Mobile Core
Ericsson calls it the “Core Network”.
The Mobile Core is a bundle of functionality (as opposed to a device) that serves several purposes:
- Provides Internet (IP) connectivity for both data and voice services
- Ensures this connectivity fulfills the promised QoS requirements
- Tracks user mobility to ensure uninterrupted service
- Tracks subscriber usage for billing and charging
title: Why is Mobile Core architecture so complicated?
The Mobile Core needs to keep track of individual subscribers (the Internet’s core does not do that).
This creates a lot of the complexity in its architecture, especially given that those subscribers are moving around.Mobile Core is a generic term. We have
- 4G Mobile Core (EPC)
- 5G Mobile Core (NG-Core)
The Mobile Core is partitioned into a Control Plane and User Plane, an architectural feature known as Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) from 3GPP. See Control Plane and User Plane
Where is it physically?
Located in specialized data centers and network facilities.