Continuous Distributed Monitoring in the Evolved Packet Core

For performance analysis, optimization and anomaly detection, there is strong need to monitor industrial systems, which, along modern datacenter infrastructures, feature a high level of decentralization. Continuous Distributed Monitoring (CDM) corresponds to the task of continuously keeping track of statistics from different distributed nodes. We review the feasibility of implementing state-of-the-art CDM algorithms in a large-scale, distributed, performance-critical production system. The study is on the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), an inherently distributed component of the 4G architecture, for processing mobile broadband data. In this work, we propose adjustments to classical models that are needed to account for communication and computation delays and the hierarchical architecture present in production systems. We further demonstrate efficient CDM implementations in the EPC, and analyze trade-offs of accuracy versus savings in communication, as well as availability of the monitoring system.