What is LTE (Long Term Evaluation)

Virtual Private Network (VPN) services are widely used in the present corporate world to securely interconnect geographically distributed private network segments through unsecure public networks. Among various VPN techniques, Internet Protocol (IP)-based VPN services are dominating due to the ubiquitous use of IP-based provider networks and the Internet. Over last few decades, the usage of cellular/mobile networks has increased enormously due to the rapid increment of the number of mobile subscribers and the evolvement of telecommunication technologies. Furthermore, cellular network-based broadband services are able to provide the same set of network services as wired Internet services. Thus, mobile broadband services are also becoming popular among corporate customers. Hence, the usage of mobile broadband services in corporate networks demands to implement various broadband services on top of mobile networks, including VPN services. On the other hand, the all- IP-based mobile network architecture, which is proposed for beyond-LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, is fuel to adapt IP-based VPN services in to cellular networks. This chapter is focused on identifying high-level use cases and scenarios where IP-based VPN services can be implemented on top of cellular networks. Furthermore, the authors predict the future involvement of IP-based VPNs in beyond-LTE cellular networks.