Abstract: System and method embodiments are provided for traffic engineering (TE) in software defined networking (SDN). The embodiments enable a complete end-to-end TE solution between a user equipment (UE) and a source/destination across a radio access network (RAN). In an embodiment, a method in a network component for TE in a SDN includes receiving TE information from a first core network component in a core network, a RAN component, wherein the RAN is communicably coupled to the core network, wherein the TE information includes a TE objective; and determining a TE decision between at least one UE and a second core network component in the core network according to the TE information and the TE objective, wherein the TE decision comprises information for at least one end-to-end path solution between the at least one UE and the second core network wherein the path traverses the core network and the RAN.

Abstract: Embodiments are provided for implementing traffic engineering (TE) using link buffer status. The link buffer status for each link is used to identify links with buffer build-ups. One or more of the capacity and resource parameters at the links with buffer build-ups are then reserved. This is achieved by modifying the capacity and resource input parameters to the TE model according to the level of build-ups in the link buffers, as reflected by the buffer status information from the links and nodes. The modified input capacity or resource parameters are then fed to a TE engine to calculate the routing of traffic across all links and paths. As such, the reserved capacity or resource is considered in the TE routing technique to route the traffic accordingly, leading to the depletion of link buffers with build-ups at all or multiple considered paths at the same time.