Network Virtualization and Direct Ethernet Transport for Packet Data Network Connections in 5G Wireless

Current mobile networks employ tunneling in packet data network connections to provide a point-to-point layer 2 construct that supports various connection management functions including QoS, charging, mobility management and health checks. Typically, the transport of these connections is a UDP/IP tunneling protocol which in turn runs over a backhaul transport network like MPLS. A simplified transport is proposed here to directly use Ethernet to carry these packet data network connections. It takes advantage of technology advances with routed Ethernet, and in virtualization of network functions with centralized control and distributed data planes.