Evaluation of User Plane Function Implementations in Real-World 5G Networks

5G technology, the latest advancement in mobile networks, promises increased data speeds, reduced latency, and enhanced device connectivity. Within the core network lies the User Plane Function (UPF), a critical component ensuring seamless data transfer to any data network, playing a major role in breaking out the traffic from the telecommunication network. The immense data forwarding demands on the UPF have sparked extensive research and technological innovations. This paper focuses on a system evaluation of different UPF implementations in a real-world 5G environment. Specifically, we deploy and test four distinct 5G networks based on SPGWU-UPF, P4-Switch-UPF, VPP-UPF, and SmartNIC-P4-UPF using the OpenAirInterface 5G framework. Through rigorous testing, we found that while the P4-UPFs outperformed in terms of throughput and packet loss, the VPP-UPF, a DPDK solution, showed promise in latency performance and cost-effectiveness, despite its higher CPU consumption. This study offers valuable insights into the operational challenges and benefits of various UPF implementations in real-world scenarios.