ETSI releases a Report to enable MEC deployment in a multi-operator’s environment

The ETSI MEC Industry Specification Group (ETSI ISG MEC) has just released a new Group Report ETSI GR MEC 0035 to enable inter-MEC system deployment and MEC-Cloud system coordination.

This Report was motivated by the mobile network operators’ interest in forming federated MEC environments and enabling information exchange in a secure manner, in the event that MEC platforms or applications belong to different MEC systems.

“As MEC deployments gain momentum, inter-MEC system communication is an imperative requirement in today's as well as the future's edge computing industry and ecosystem. A federated model of MEC systems enables shared usage of MEC services and applications,” notes Dario Sabella, Chair of the ETSI ISG MEC. “However, to unlock the full potential of federated MEC environments, an effective and well-defined signalling framework among MEC system entities is needed, both at system level and at host level. The GR MEC 0035studies this framework for the first time. Subsequently, thorough normative work may require further alignment with other standard bodies according to GSMA Operator Platform Group requirements, to avoid duplication,” he adds.

ETSI GR MEC 0035 analyses eight use cases that require inter-system coordination, including those in multi-mobile network operators’ (MNOs) environments. Recommendations, evaluations and possible technical solutions to solve key issues are issued for each use case.

Two use cases make recommendations to achieve V2X service continuity considering a typical MEC federation scenario of V2X services, in a MEC-system environment with multiple operators and multiple equipment manufacturers.

Another use case describes a location-based immersive Augmented Reality game where a MEC federation can serve as a solution to limitations in providing an interactive AR application with users connected via different mobile operators.

Additional use cases include:

• an application instance transfer between MEC and Cloud systems
• inter-system communication involving a MEC system within an MNO's network
• a MEC federation scenario for connecting different services
• a MEC federation scenario for Edge Service availability on visited (another’s operator) networks
• a MEC federation scenario for edge-node sharing

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