CN117812599A - Multi-access edge computing system and business processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a multi-access edge computing system and a business processing method, and relates to the technical field of communication. The system of the present disclosure includes: an MEC network disposed in a multi-access edge computing MEC host, an MEC platform, one or more MEC application apps, and a virtualization infrastructure VI, wherein the MEC network is configured as a network instance running on the VI providing mobile network functionality; the MEC platform is configured to have the MEC network and the MEC App provide and use the set of basic functions required for the MEC services; each MEC App is configured as an application instance running on VI; VI is configured to provide computing, storage, and network resources for running MEC App and MEC networks; the MEC network interacts with the MEC platform through the Mm reference point, each MEC App interacts with the MEC platform through the Mp reference point, and the MEC platform interacts with the VI through the Mp reference point.

Description

Multi-access edge computing system and business processing method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a multi-access edge computing system and a service processing method.

Background

With the advancement of 5G (5 th Generation Mobile Communication Technology, fifth generation mobile communication technology), various industries develop to informatization and intellectualization, and the application is more and more abundant, but most of them are large-bandwidth low-latency services, for example, XR (Extended real) services, so the requirements for MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing, multiple access edge computing) systems are more and more increasing.

The current MEC system is designed based on APP (application), and the main functions are to manage APP and serve APP. In the latter 5G and even 6G age, single application solutions have failed to meet the extreme requirements of service on bandwidth and latency, for example XR service, if an immersive experience is to be achieved, a latency of not higher than 10ms and a downlink rate of not lower than 4Gbps are required, which presents a future challenge for both MEC systems and networks.

Disclosure of Invention

The inventors found that: the current MEC system is a pure application system, and the terminal needs to communicate with the MEC system through a mobile network (e.g. 5G network), for example, an MEO (MEC organizer, multiple access edge computation Orchestrator) as an AF (Application Function ), and communicate with the 5G network; alternatively, APP communicates with the 5G network NEF directly as AF through proxy NEF (Network Exposure Function, network open function). In either way, the network and the application are split, and only the problem that the application is close to the user can be solved, but the problem that the service is close to the user is not fundamentally solved, and under the 5G target facing the vertical industry, the split architecture obviously cannot meet the requirements, and further cannot meet the requirements of future services on higher bandwidth and time delay.

One technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is: a MEC system architecture is provided, which improves service bandwidth and reduces service delay.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a multi-access edge computing system comprising: an MEC network disposed in a multi-access edge computing MEC host, an MEC platform, one or more MEC application apps, and a virtualization infrastructure VI, wherein the MEC network is configured as a network instance running on the VI providing mobile network functionality; the MEC platform is configured to have the MEC network and the MEC App provide and use the set of basic functions required for the MEC services; each MEC App is configured as an application instance running on VI; VI is configured to provide computing, storage, and network resources for running MEC App and MEC networks; the MEC network interacts with the MEC platform through the Mm reference point, each MEC App interacts with the MEC platform through the Mp reference point, and the MEC platform interacts with the VI through the Mp reference point.

In some embodiments, the MEC network is further configured to transmit application related information for interaction between the terminal and the MEC platform; the MEC platform is also configured to interact application related information with the terminal through the MEC network and interact corresponding application related information with each MEC App; each MEC App is further configured to interact with the MEC platform with application related information corresponding to the MEC App, and process the application related information corresponding to the MEC App.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises: a MEC platform manager, wherein the MEC platform manager comprises: the MEC network lifecycle manager is configured to manage a lifecycle of the MEC network, the MEC network interacting information with the MEC network lifecycle manager through the Mm reference point.

In some embodiments, the MEC network comprises: at least one of a radio access network RAN distributed unit DU, a RAN center unit CU, a core network CN user plane UP and a CN control plane CP; wherein the RAN DU and the RAN CU are configured to provide a function of an access network element in the mobile network, and the CN UP and the CN CP are configured to provide a function of a core network element in the mobile network.

In some embodiments, the CN CP includes: the access and mobility management function AMF instance and the session management function SMF instance, the application related information comprises: the RAN CU is configured to receive the service request sent by the terminal and forward the service request to the AMF instance; the AMF instance is configured to forward the service request to the SMF instance; the SMF instance is configured to forward the service request to the MEC platform.

In some embodiments, the CN UP comprises: the user plane function UPF instance, the application related information includes: the RAN DU is configured to receive the first service data sent by the terminal, forward the first service data to the UPF instance, and/or receive the second service data returned by the UPF instance and send the second service data to the terminal; the UPF instance is configured to forward the first traffic data to the MEC platform and/or receive the second traffic data returned by the MEC platform and send to the RAN DU.

In some embodiments, in a network function virtualization NFV scenario, the MEC network is deployed as a network function module VNF for MEC network virtualization, the MEC platform is deployed as a MEC platform VNF, the MEC application is deployed as a MEC application VNF, and the VI is deployed as a network function virtualization infrastructure NFVI.

In some embodiments, in a network function virtualization NFV scenario, the MEC platform manager is deployed as a MEC platform manager-NFV, the MEC platform manager-NVF comprising: and the MEC network element manager delegates the life cycle management of the MEC network to a virtualized network function module manager VNM corresponding to the MEC network.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises: a multi-access edge orchestrator MEO interacting with the MEC platform manager through an Mm reference point; the MEO is configured to control instantiation of the MEC network, MEC application.

In some embodiments, in a network function virtualization NFV scenario, the MEO is deployed as a MEC application orchestrator MEAO, which interacts with the NFV orchestrator NFVO for resource orchestration, orchestrating the MEC application virtualized network function modules VNF and the MEC network VNF into one or more NFV network services NS.

According to other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for processing a service of a multi-access edge computing system according to any of the foregoing embodiments is provided, including: the MEC network transmits application related information interacted between the terminal and the MEC platform; the MEC platform interacts corresponding application related information with each MEC App; the MEC App processes the corresponding application related information.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the MEC network lifecycle manager manages the lifecycle of the MEC network. In some embodiments, the application-related information includes: the service request, the application related information interacted between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises: the RAN CU in the MEC network receives a service request sent by a terminal; the RAN CU forwards the service request to an AMF instance in the MEC network; the AMF instance forwards the service request to an SMF instance in the MEC network; the SMF instance forwards the service request to the MEC platform.

In some embodiments, the application-related information includes: the application related information of the interaction between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises the following information: RAN DU in MEC network receives first service data sent by terminal; the RAN DU sends the first service data to a UPF instance in the MEC network; the UPF instance sends the first business data to the MEC platform.

In some embodiments, the application-related information includes: the application related information of the interaction between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises the following information: a UPF instance in the MEC network receives second service data sent by the MEC platform; the UPF instance sends the second service data to the RAN DU in the MEC network; the RAN DU transmits the second service data to the terminal.

According to still further embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device including: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of processing a service as in any of the embodiments described above.

The MEC network provides a mobile network function for a network instance running on the VI, transmits application related information interacted between a terminal and the MEC platform, and interacts corresponding application related information with each MEC application. Based on the architecture of the MEC system disclosed by the disclosure, the application and the network are designed integrally, the idea that the existing MEC system only serves the application APP is broken, and the network, particularly the wireless mobile network, is instantiated on the MEC system. The problems are solved from the fundamental processing delay and transmission delay, the delay is shortened, the bandwidth is improved, and the high-bandwidth low-delay service is better served.

Other features of the present disclosure and its advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic architecture of a multi-access edge computing system of some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic architecture of a multi-access edge computing system of further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a multi-access edge computing system in an NFV scenario in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of processing a service in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method of processing a service according to further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of an electronic device of some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device of other embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, not all embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Based on the embodiments in this disclosure, all other embodiments that a person of ordinary skill in the art would obtain without making any inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

The present disclosure presents an MEC system, described below in connection with fig. 1-3.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of some embodiments of the MEC system of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the system 10 of this embodiment includes: an MEC Host (MEC Host) 100, an MEC network (MEC network) 110, an MEC platform 120 (MEP), one or more MEC apps 130 and VI (Virtualisation infrastructure, virtualization infrastructure) 140 disposed in the MEC Host.

In some embodiments, MEC network 110 is configured as a network instance running on VI 140, providing mobile network functionality; the MEC platform 120 is configured to have the MEC network 110 and the MEC App 130 provide and use the set of basic functions required for the MEC services; each MEC App 130 is configured as an application instance running on VI 140; VI 140 is configured to provide computing, storage, and network resources for running MEC apps and MEC networks. The MEC network 110 is located in a MEC host, distributed deployment.

In some embodiments, the MEC network 110 interacts with the MEC platform 120 through an Mm reference point. The MEC App 130 interacts with the MEC platform 120 through Mp reference points. The MEC platform 120 interacts with the VI 140 through Mp reference points.

VI 140 provides computing, storage, and network resources for running MEC App 130 and MEC network 110.MEC platform 120 is a collection of basic functions required to run MEC App 130 and MEC network 110 at VI 140 and enable them to provide and use MEC services (MEC services). The MEC App 130 instantiates on VI 140 based on the configuration or request of MEC management verification.

In some embodiments, the system 10 further comprises: the MEC platform manager (MEC platformmanager) 150. The MEC platform manager 150 includes: MEC network lifecycle manager (MEC network life cycle mgmt) 151. The MEC network lifecycle manager 151 is configured to manage a lifecycle of the MEC network 110, the MEC network 110 interacting with the MEC network lifecycle manager 151 through an Mm reference point.

The MEC Network lifecycle manager 151 is responsible for the lifecycle management of the MEC Network, and specific functions can refer to the requirements of 3gpp SA5 for the lifecycle management of the mobile Network, without changing the existing mobile Network mechanism. The MEC network lifecycle manager 151 is located at the MEC system level, and may be deployed/hosted centrally, or distributed as desired, according to user/enterprise requirements.

In some embodiments, the system 10 further comprises: an MEO (MEC organizer) 160 that interacts with the MEC platform manager 150 through an Mm reference point; the MEO160 is configured to control instantiation of the MEC network 110, MEC application 130.

In some embodiments, the system 10 further comprises: the VIM 170 (Virtualisation infrastructure manager, the virtualized infrastructure manager) is used to manage allocation and release of virtual computing, storage, and network resources, and to manage image files of the MEC network 110 and the MEC application 130, and is also responsible for collecting information of the virtualized resources, and reporting the information to upper management entities such as the MEC platform manager 150 and the MEO160 through the Mm, respectively.

As shown in fig. 2, the solution of the present disclosure adds MEC networks and MEC network lifecycle managers on the existing MEC system software architecture, so as to deploy mobile networks in the MEC system, which is closer to the user. Some existing functions of the MEC host 100, the MEC platform 120, the MEC App 130, the VI 140, the MEC platform manager 150, the MEO160, and the VIM 170, and some existing modules may refer to existing standards, and are not described herein. In fig. 2, reference points between the MEC network 110 and the MEC platform 120, the MEC platform manager 150 are respectively numbered for the three reference points Mm, mp and Mx, are shown as Mmx and Mmy, and can be renumbered according to actual requirements.

In some embodiments, the MEC network 110 is configured to transmit application related information for interactions between the terminals and the MEC platform 120; the MEC platform 130 is configured to interact application related information with the terminal through the MEC network, and interact corresponding application related information with each MEC App 130; each MEC App 130 is configured to interact with the MEC platform 120 with application related information corresponding to the MEC App 130 and process the application related information corresponding to the MEC App 130.

As shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments, the MEC network includes: at least one of RAN (Radio Access Network ) DU (Distributed Unit) 111, RAN CU (Centralized Unit) 112, CN (Core Network) UP (User Plane) 113 and CN CP (Control Plane) 114; wherein the RAN DU and the RAN CU are configured to provide a function of an access network element in the mobile network, and the CN UP and the CN CP are configured to provide a function of a core network element in the mobile network.

RAN DU: the system is a RAN distributed unit, mainly processes a physical layer function and a layer 2 function of real-time requirements, and is close to a user; RAN CU: is a centralized deployment unit of the RAN and mainly comprises a non-real-time wireless high-level protocol stack function; CN UP: the user plane is the core network, and is the gateway of the application slave mobile network and the external network; CN CP: is a control plane of the core network and can be deployed in a centralized way. The four functional units can be selectively deployed according to service requirements, for example, RAN CU and CN CP may not be deployed, and only RAN DU and CN UP may be deployed.

In some embodiments, the CN CP includes: AMF (Authentication Management Function, access and mobility management function) instance and SMF (Session Management function ) instance, the application related information includes: traffic requests and/or traffic responses. The AMF instance and the SMF instance may implement some or all of the functions of the AMF and the SMF in the prior art.

RAN CU 112 is configured to receive a service request sent by a terminal, forward the service request to an AMF instance, and/or receive a service response returned by the AMF instance and send the service response to the terminal.

The AMF instance is configured to forward the service request to the SMF instance and/or receive a service response returned by the SMF instance and send to RAN CU 112.

The SMF instance is configured to forward the service request to the MEC platform 120 and/or receive a service response returned by the MEC platform 120 and send to the AMF instance.

The terminal can select to access the RAN provided by the MEC system according to the schemes such as cell selection or reselection in the prior art, and the RAN DU and the RAN CU can realize the functions of a base station user plane and a control plane. And then the AMF and the SMF in the MEC system interact with the MEC platform, and then the MEC platform interacts with the MEC App to obtain corresponding service requests and/or service responses.

In some embodiments, the CN UP includes UPF (User Plane Function ) instances, and the application related information includes: the first service data and/or the second service data. The UPF instance can implement some or all of the functionality of UPF in the prior art.

The RAN DU 111 is configured to receive the first service data sent by the terminal, forward the first service data to the UPF instance, and/or receive the second service data returned by the UPF instance and send the second service data to the terminal.

The UPF instance is configured to forward the first traffic data to the MEC platform 120 and/or receive the second traffic data returned by the MEC platform 120 and send to the RAN DU 111.

After the terminal accesses the corresponding service, the terminal starts to interact service data with the MEC App. The MEC system adopting the present disclosure only needs to go through RAN DU, UPF and MEC platforms in the system.

In the prior art, a terminal initiates a service request, and a 5G network establishes PDU link for the terminal; the MEC system as AF monitors that the terminal (the MEC platform has opened an account) is in its own service area and initiates a service meeting the requirements, so as to decide the request for creating the flow guide; the MEC system then creates a request for traffic steering towards the NEF (which may be an edge NEF or a centrally deployed NEF, depending on the deployment scenario) by invoking the signaling nnef_trafficinfiuence_ Create service operation; the NEF updates the request to the UDR (Unified Data Repository, unified data warehouse function), and the UDR compares the received information with the existing information to update the received information; since PCF (Policy Control Function ) subscribes to the update of UDR, UDR sends update information to PCF through nudr_dm_notify after update; the PCF is used as an upper unit of the SMF, and further sends information to the SMF by calling the Npcf_SMPolicycontrol_updatenotify so that the SMF executes a flow guiding requirement initiated by the MEC system; the SMF executes the instruction of PCF, and performs user plane reconfiguration, including selecting new UPF and deleting old UPF; the SMF sends new UPF information to the AMF at the same time, so that the AMF makes configuration of an N3 (AMF and UPF) interface; the terminal uses the service as a bearer platform of the service by using the MEC system as an N6 outlet through the edge UPF. In the prior art, the flow of the terminal can be guided to the MEC system through a complex flow, through the scheme disclosed by the invention, the network and the application are all deployed in the MEC system, the nearest/local wireless network is naturally selected when the terminal initiates the service, the core network and the platform are deployed and can be directly applied, the related information can be directly transmitted through AMF, SMF, UPF as long as the terminal is accessed to the RAN in the MEC network, the MEC system is not needed to be used as the AF to monitor the position change of the terminal, the complex flow guiding process is not needed, the time delay is greatly reduced, and the bandwidth is improved.

Fig. 3 shows an architecture diagram of the MEC system in the NFV (Network Functions Virtualization, network function virtualization) scenario.

In the NFV scenario, the MEC network is deployed as a MEC network VNF 310 (Virtualised Network Function, virtualized network function module), the MEC platform is deployed as a MEC platform VNF 320, the MEC applications are deployed as a MEC application VNF 330, and the vi is deployed as an NFVI (NFV Infrastructure, network function virtualization infrastructure) 340.

In the NFV scenario, the MEC platform manager is deployed as a MEC platform manager-NFV (MEPM-V) 350, the MEC platform manager-NVF comprising: the MEC network element manager (MEC network element mgmt) 351 and delegates lifecycle management of the MEC network to the VNFM (Virtualised Network Function Manager, virtualized network function module manager) 362 corresponding to the MEC network.

In the NFV scenario, the MEO is deployed as a MEAO (MEC Application Orchestrator ) 360, which interacts with NFVO (NFV Orchestrator) 370 for resource orchestration, orchestrating the MEC application VNFs and MEC Network VNFs into one or more NFV NS (Network services).

According to the scheme, MEC network VNF and MEC network element manager are newly added on the architecture of the existing MEC system in the NFV scene, and the MEC network corresponds to VNM. The functions of the other modules may refer to existing standards, and are not described in detail herein.

The above embodiment proposes an MEC system, including an MEC network, an MEC platform, an MEC application and a VI, where the MEC network provides a mobile network function for a network instance running on the VI, and transmits application related information interacted between a terminal and the MEC platform, and the MEC platform interacts corresponding application related information with each MEC application. Based on the architecture of the MEC system in the above embodiment, the application and the network are designed integrally, which breaks through the idea that the existing MEC system only serves application APP, and instantiates the network, especially the wireless mobile network, on the MEC system. The problems are solved from the fundamental processing delay and transmission delay, the delay is shortened, the bandwidth is improved, and the high-bandwidth low-delay service is better served.

The disclosure further provides a service processing method of the MEC system based on the foregoing embodiment, including: the MEC network transmits application related information interacted between the terminal and the MEC platform; the MEC platform interacts corresponding application related information with each MEC App; the MEC App processes the corresponding application related information. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the MEC network lifecycle manager manages the lifecycle of the MEC network.

The processing method of the above-mentioned service is described in detail below with reference to fig. 4 to 5.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of some embodiments of a method of processing a service of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 4, the method of this embodiment includes: steps S402 to S410.

In step S402, the terminal sends a service request to a RAN CU in the MEC network, and the RAN CU receives the service request sent by the terminal, accordingly.

The service request may include an identification of the MEC App.

In step S404, the RAN CU forwards the service request to an AMF instance in the MEC network.

In step S406, the AMF instance forwards the service request to the SMF instance in the MEC network.

In step S408, the SMF instance forwards the service request to the MEC platform.

In step S410, the MEC platform forwards the service request to the corresponding MEC App for processing.

The processing procedure of the MEC App can refer to the prior art, and will not be described herein.

If the MEC App is to return a service response, for example, the MEC App sends the service response to the MEC platform. The MEC platform sends the service response to the SMF instance in the MEC network. The SMF instance forwards the traffic response to the AMF instance in the MEC network. The AMF instance forwards the traffic response to the RAN CU in the MEC network. The RAN CU forwards the traffic response to the terminal.

After the service request of the terminal is accepted, transmission of service data may be performed.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method for processing a service of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 5, the method of this embodiment includes: steps S502 to S516.

In step S502, the terminal sends first service data to a RAN DU in the MEC network.

In step S504, the RAN DU sends the first service data to the UPF instance in the MEC network.

In step S506, the UPF instance sends the first service data to the MEC platform.

In step S508, the MEC platform forwards the first service data to the corresponding MEC App for processing.

In step S510, the MEC App sends second service data to the MEC platform.

In step S512, the MEC platform sends the second service data to the UPF instance in the MEC network.

In step S514, the UPF instance sends the second traffic data to the RAN DU in the MEC network.

The RAN DU transmits the second service data to the terminal in step S516.

By the method of the embodiment, the network and the application are all deployed in the MEC system, the terminal naturally selects the nearest/local wireless network when initiating the service, the core network and the platform AMF, SMF, UPF are deployed and can be directly applied, the related information can be directly transmitted through AMF, SMF, UPF as long as the terminal is accessed to the RAN in the MEC network, the MEC system is not required to be used as the AF to monitor the position change of the terminal, the complex flow guiding process is not required, the time delay is greatly reduced, and the bandwidth is improved.

The present disclosure proposes an enhanced MEC system architecture and method, which expands the existing MEC system architecture, integrally solves the problem that an ' application ' + ' network is close to a user, instantiates a wireless network on the MEC system, and increases the management of the MEC network life cycle, so that unified service information is issued to an MEO by OSS, the MEO issues instruction requirements to the MEPM according to service requirements, the MEPM pulls up the whole network + application unification network to solve the service scene facing to the extreme bandwidth + time delay requirements, and provides better service experience.

The electronic devices (e.g., multi-access edge computing systems) in embodiments of the present disclosure may each be implemented by various computing devices or computer systems, described below in conjunction with fig. 6 and 7.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of some embodiments of the disclosed electronic device. As shown in fig. 6, the electronic device 60 of this embodiment includes: a memory 610 and a processor 620 coupled to the memory 610, the processor 620 being configured to perform the method of processing traffic in any of the embodiments of the present disclosure based on instructions stored in the memory 610.

The memory 610 may include, for example, system memory, fixed nonvolatile storage media, and the like. The system memory stores, for example, an operating system, application programs, boot Loader (Boot Loader), database, and other programs.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of further embodiments of the electronic device of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 7, the electronic device 70 of this embodiment includes: memory 710 and processor 720 are similar to memory 610 and processor 620, respectively. Input/output interface 730, network interface 740, storage interface 750, and the like may also be included. These interfaces 730, 740, 750, as well as the memory 710 and the processor 720, may be connected by a bus 760, for example. The input/output interface 730 provides a connection interface for input/output devices such as a display, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The network interface 740 provides a connection interface for various networking devices, such as may be connected to a database server or cloud storage server, or the like. Storage interface 750 provides a connection interface for external storage devices such as SD cards, U-discs, and the like.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each flowchart and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flowcharts and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure is not intended to limit the disclosure, but rather to cover any and all modifications, equivalents, improvements or alternatives falling within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure.

Claims (16)

1. A multi-access edge computing system, comprising: an MEC network, an MEC platform, one or more MEC application apps and a virtualization infrastructure VI disposed in a multi-access edge computing MEC host, wherein,

the MEC network is configured to operate as a network instance on the VI providing mobile network functionality;

the MEC platform is configured to cause the MEC network and the MEC App to provide and use a set of essential functions required for MEC services;

each MEC App is configured as an application instance running on the VI;

the VI is configured to provide computing, storage, and network resources for running the MEC App and the MEC network;

the MEC network interacts with the MEC platform through an Mm reference point, each MEC App interacts with the MEC platform through an Mp reference point, and the MEC platform interacts with the VI through an Mp reference point.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein,

the MEC network is further configured to transmit application related information for interaction between a terminal and the MEC platform;

the MEC platform is further configured to interact the application related information with the terminal through the MEC network and interact corresponding application related information with each MEC App;

each MEC App is further configured to interact application related information corresponding to the MEC App with the MEC platform and process the application related information corresponding to the MEC App.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a MEC platform manager, wherein the MEC platform manager comprises: a MEC network lifecycle manager configured to manage a lifecycle of the MEC network, the MEC network interacting information with the MEC network lifecycle manager through an Mm reference point.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the MEC network comprises: at least one of a radio access network RAN distributed unit DU, a RAN center unit CU, a core network CN user plane UP and a CN control plane CP;

wherein the RAN DU and the RAN CU are configured to provide a function of an access network element in a mobile network, and the CN UP and the CN CP are configured to provide a function of a core network element in a mobile network.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the CN CP comprises: an access and mobility management function AMF instance and a session management function SMF instance, the application related information comprising: the service request is sent to the client device,

the RAN CU is configured to receive a service request sent by the terminal and forward the service request to the AMF instance;

the AMF instance being configured to forward the service request to the SMF instance;

the SMF instance is configured to forward the service request to the MEC platform.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the CN UP comprises: a user plane function UPF instance, the application related information comprising: the first traffic data and/or the second traffic data,

the RAN DU is configured to receive first service data sent by the terminal, forward the first service data to the UPF instance, and/or receive second service data returned by the UPF instance and send the second service data to the terminal;

the UPF instance is configured to forward the first service data to the MEC platform and/or receive second service data returned by the MEC platform and send to the RAN DU.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein,

in a network function virtualization NFV scenario, the MEC network is deployed as a network function module VNF for MEC network virtualization, the MEC platform is deployed as a MEC platform VNF, the MEC application is deployed as a MEC application VNF, and the VI is deployed as a network function virtualization infrastructure NFVI.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein,

in a network function virtualization, NFV, scenario, the MEC platform manager is deployed as a MEC platform manager-NFV, the MEC platform manager-NVF comprising: and the MEC network element manager delegates the life cycle management of the MEC network to a virtualized network function module manager VNM corresponding to the MEC network.

9. The system of claim 3, further comprising: a multi-access edge orchestrator MEO interacting with the MEC platform manager through an Mm reference point;

the MEO is configured to control instantiation of the MEC network, the MEC application.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein,

in the network function virtualized NFV scenario, the MEO is deployed as a MEC application orchestrator MEAO, which interacts with the NFV orchestrator NFVO to orchestrate resources, and orchestrates the MEC application virtualized network function modules VNF and MEC network VNF into one or more NFV network services NS.

11. A method of processing traffic based on the multi-access edge computing system of claim 1, comprising:

the MEC network transmits application related information interacted between the terminal and the MEC platform;

the MEC platform interacts corresponding application related information with each MEC App;

and the MEC App processes the corresponding application related information.

12. The processing method of claim 11, further comprising:

an MEC network lifecycle manager manages a lifecycle of the MEC network.

13. The processing method of claim 11, wherein the application-related information comprises: the service request, the application related information interacted between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises:

the RAN CU in the MEC network receives the service request sent by the terminal;

the RAN CU forwards the service request to an AMF instance in the MEC network;

the AMF instance forwards the service request to an SMF instance in the MEC network;

the SMF instance forwards the service request to the MEC platform.

14. The processing method of claim 11, wherein the application-related information comprises: the first service data, the application related information interacted between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises:

the RAN DU in the MEC network receives first service data sent by the terminal;

the RAN DU sending the first service data to a UPF instance in the MEC network;

the UPF instance sends the first business data to the MEC platform.

15. The processing method of claim 11, wherein the application-related information comprises: the second service data, the application related information interacted between the MEC network transmission terminal and the MEC platform comprises:

a UPF instance in the MEC network receives second service data sent by the MEC platform;

the UPF instance sending the second traffic data to a RAN DU in the MEC network;

the RAN DU transmits the second service data to the terminal.

16. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the processing method of any of claims 11-15.