Patent ID: 8762501

Claim:
A method for implementing a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunnel protocol (GTP) in a packet core (PC) of a third generation (3G) network having a split architecture where a control plane of the PC of the 3G network is in a cloud computing system, the cloud computing system including a controller, the control plane to communicate with the data plane of the PC through a control plane protocol, the data plane implemented in a plurality of network elements of the 3G network separate from the cloud computing system, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request by the controller to create a GTP tunnel in the PC of the 3G network between a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) for a subscriber session, the controller to execute a plurality of control plane modules that manage the data plane of the plurality of network elements via the control plane protocol; configuring a switch implementing a data plane of the SGSN, via the control protocol, to encapsulate and decapsulate packets of the subscriber session and to establish a first GTP tunnel endpoint; configuring at least one switch in a route of the GTP tunnel, via the control plane protocol, to forward packets of the subscriber session according to the GTP tunnel; and configuring a switch implementing a data plane of the GGSN, via the control plane protocol, to encapsulate and decapsulate the packets of the subscriber session and to establish a second GTP tunnel endpoint.