SODALITE: SDN Wireless Backhauling for Dense 4G/5G Small Cell Networks

Dense deployments of small cells (SCs) are key to fulfill the capacity requirements of future 5G networks. However, two roadblocks to the adoption of SCs are: 1) the limited availability and the cost of sites with wired backhaul resources and 2) the complexity to manage a dense deployment of wireless backhaul nodes. Towards these challenges we propose SODALITE, a novel system that applies software-defined networking (SDN) to a wireless backhaul network. We present, how SODALITE can be integrated to 3GPP's 4G and 5G architectures, and show the feasibility of SODALITE through LTE network testbed experiments. We substantiate the scalability of SODALITE through stochastic studies using real-life traffic traces from an LTE network and discuss the effects of cell densification and 5G system architecture on these studies. Further, a reliable backhauling solution for wireless links is introduced in SODALITE through SDN-enabled mechanisms that are capable of reconfiguring the data plane upon a link failure detection. Its reliability is shown through experiments on an LTE network testbed, and studied thoroughly via rigorous simulations and network emulator evaluations. As a result, we claim that SODALITE is a promising carrier-grade system to manage a wireless SC backhaul.