More specifically, the local SDN controller communicates with the RAN SD i-Switching controller for dynamically configuring correct relay information between the radio protocol stack and backhaul protocol stack. In one example embodiment, if the local SDN controller has no information (software defined rules) on how to handle data packets transmitted/to be transmitted from the server 106-1 (assuming that the server 106-1 is in charge of implement the fronthaul processing of the radio protocol stack) and the corresponding one of the RRHs 104, the local SDN controller may handle the data packets according to a default set of software defined rules (e.g., forwarding data packets towards a default backhaul protocol stack, and/or communicate with the RAN SD i-Switching controller according to an SDN philosophy (set of software defined instructions).

Furthermore, the local SDN controller may serve as a proxy for radio resource slices towards network slices via coordination with the RAN SD i-Switching controller. In one example embodiment, the local SDN switch provides Quality of Service (QoS) for each network slice via QoS metering. Also, the local SDN controller may further include intelligence for local decision making (e.g., analytics-based radio resource optimization) to enable more efficient operation of the vRAN.

In one example embodiment, the local SDN controller (attached to each server implementing a radio protocol stack) receives IP/data packets from one or more of the user devices 102 and searches a local forwarding table. If a match is found in the internal forwarding table, the local SDN controller performs a processing according to the match found in the local forwarding table (e.g., performing a processing by implementing a radio protocol stack or a backhaul protocol stack, as will be further described below).