Evaluating 5G Core Service Mesh Encapsulations in Cloud Deployments

The evolution of mobile networks to be deployed as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware marks a significant advancement in the management of the Fifth Generation (5G) core network. This shift towards a software-based transformation enhances the flexibility and scalability of 5G networks, which is crucial as deployments increasingly transition to public cloud infrastructures such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Within this software-defined landscape, various mechanisms and techniques can be leveraged to facilitate the seamless management and communication of cellular core VNFs. As Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) start to invest in such cloud-based cellular core deployments, it is crucial to cultivate an understanding regarding the implications surrounding this transition. To that end, this paper introduces 5G Network Encapsulation and Control Telemetry Augmentation Resource (5G-NECTAR), a versatile measurement framework designed to encapsulate 5G core VNFs within a custom service mesh. Utilizing tools such as OpenTelemetry and Jaeger, our framework encapsulates 5G core traffic with side-car proxies, enabling detailed assessments of cloud deployments across various HTTP versions. Through comprehensive performance evaluations, we demonstrate how our design can be employed to analyze control plane overhead and the associated costs of service mesh encapsulation in cloud-based 5G core networks. Furthermore, our evaluations in AWS, provide valuable operational experience regarding cloud-based 5G core networks over different HTTP versions.