A first look at the IP eXchange Ecosystem

TL;DR

This paper provides the first detailed analysis of the IPX ecosystem, revealing its structure, traffic patterns, and geographic features, which are crucial for understanding global mobile Internet connectivity.

Contribution

It offers the first in-depth characterization of the IPX ecosystem and analyzes an operational dataset from a major IPX provider, uncovering its structure and traffic dynamics.

Findings

IPX network is a private, tightly interconnected ecosystem.

Traffic exhibits distinct temporal and geographic patterns.

The analysis enhances understanding of global mobile Internet infrastructure.

Abstract

The IPX Network interconnects about 800 Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) worldwide and a range of other service providers (such as cloud and content providers). It forms the core that enables global data roaming while supporting emerging applications, from VoLTE and video streaming to IoT verticals. This paper presents the first characterization of this, so-far opaque, IPX ecosystem and a first-of-its-kind in-depth analysis of ann IPX Provider (IPX-P). The IPX Network is a private network formed by a small set of tightly interconnected IPX-Ps. We analyze an operational dataset from a large IPX-P that includes BGP data as well as statistics from signaling. We shed light on the structure of the IPX Network as well as on the temporal, structural and geographic features of the IPX traffic. Our results are a first step in understanding the IPX Network at its core, key to fully understand the global mobile Internet.