Intelligent 5G LAN routing helps automate enterprise integration of private cellular wireless, eliminating security, accessibility, and administrative barriers.
One of the biggest questions on the minds of enterprise IT pros looking to embrace 4G/5G cellular technology deals with how the radio access network (RAN) and related traffic management functions can be easily integrated within an existing network infrastructure from a physical and logical perspective.
Traffic management can be broadly defined as assigning different metrics and actions to individual packets and flows to provide the desired application experience. Coupled with intelligent routing, traffic management can even be used to simplify complex routing topologies thereby reducing the explosion of both dynamic and static routes. Nowhere is this more important than with the integration of new cellular technology in enterprise network infrastructures.
As native support for the new Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) grows within the device ecosystem, there remains a preponderance of end user equipment that doesn’t yet support it.
With more and more IoT systems and client devices, such as automated guided vehicles or manufacturing robots, making use of cellular-to-Wi-Fi or-Ethernet gateways to connect to private wireless networks, massive configuration nightmares, potential security risks and operational headaches emerge.
Today each mobile gateway typically functions within a unique subnet or VLAN. This forces IT administrators to manually configure a massive number of DHCP scopes, a valid range of IP addresses that are available for assignment or lease to client computers on a particular subnet. And when using common network address translation (NAT) services, enterprises lose visibility into the RAN as device IP addresses on the network are inaccessible. and hidden from view.
Intelligent 5G LAN routing represents a welcomed solution to this problem – allowing user equipment to remain secure while accessible to the rest of the enterprise network. This gives network administrators direct access to IT and OT devices behind the CBRS gateways while avoiding potential security concerns and eliminating tedious manual network configuration and administration.
Here’s why.
New 5G LAN systems manage IP subnetting tasks for the cellular radio access network (RAN). Instead of using NAT to translate all RAN IP addresses into a single IP address that is routable on the network, 5G LAN core software functions as a full layer 3 routed interface. As a result, internal RAN IP subnets are fully visible to the rest of the network.
This accelerates time to value for organizations deploying 4G/5G technology within their existing networks without requiring the complex configuration, integration and costly professional services associated with traditional cellular infrastructure.
Delving into details
From a routing perspective, the enterprise 5G core software still maintains DHCP and DNS duties identically to how they operate in internal NAT mode. However, communication between the 5G LAN and corporate LAN is routed as opposed to using NAT. This means that all 5G LAN devices can be accessed directly for communication and network monitoring purposes. The use of dynamic routing protocols such as OSPF or RIPv2 help automate this process.
Still, one potential problem relates to the use of cellular-to-Wi-Fi/Ethernet gateways that allow non-5G capable devices to connect to the router via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. The 5G mobile router then acts as a NAT gateway, translating these devices to its 5G LAN IP address for communication purposes. Thus, when a 5G LAN is configured for internal forwarding mode and mobile routers are in use, visibility to devices behind the 5G mobile router is lost. Intelligent 5G LAN routing eliminates this problem.
The diagram below illustrates how this is achieved showing the logical flow of traffic from client devices through the RAN across the enterprise network using dynamic routing and supernetting to effectively automate integration.
Logical Topology of Intelligent 5G LAN Routing with Supernetting
Supernetting reduces administrative complexities
A key part of intelligent 5G LAN routing capabilities is a new twist on an established networking function called supernetting.
Supernetting is the opposite of Subnetting. In subnetting, a single big network is divided into multiple smaller subnetworks. In With supernetting, multiple networks are combined into a bigger logical network termed as a supernet.
Supernetting is mainly used in route summarization, where routes to multiple networks with similar network prefixes are combined into a single routing entry, with the routing entry pointing to a super network, encompassing all the networks. This in turn significantly reduces the size of routing tables and the size of routing updates exchanged by routing protocols.
With intelligent 5G LAN routing, DHCP packet headers are parsed to create host routes to clients connected to the private wireless network sitting behind cellular/ethernet gateways. While the concept of supernetting is not new, Celona is adapting this concept, for the first time, to private cellular networks to simplify management and integration concerns.
Without the use of intelligent routing with supernetting, IT staff must tediously configure a range of DHCP scopes and static routes to gain access to each device connecting to the network. But, with supernetting, the network dynamically learns how to access clients, automatically building routing tables used to enable direct client access.
The 5G core software maps each endpoint IP addresses to its corresponding 5G mobile router IP address that is operating in bridged mode.
The result of this supernetting setup is that the VLAN and subnet configured on the corporate LAN is extended all the way to the 5G LAN endpoints as depicted in the diagram above.
When 5G LAN devices initially connect to the 5G LAN and broadcast a DHCP request, they are given IP addresses and supplemental network service information from the DHCP server residing on the corporate LAN. Thus, from an end-user perspective, the 5G LAN and 5G mobile routers in bridged mode look and act as though they are all part of a single VLAN and IP subnet.
Tangible enterprise benefits
Armed with intelligent 5G LAN routing, network staff are now able to:
- ensure the proper software and patches are running on end devices,
- more easily manage and secure the operation of IT and OT devices and,
- apply firewall policies to specific devices and groups previously not possible
Now organizations have the assurance that new 5G LAN technology can be easily integrated within their routed L3 infrastructures without any cumbersome reconfiguration or administrative headaches.
This is a widely welcomed and compelling aspect for enterprise adoption of 4G and 5G cellular technology.
