MEC reference architecture

🚩 MEC host is an entity consisting of mobile edge platform and the virtualization infrastructure that provides compute, storage and network resources for the mobile edge applications. MEC host consist of mobile edge platform and the virtualization infrastructure that provides compute, storage and network resources for the mobile edge applications

🚩 MEC platform represents a collection of baseline functionalities that are required to run applications on a particular ME host and to enable mobile edge applications to discover, advertise offer and consume the ME services. MEC platform functionalities are needed to steer the traffic between the applications, services and networks. The ME platform receives the traffic forwarding rules from the mobile edge platform manager, mobile edge applications and ME services and, based on those as well as on policies, it provides the instructions to the data plane

🚩 MEC applications are running as virtual machines on top of virtualization infrastructure provided by the ME host

🚩 MEC platform manager is a host level entity which is further split into mobile edge platform element management, Mobile edge application lifecycle management and mobile edge application rules and requirements management functions. The application lifecycle management consists of application instantiation and termination procedures as well as providing indication to mobile edge orchestrator on application related events. The rules and requirements management includes authorizations, traffic rules, DNS configurations and resolving issues when set of rules are in conflict

🚩 MEC Orchestrator is the central function in the ME system as it has the visibility over the resources and capabilities of the entire mobile edge network. It maintains information on the whole ME system as it knows all the deployed ME hosts, the services and resources available in each host, the applications that are instantiated and the topology of the network. It is also manages the ME applications and the related procedures by supporting on-boarding the applications, checking the integrity and authenticity of the application, validating the policies for the applications and maintaining a catalog of the applications that are available

🚩 Customer Facing Service portal (CFS) acts as an entry point for the 3rd parties. This portal can be used for operations to manage the provisioning, selection and ordering of the mobile edge applications. Developer parties can use the portal to make their created ME applications available in the operators’ ME system

🚩 User application lifecycle management proxy (User app LCM proxy) is a function that the mobile edge related clients and applications use to request services related to on-boarding, instantiation and termination of the applications

🚩 Virtualization Infrastructure Manager is responsible of managing the virtualized resources(compute,network & storage) for the mobile edge applications