MEC in the 5G Era: Enhancing Reliability Through Backup Strategies and Technology Integration

Abstract

Understanding the unique features of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) in the context of 5G is key, as they enable applications such as real-time analytics. This paper explores the integration of 5 G technologies with MEC and the challenges in deploying and maintaining MEC infrastructure, recognizing the impact on network reliability. In particular, the paper considers potential failures in MEC and their broader consequences on overall network reliability, proposing the strategic use of backup resources as a proactive solution to fortify MEC resilience. MEC, evolving as an ecosystem to integrate telecommunication and IT services, establishes a cloud computing platform at the edge of the radio access network (RAN), enhancing storage and computational capabilities with reduced latency for mobile end-users. The analysis covers key technologies enabling MEC integration with 5G, including software-defined networking (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), and network slicing. The deployment of Network Services (NS) through virtual network functions (VNFs) is explored for latency-sensitive communication services, acknowledging the vulnerability of softwarized and cloud services to failures. Reliability emerges as a major challenge in MEC 5G networks, prompting the proposal of redundancy (backup) as a solution to enhance communication service reliability, setting the stage for further research considerations in MEC reliability.