Navid Nikaein

EURECOM, Communication System Department

MEC Research Agenda

2016

MEC Design Principles

Design principles Tight coupling between MEC and SDN

– Exploit the interplay between control-place and user-plane

Realtime/low-latency SDN+MEC controller

RAN functional split implication and MEC

– PDCP in MEC

– Native IP service endpoint at eNB and GTP (de)encapsulation in MEC

Abstract communication interface

– Pubsub and Distributed shared memory

Agnostic to the underlying technology

– Agents acting as a local controller on behalf of RAN communicating with the ME

RAN API: realtime access to the radio network information S1-C and S1-U APIs

– local breakout at MEC server

X2-C and X2-U APIs

Native IP

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Additional Consideration

Shared API with SDN

North/south APIs

NFV compliance

Orchestrator mechanism OpenStack approach: Heat, and tacker

OSM approach : juju, openmano, raft.io

Edge packet service

Interplay with S-GW and proxy EPC

– Placement of packet switching

Lawful interception

Policy and charging

Traffic shaping

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Architectural Design

MEC application

MEC application framework MEC services

Infra service

Support service

Common service

Open Virtual Switch GTP support

Interface RAN

– RNIS, C-API, U-API

EPC

IP

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Current focus MEC

MEC API and controller developement following SDN spirit Network status and configuration

Edge Packet service

– OVS and NOX

Low latency IP endpoints service

IoT gateway Data analytics for IoT

Run network operator oriented-VNF at the edge LightEPC function to handle specific traffic (MTC)

Security functions to analyze and react locally to malicious traffic

Follow Me Edge Edge service following mobile users

MEC and CDN/ICN Fully compliant with ETSI NFV

Provide Northbound API (REST) to dimension the system

VM placement algorithm to build the SIG

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ETSI MEC POC

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ETSI MEC PoC - RAVEN

“Radio aware video optimization in a fully virtualized network”

This PoC (accepted by ETSI) is about Radio aware video optimisation

application implemented in a fully virtualized network, under the

collaboration between TIM, Intel, Eurecom and Politecnico di Torino.

see http://mecwiki.etsi.org/

OAI - Open-Source

Solutions for 5G 7

RAVEN PoC

Multiple demonstration has been planned including MWC 2017

Alternative architecture (e.g. more convenient location of the video

content server, …) can be evaluated, for example in order to compare

different deployment options (and related performances

Input to the standards

OAI - Open-Source

Solutions for 5G 8

EPC

eNB + MEC server

UE3

UE2

UE1

Video content server

Content optimization

application OAI LTE eNB Server and MEC

framework

MEC testbed

application

application

Agent-Controller Protocol

Implemented messages

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OPENAIRINTERFACE

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Commoditization of 3GPP Radio Systems and

Open-Source

Today it is feasible to put a fully-compliant 4G eNodeB and

EPC in a commodity x86 or ARM-based computer (or data

center for a pool of eNodeBs)

Emergence of “radio”-nerds in addition to commercial vendors

OAI Alliance : www.openairinterface.org

– launched in 2014

– 3GPP strategic members in 2015 (Bell Labs, Orange Labs, TCL-

Alcatel)

Coupling this with an open-source community makes for a

very disruptive technology for the onset of 5G

What we’re building

– Community of nerds, academics and major industrials embracing

open-source for 5G

– Common R&D development kit for rapid prototyping of 5G features

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Bringing open-source into the RAN

Challenges for 4.5G/5G FRAND License for open-source

– Allow 3GPP members to contribute to open-source and still perceive royalties

– Compatible with

academic/research/prototyping use

commercial use in devices, data centers and testing equipment

– Approval by Alcatel-Lucent, Orange, TCL and Ericsson (observer)

Community coexistence/synergy with standardization process

– Use of open-source in prototyping phase of 5G

– Open-source community following 3GPP process

– Community representation in 3GPP via OSA

22/05/2016

eNB eNB eNB

Mobile Edge

Cloud

EPC + ClearWater IMS,

FreePCRF (OpenStack + JuJu)

S1AP GTPu

Main CLOUD

S1AP GTPu S1AP GTPu

UE

- p 12

OSA Licensing Model

OAI - Open-Source Solutions for 5G

FRAND License allows committing software with patent rights into OSA and still keep licensing rights -> Inline with 3GPP fair use licensing policy

We aim to work closely with ETSI on implications of open-source for licensing/certification

Future 5G Core Network developed within eNB/UE repository will inherit FRAND license

22/05/2016 - - p 13

OSA Strategic Areas

OAI - Open-Source Solutions for 5G

Various use cases are considered, namely RAN sharing/Slicing

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