SDN-Based Mobile Data Offloading Scheme Using a Femtocell and WiFi Networks

Abstract

Because of the many applications running on smartphones, the load of mobile data traffic on cellular networks is increasing rapidly. A femtocell is a solution to increase the cellular network capacity and coverage. However, because it uses the same frequency bands as a macrocell, interference problems have prevented its widespread adoption. In this paper, we propose a scheme for traffic offloading between femtocells and WiFi networks utilizing software-defined networking (SDN) technology. In the proposed offloading scheme, the SDN technology allows a terminal to maintain existing sessions after offloading through a centralized control of the SDN-based equipment. We also propose an offloading target selection scheme based on available bandwidth estimation and an association control mechanism to reduce the femtocell load while ensuring quality of service (QoS) in terms of throughput. Experimental results on an actual testbed showed that the proposed offloading scheme provides seamless connectivity and reduces the femtocell load by up to 46% with the aid of the proposed target selection scheme, while ensuring QoS after offloading. We also observed that the proposed target selection scheme offloads 28% more traffic to WiFi networks compared to received signal strength indicator-based target selection in a low background traffic environment.