Extending SDN to End Nodes Towards Heterogeneous Wireless Mobility

The connectivity capabilities of mobile wireless devices have been forever changing how networks operate, increasingly demanding resources from the network. This places a need for novel mobile network architectures and mechanisms, targeting tomorrows challenges, as envisaged by 5G networks research efforts. This paper sheds a light on an important 5G aspect, namely the interaction of the mobile node with the network for the optimization of mobility processes, defining a concept framework where Software Defined Networking (SDN) reaches the end device. In this way, SDN protocols such as OpenFlow are extended with mobility management capabilities, where the mobile terminal can provide details about perceived connectivity targets and conditions, and the controller is able to enforce necessary changes to data flows all the way to the terminal node. This framework was experimentally evaluated in a physical wireless testbed, with results showcasing its feasibility in a mobile offloading scenario.