The softwarization and virtualization of network functions have enabled better flexibility and manageability in mobile communication systems today. However, considering the slowdown of Moore’s law, it would be critical to reduce the cost of providing data plane services in the 6G era. In this paper, we argue that by leveraging programmable network devices such as Smart Network Interface Cards (SmartNICs) and programmable switches, we can offload custom network functionalities instead of using expensive host CPU resources for data plane operations. We propose S-Core, a scalable systems design for mobile packet core harnessing network data plane offloading. S-Core operates on top of multiple heterogeneous network devices, where heavyhitter session rules can be dynamically placed in response to varying network traffic. Based on our prototype implementation, we argue that the use of programmable network devices will enable lessened CPU load, reduced latency, and improved energy efficiency in the next-gen communication systems.

https://icc2024.ieee-icc.org/program/day-1