HetNet Cloud: Leveraging SDN & Cloud Computing for Wireless Access Virtualization

Cellular network traffic is growing at an exponential rate and it is predicted that the novel services of future 5G networks will demand even more data rate with varying quality of service (QoS). In this context, network operators and vendors are opting for network virtualization that will facilitate novel service provisioning while ensuring efficient resource utilization. We present a software defined networking (SDN) based cloud architecture, named HetNet Cloud, for implementing virtual heterogeneous wireless networks. We propose to utilize the spare bits of the OpenFlow packet model to facilitate implementation of virtual networks. To showcase the effectiveness of HetNet cloud model in managing virtual wireless networks, interference management and traffic offloading between two virtual heterogeneous wireless networks have been demonstrated.