Breakout gateway for mobile data traffic

A breakout gateway device positioned within a mobile service provider network, comprising:

• a network interface to receive a first service request and data traffic for a data session associated with the requested service from a mobile device in a radio access network, wherein the first service request is addressed to a serving node of a mobile core network of the mobile service provider network and specifies a requested service supported by a packet data network (PDN), and wherein the data traffic is destined for the PDN;
• a control packet analysis module to forward the first service request from the breakout gateway device to the serving node, wherein the serving node couples the mobile core network to the radio access network to provide a first data path for the radio access network to the PDN;
• and
• a breakout module to bypass the serving node by sending the data traffic from the breakout gateway device to the PDN on a second data path from the radio access network to the PDN.

A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

• receive, with a breakout gateway device positioned within a mobile service provider network, a first service request from a radio access network, wherein the first service request specifies a requested service supported by a packet data network (PDN);
• forward the first service request from the breakout gateway device to a serving node of a mobile core network of the mobile service provider network, wherein the serving node couples the mobile core network to the radio access network to provide a first data path for the radio access network to the PDN;
• receive, with the breakout gateway device, data traffic for a data session associated with the requested service from a mobile device in the radio access network, wherein the data traffic is destined for the PDN;
• and
• bypass the serving node by sending the data traffic from the breakout gateway device to the PDN on a second data path from the radio access network to the PDN.