Edge Computing Enhancements in an NFV-based Ecosystem for 5G Neutral Hosts

Gabriele Baldoni,Antonino Albanese,Michele Paolino,Hamzeh Khalili,Apostolos Papageorgiou,Dimitra Simeonidou,Paolo Cruschelli,Shuaib Siddiqui,Carlos Colman Meixner

doi:10.1109/nfv-sdn.2018.8725644

Gabriele Baldoni, Antonino Albanese + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/nfv-sdn.2018.8725644

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Abstract

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) framework can increase the flexibility and reduce the cost of network functions deployment and operation, but needs to be tailored when this framework is pushed to the domain of edge computing, which is the typical scenario for a 5G neutral host. In such scenario, edge-heavy NFV systems need to address the pressing requirements that comes into play with regard to infrastructure management and multi-layer orchestration, which are typical in a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) framework. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) itself has identified a lot of open issues when trying to merge the orchestration life-cycles of NFV and MEC. In this paper we describe a solution that combines extensions in the orchestration and Virtual Infrastructure Management (VIM) layers, along with concrete solutions to the ETSI-identified open issues for NFV-MEC integration, in order to pave the way towards edge-aware NFV solutions for 5G neutral hosts.

Highlights

The advent of 5G technologies is unlocking the potential of delivering high bandwidth and ubiquitous coverage to a heterogeneous set of emerging services and applications
In terms of broader works that focus on improving the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) ecosystems, some EU projects are focusing on identified potential 5G functionalities to be enabled on NFV-Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) environments; sliceability (SL), resource orchestration (RO), security (SE), computing offloading (CO), IoT enable functionalities (IoT), edge to extreme edge (EE) (e.g., Fog), and neutral host
If MEC Application descriptor is present within the NS descriptor, the MultiLayer Orchestrator will originate two parallel work flows: (i) the first flow will consist in a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) NFV standard Network service deployment, where AppD are treated as standard VNFd (ii) the second flow consists in the interaction between Multi-access Edge Application Orchestrator (MEAO), MEPM-V and Mobile Edge (ME) Platform to enable MEC services consumed by an AppD

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The advent of 5G technologies is unlocking the potential of delivering high bandwidth and ubiquitous coverage to a heterogeneous set of emerging services and applications. The neutral hosting business model increases the diversity of 5G slice users, which can include different kinds of verticals (e.g., from the media industry) as well as various types of telecom operators This increases the types of co-managed edge resources, and it introduces the requirement to manage edge services that are not necessarily modelled and handled as VNFs (Virtual Network Functions). We perform a series of additional edge-related enhancements, e.g., by adding an attestation component to the VIM, which is critical when edge hosts are involved in the NFVI

AND RELATED WORK

Bridging NFV orchestration and edge computing

Related works for NFV-MEC integration

EDGE COMPUTING ENHANCEMENTS IN AN NFV-BASED ECOSYSTEM

F Platform

Integrated NFV-MEC orchestration solution

Evaluate NS descriptor

CONCLUSION