scheme can improve the routing and ensure service quality for local IP traffic in a distributed EPC network.