Edge integrated control device and method of operating the edge integrated control device

Abstract

The present invention proposes a solution for implementing a structure and technology that can support direct links between services in an inter-MEC environment, where the services are respectively installed in different MEC systems.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to techniques for supporting linking between services in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) environment.

[0002] This application claims priority from Korean Application No. 10-2020-0105226, filed on August 21, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] MEC is a technology that can transmit large amounts of data with low transmission latency, and multiple standardization organizations such as 3GPP, ETSI, and ITU are establishing MEC-related standards.

[0004] Furthermore, with the full-scale commercialization of MEC following the launch of 5G, it is recognized that there are limitations in providing actual MEC services using only current MEC standards. Therefore, efforts are underway to standardize communications between MEC systems.

[0005] As part of this, ETSI is conducting studies related to a new work item called Inter-MEC.

[0006] However, the inter-MEC technologies currently under discussion are limited to guaranteeing service continuity when the location of a terminal using MEC services changes.

[0007] That is, the inter-MEC technology currently under discussion is a technology that ensures service continuity by implementing switching between MEC systems according to the location movement of the terminal when the terminal using the MEC service moves.

[0008] Finally, the inter-MEC technology that is being further discussed is only used to support the continuity of MEC services when the terminal moves, and it is impossible to support the link function between services installed in different MEC systems.

[0009] Therefore, in the current MEC standard, when links between MEC services are required, direct links between services are not possible, and an indirect link scenario through the public cloud is provided.

[0010] That is, according to the current MEC standard, when links between MEC services are needed, indirect links between services are provided. Therefore, there are limitations in maintaining the advantage of MEC in providing large-capacity data with low latency.

[0011] Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to support linking between services in an inter-MEC environment by enabling direct linking between MEC services installed in different MEC systems. Summary of the Invention

[0012] Technical issues

[0013] An aspect of the present disclosure is to implement a structure that allows direct linking between MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0014] Technical Solution

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an edge integration control device includes: an information registrar configured to obtain information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one MEC application installed in the MEC system from at least one MEC orchestrator (MEO) and register the information; and a link controller configured to search for at least one of the MEC applications and MEC systems to be linked based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO when a predefined link trigger occurs.

[0016] Specifically, the link trigger may occur when a first MEC application in a first MEC system associated with a first MEO among the at least one MEO requests a link with a second MEC application and when an inter-MEC application request is received from the first MEO.

[0017] Specifically, when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application and when the second MEC application is not installed in the MEC system associated with the first MEO, the inter-MEC application request may be received from the first MEO.

[0018] Specifically, the inter-MEC application request may include at least one of identification information of the first MEC application and the second MEC application related to the inter-MEC application request, key performance indicators (KPIs), and location information of a terminal served by the first MEC application.

[0019] Specifically, the information obtained and registered from the at least one MEO may include: information about each MEO; system-related information, the system-related information including at least one of MEC system resource information, network status information and system location information of each MEC system; and MEC application-related information, the MEC application-related information including at least one of KPI and identification information of each MEC application installed in the MEC system of each MEC system.

[0020] Specifically, the link controller can search for a second MEC system installed with the second MEC application to be linked based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO, and when the second MEC system installed with the second MEC application is found, information about the second MEC system can be sent to the first MEC system, so that the first MEC application can be linked with the second MEC application through communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

[0021] Specifically, when the second MEC system with the second MEC application installed cannot be searched, the link controller can send the inter-MEC application request to other edge integrated control devices, so that the result of searching for the second MEC system with the second MEC application to be linked installed among the MEC systems registered in the other edge integrated control devices is sent to the first MEC system.

[0022] Specifically, the search results sent to the first MEC system may include information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system when the second MEC system with the second MEC application installed is found in the other edge integrated control device, and the link controller may send the information about the second MEC system included in the search results to the first MEC system, so that the first MEC application can be linked with the second MEC application through communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

[0023] Specifically, the link controller can support the link between the first MEC application and the second application in the cloud environment when the second MEC system installed with the second MEC application cannot be searched in the other edge integrated control devices.

[0024] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an edge integration control device includes: an information registrar configured to obtain information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one of the MEC applications installed in the MEC system from at least one MEO and register the information; and a link controller configured to search for at least one of the MEC systems and MEC applications to be linked according to the inter-MEC application request based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO when an inter-MEC application request for a link to a MEC application different from the first MEC application made by a first MEC application is sent from other edge integration control devices.

[0025] Specifically, when searching for a second MEC system in which a second MEC application to be linked is installed, the link controller may perform the search based on the proximity between the terminal and the system, the proximity being predefined based on the system location information of each MEC system registered in the information register and the location information of the terminal served by the first MEC application related to the inter-MEC application request.

[0026] Specifically, the link controller may send the search result according to the inter-MEC application request to the first MEC system in which the first MEC application is installed.

[0027] Specifically, when a second MEC system having a second MEC application to be linked is successfully searched, the link controller may control the MEO associated with the second MEC system among the at least one MEO to send the search results to the MEO associated with the first MEC system through the interface between the MEOs, wherein the search results include information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

[0028] Specifically, when a second MEC system having a second MEC application to be linked is successfully searched, the link controller may send the search results to the MEO associated with the first MEC system via other edge integration control devices through an interface between edge integration control devices, and the search results include information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

[0029] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an operating method of an edge integrated control device includes the following steps: an information registration operation, which is used to obtain information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one MEC application installed in the MEC system from at least one MEO and register the information; and a link control operation, which is used to search for at least one of the MEC applications and MEC systems to be linked based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO when a predefined link trigger occurs.

[0030] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an operating method of an edge integrated control device includes the following steps: an information registration operation, which is used to obtain information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one MEC application installed in the MEC system from at least one MEO and register the information; and a link control operation, which is used to search for at least one of the MEC applications and MEC systems to be linked according to the inter-MEC application request based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO when an inter-MEC application request for linking to an MEC application different from the first MEC application made by a first MEC application is sent from other edge integrated control devices.

[0031] Beneficial effects

[0032] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a structure is implemented that allows direct links between MEC services installed in different MEC systems, thereby achieving the effect of supporting links between services in an inter-MEC environment.

[0033] For this reason, embodiments of the present disclosure can support links between services in an inter-MEC environment, thereby contributing to the improvement of MEC service quality and the commercialization of MEC, and even enable the effect of establishing a more complete MEC environment to be expected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of an MEC environment to which the present disclosure is applied.

[0035] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an edge integration control device (alliance manager) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figures 3 to 6 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a linking scenario between different services in an inter-MEC environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 7 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an MEC-cloud link scenario between different services according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figures 8 to 10 1 is a call flow chart illustrating an inter-MEC / inter-MNO scenario among linking scenarios between different services in an inter-MEC environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] Figure 11 FIG. 1 is an operational flowchart illustrating an operating method of an edge integration control device (alliance manager) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0041] The present disclosure relates to technologies that support linking between services in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) environment.

[0042] With the official commercialization of MEC after the launch of 5G, it is recognized that there are limitations in providing actual MEC services using only current MEC standards. Therefore, standardization of communication requirements between MEC systems is being actively carried out.

[0043] As part of this, ETSI is conducting studies related to a new work item called Inter-MEC.

[0044] However, the inter-MEC technologies currently under discussion are limited to guaranteeing service continuity when the location of a terminal using MEC services changes.

[0045] That is, the inter-MEC technology currently under discussion is a technology that ensures service continuity by implementing switching between MEC systems according to the location movement of the terminal when the terminal using the MEC service moves.

[0046] Finally, the inter-MEC technologies that are being further discussed are only at the level of being able to support the continuity of MEC services when the terminal moves, and it is impossible to support the link function between services installed in different MEC systems.

[0047] For example, it can be assumed that a navigation service and a voice recognition service are installed in different MNO operators and different MEC providers, respectively.

[0048] Under this assumption, in order to support the scenario where the navigation service calls the speech recognition service, the navigation service (MEC App X) must know the MEC system and communication company where the speech recognition service (MEC App Y) is installed.

[0049] However, using current technology, the navigation service (MEC App X) cannot know the system and communication company where the voice recognition service (MEC App Y) is installed, so it is impossible for the navigation service (MEC App X) to call the link of the voice recognition service (MEC App Y).

[0050] Even though the navigation service (MEC App X) may know the MEC system and the communication company where the voice recognition service (MEC App Y) is installed, it is located on the host side of the MNO infrastructure due to the nature of MEC, and communication between different MNO hosts is not currently supported. Therefore, it is impossible for the navigation service (MEC App X) to call the voice recognition service (MEC App Y).

[0051] Thus, in the current MEC standard, when links between MEC services are required, direct links between services are not possible, so an indirect link scenario between services through the public cloud is provided.

[0052] That is, according to the current MEC standard, when links between MEC services are needed, indirect links between services are provided. Therefore, there are limitations on the purpose and characteristics of MEC to provide large-capacity data with low latency.

[0053] Considering the recent / future usage environment in which services such as AR / VR, AI, and V2X require large capacity and fast data usage and links between various other external services are becoming increasingly frequent, the above problem that direct links between MEC services are impossible causes service quality to deteriorate and becomes a limitation that reduces the expansion of MEC service usage.

[0054] Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to support linking between services in an inter-MEC environment by implementing a structure that allows direct linking between MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0055] First, refer to Figure 1 The MEC environment to which the present disclosure is applied is described.

[0056] like Figure 1 As shown in , in the present disclosure, an edge integration control device (hereinafter, alliance manager) is set up for each MNO (or MEC provider) for operating MEC, thereby realizing a structure in which each of the alliance managers 100 (1), 100 (2), ... can search / send information among the MEC systems managed by it.

[0057] A mobile network operator (MNO) means a mobile communication operator that provides an MEC infrastructure, a MEC system is a system owned by a MEC provider that provides an MEC environment in the MEC infrastructure, and an App refers to an MEC service that is installed in the MEC system and can be used by users.

[0058] Since an MNO that provides MEC infrastructure may directly become a MEC provider or lease the MEC infrastructure to an appropriate MEC provider, an MNO and a MEC provider may be referred to as being different from each other.

[0059] like Figure 1 As seen in FIG, the alliance managers 100(1), 100(2), ... of the present disclosure implement functions for direct links between MEC systems (MEC services).

[0060] For example, when there are multiple MEC providers in one MNO, each of the alliance managers 100(1), 100(2), ... can store / manage information about the MEC system provided by each MEC provider, and can send the information managed / maintained by it to other alliance managers / exchange with other alliance managers.

[0061] Of course, each of the federation managers 100(1), 100(2), ... may be set up for each MEC system or multiple MNOs.

[0062] A broker means an entity additionally provided for communication between each of the federation managers when the number of the federation managers is three or more.

[0063] Assuming an environment where the basic role of a broker is the same as that of a federation manager and the federation managers communicate with each other in a mesh structure, a broker will not be necessary.

[0064] For reference, considering the MEC architecture being discussed in current standards, the federation manager 100(1), 100(2), ... / broker and MEO of the present disclosure can be classified as MEC system level, and MEC App and MEP can be classified as host level.

[0065] In the present disclosure, based on the above-mentioned inter-MEC system information search / sending structure based on the above-mentioned alliance managers 100 (1), 100 (2), ..., various link scenarios are implemented to provide direct links between MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0066] In the following, reference will be made to Figure 2 The elements of the alliance manager that implements the inter-MEC system information search / sending structure and linking scenario proposed in this disclosure are described in detail.

[0067] The alliance manager 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include an information register 110 , a link request receiver 120 , and a link controller 130 .

[0068] All or at least some of the above-mentioned elements of the alliance manager 100 of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of a hardware module or a software module, or may be implemented in the form of a combination of a hardware module and a software module.

[0069] A software module may be understood as, for example, instructions executed by a processor for controlling operations in the alliance manager 100 , and these instructions may be installed in a memory of the alliance manager 100 .

[0070] Finally, the alliance manager 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure implements the inter-MEC system information search / transmission structure and linking scenario proposed in the present disclosure through the above-mentioned elements.

[0071] Hereinafter, each of the elements in the alliance manager 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in more detail.

[0072] The information registrar 110 is responsible for receiving information related to at least one multi-access edge computing (MEC) system and at least one MEC application installed in the MEC system from at least one MEO and registering the information.

[0073] In the following, for the convenience of description, the Figure 1 The alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) is shown among the alliance managers 100 ( 1 ), 100 ( 2 ), . . . of the MNO.

[0074] The information registrar 110 can receive information related to at least one of the MEC systems associated with each MEO and the MEC applications (hereinafter, MECApp) installed in the MEC system from MEO A, B of MEC systems A, B,... owned by multiple MEC providers existing in MNO 1, and can register / manage the information.

[0075] That is, the information registrar 110 can receive information about the MEC system A associated with MEO A and about the MEC Apps A, B,... installed in the MEC system A from MEO A and register / manage the information, and can register / manage information received from each of MEO B... in this manner, thereby registering / managing information related to the MEC systems A, B,... existing in MNO 1.

[0076] The information received and registered from the MEO (e.g., MEO A) may include information about each MEO (e.g., MEO A), and may also include system-related information including at least one of MEC system resource information, network status information, and system location information of each of the MEC systems (e.g., MEC App A, B, ...), and may also include MEC application-related information including at least one of identification information and KPIs loaded in the MEC system for each MEC system (e.g., MEC App A, B, ...).

[0077] If a more specific embodiment is described, each MEC provider, ie, each MEO (eg, MEO A), registers information about each MEC system associated therewith in the federation manager 100 (1).

[0078] The information registered by each MEO (eg, MEO A) about each MEC system may be as follows.

[0079] - MEO information: MEO identification information (eg, MEO identifier), etc.

[0080] -System-related information: supported (computing) resource information, current NW status information, MEC system location information (e.g., IP information, etc.), etc.

[0081] -MEC application related information: MEC App identification information (for example, App ID), MEC App related KPIs, etc.

[0082] The information on each MEC system registered in the information register 110 may be updated and managed with the latest information through various criteria / events.

[0083] As a result, each of the alliance managers 100(1), 100(2), ... of the present disclosure can register / manage information about MEC systems owned by multiple MEC providers existing in the MNO managed by it, and based on this, a structure that enables searching / sending information among MEC systems according to necessary circumstances can be provided / implemented.

[0084] The link controller 130 is responsible for a function of searching for at least one of an MEC system and an MEC application to be linked based on information registered for each of at least one MEO when a predefined link trigger occurs.

[0085] Link triggering may occur when a first MEC application in a first MEC system associated with a first MEO among at least one MEO requests linking with a second MEC application and thus receives an inter-MEC application request from the first MEO.

[0086] In addition, in the following, for the convenience of description, the description for Figure 1 The alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) is shown among the alliance managers 100 ( 1 ), 100 ( 2 ), . . . of the MNO.

[0087] The link request receiver 120 may receive, from a first MEO (e.g., MEO A), an inter-MEC application request that occurs when a first MEC application (e.g., MEC App X) in a first MEC system (e.g., MEC system A) associated with a first MEO (e.g., MEO A) among MEOA, B, ... present in MNO 1 requests a link with a second MEC application (e.g., MEC App Y) that is different from the first MEC application.

[0088] The inter-MEC application request may include at least one of identification information of the first MEC application and the second MEC application related to the inter-MEC application request, a KPI, and location information of a terminal served by the first MEC application.

[0089] When describing a specific embodiment, MEC App X is connected to the MEC platform (MEP) ( Figure 1 MEP A in the MEC sends a request to MEO A to link with MEC App Y (hereinafter, inter-MEC application request).

[0090] The inter-MEC application request may include identification information of MEC App X (e.g., App ID), identification information of MEC App Y to be linked (e.g., App ID), KPIs of MEC App X and MEC App Y, or location information of the terminal served by MEC App X (UE location).

[0091] The information about the MEC App Y to be linked included in the inter-MEC application request may be pre-configured or may be obtained through the federation manager 100 ( 1 ) or the like.

[0092] MEO A, from which MEC App X has received the inter-MEC application request, identifies whether MEC App Y to be linked, with which the link is requested, is installed in MEC system A (or MEP A) associated with MEO A and whether the requested KPI, etc., can be met.

[0093] When the MEC App Y to be linked is not installed or does not meet the requested KPI, etc., MEO A sends the current inter-MEC application request to the alliance manager 100 (1).

[0094] When MEC App Y to be linked is installed in MEC System A (or MEP A) associated with MEO A and can meet the requested KPIs, etc., MEO A can support communication / linking between MEC App X and MEC App Y in MEC System A (or MEP A) in the same MEC infrastructure and the same MEC operator environment.

[0095] This situation corresponds to Figure 3 The intra-MEC / intra-MNO scenario is shown in FIG.

[0096] According to the above embodiment, when MEC App X requests to link with MEC App Y, and when MEC App Y is not installed in MEC system A (or MEP A) associated with MEO A or is installed but does not meet the requested KPI, etc., the link request receiver 120 can receive an inter-MEC application request according to the link request from MEO A.

[0097] The link controller 130 may search for at least one of an MEC system and an MEC application to be linked based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, . . . when a predefined link trigger occurs.

[0098] That is, when a link trigger occurs due to the link request receiver 120 receiving an inter-MEC application request, the link controller 130 can search for at least one of the MEC systems and MEC applications to be linked according to the currently received inter-MEC application request based on the information registered for each of MEO A, B,...

[0099] If a specific embodiment is described, the link controller 130 searches for a second MEC system installed with a second MEC application (ie, MEC AppY) to be linked according to a current inter-MEC application request based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, . . .

[0100] More specifically, the link controller 130 may perform a search for identifying whether there is a second MEC system having MEC App Y installed and whether the requested KPI, etc., can be satisfied based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, . . .

[0101] Accordingly, when a second MEC system with MEC App Y installed is found among MEO A, B, ..., that is, when there is a second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) with MEC App Y installed and the second MEC system meets the requested KPI, etc., the link controller 130 sends information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)).

[0102] In this way, the link controller 130 can send information (e.g., MEP ID) about the MEC system C (or MEP C) on which the MEC App Y is installed to the MEC system A (or MEP A), so that the MEC App X and the MEC App Y are linked through communication between the MEC system A (or MEP A) and the MEC system C (or MEP C).

[0103] That is, in the present disclosure, the communication / link between MEC App X and MEC App Y is supported through the link between different MEC operators in the same MEC infrastructure environment (e.g., MEC A<->MEC C).

[0104] This situation corresponds to Figure 4 The inter-MEC / intra-MNO scenario is shown in FIG.

[0105] When the link controller 130 cannot search for the second MEC system with MEC App Y installed among MEO A, B,..., that is, when the second MEC system with MEC App Y installed does not exist or exists but does not meet the requested KPI, etc., the link controller 130 can send an inter-MEC application request to other edge integration control devices (hereinafter, other alliance managers).

[0106] The link controller 130 may send an inter-MEC application request to one or more federation managers.

[0107] Each of the other federation managers that have received the inter-MEC application request is a federation manager of the present disclosure and will identically implement the above-mentioned functions of the information register 110 , the link request receiver 120 , and the link controller 130 .

[0108] For convenience of description, other alliance managers 100 ( 2 ) will be described.

[0109] That is, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the alliance manager 100 ( 2 ) may have the same elements as the information register 110 of the alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) mentioned / described above.

[0110] The link request receiver 120 in the alliance manager 100 (2) can receive, from other alliance managers 100 (1), an inter-MEC application request that occurs when a first MEC application requests a link with another MEC application that is different from the first MEC application, i.e., the inter-MEC application request made by the above-mentioned MEC App X.

[0111] Accordingly, when an inter-MEC application request (i.e., an inter-MEC application request made by the above-mentioned MEC App X) is sent from the other federation manager 100 (1), the federation manager 100 (2) (link controller 130) searches for a second MEC system in which a second MEC application (i.e., MEC App Y) to be linked according to the current inter-MEC application request is installed, based on information registered for each MEO existing in the MNO 2 registered in the federation manager 100 (2).

[0112] Federation manager 100 ( 2 ) (link controller 130 ) may return / send the search results to federation manager 100 ( 1 ), or may cause the search results to be returned / sent to the first MEC system, ie, MEC system A (or MEP A).

[0113] When there is a second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) on which MEC App Y is installed among the MEC systems registered in the alliance manager 100 (2) and when the requested KPI, etc. are met, the search results sent to the alliance manager 100 (1) or to the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) may include information about MEC system C (or MEPC) required for direct communication between the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) and MEC system C (or MEP C).

[0114] According to a more specific embodiment, when searching for a second MEC system in which MEC App Y is installed, the other alliance manager 100(2) (link controller 130) may perform the search based on the proximity between the terminal and the system, the proximity being predefined based on the system location information (e.g., IP information, etc.) of each MEC system registered in the other alliance manager 100(2) and the location information of the terminal served by MEC App X related to the currently received inter-MEC application request.

[0115] That is, in the present disclosure, in order to maintain the characteristics of the MEC service, a search is performed for MEC App X that can be linked with MEC App Y while ensuring a predetermined proximity.

[0116] When the search result returned / sent from the other alliance manager 100 ( 2 ) includes information about MEC system C (or MEP C), the link controller 130 of the alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) sends the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEC system A (or MEP A).

[0117] In this way, the link controller 130 can send information (e.g., MEP ID) about the MEC system C (or MEP C) on which the MEC App Y is installed to the MEC system A (or MEP A), so that the MEC App X and the MEC App Y are linked through communication between the MEC system A (or MEP A) and the MEC system C (or MEP C).

[0118] Therefore, in the present disclosure, communication / linkage between MEC App X and MEC App Y is supported through linkage between different MEC operators (e.g., MEC A<->MEC C) in different MEC infrastructure (e.g., MNO 1 and MNO 2) environments.

[0119] This situation corresponds to Figure 5 The inter-MEC / inter-MNO scenario shown in FIG.

[0120] When the other federation manager 100 ( 2 ) successfully searches, the search results returned / sent may include information about the MEC system A (or MEP A) of the same MEC operator in different MEC infrastructure (eg, MNO 1 and MNO 2 ) environments.

[0121] The link controller 130 may send information about MEC system A (or MEP A) to MEC system A (or MEP A), so that MEC App X and MEC App Y are linked through communication between MEC system A (or MEP A) and MEC system A (or MEP A).

[0122] That is, in the present disclosure, the communication / link between MEC App X and MEC App Y is supported through the link between the same MEC operators (e.g., MEC A<->MEC A) in different MEC infrastructure (e.g., MNO 1 and MNO 2) environments.

[0123] This situation corresponds to Figure 6 Intra-MEC / inter-MNO scenario shown in FIG.

[0124] When the link controller 130 cannot find the second MEC system in which MEC App Y is installed even in the search results obtained by sending the inter-MEC application request to one or more other edge integration control devices, the link controller 130 may support the link between MEC App X and cloud App Y in the cloud environment.

[0125] That is, in this disclosure, Figure 7 As shown in , when the search for a MEC system (or MEP) suitable for MEC App Y to which a link is requested by MEC App X is unsuccessful among the MEC systems (or MEPs) registered in the alliance manager 100(1) and the MEC systems (or MEPs) registered in other alliance managers, the link between MEC App X (i.e., App X in the MEC environment) and cloud App Y can be supported through the cloud as before.

[0126] As described above, in the present disclosure, a federation manager can be provided for each MNO (or MEC provider) operating MEC, thereby implementing a structure that enables searching / sending information among MEC systems managed by each federation manager. In addition, based on the above-mentioned structure, various linking scenarios can be served that provide direct links between each of the MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0127] In this way, in the present disclosure, an effect of supporting inter-service linkage in an inter-MEC environment is achieved by realizing a structure that enables direct linkage between MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0128] For this reason, the present disclosure can contribute to the improvement of MEC service quality and the commercialization of MEC through inter-service link support in the inter-MEC environment, and thus the effect of building a more complete MEC environment can also be expected.

[0129] In the following, reference will be made to Figures 8 to 10 Describe the inter-MEC / inter-MNO scenario ( Figure 5 )'s calling process of the implementation method.

[0130] Reference Figure 8 In the implementation method, MEC App X is implemented via the MEC platform (MEP) ( Figure 1 MEP A in the MEC sends a request for linking with MEC App Y (hereinafter, inter-MEC application request) to MEO A (S1, S2).

[0131] The inter-MEC application request may include identification information of MEC App X (e.g., App ID), identification information of MEC App Y to be linked (e.g., App ID), KPI of MEC App Y, and location information (UE location) of the terminal served by MEC App X.

[0132] MEO A, which has received the inter-MEC application request made by MEC App X, identifies whether MEC App Y requested to be linked is installed in MEC system A (or MEP A) associated with MEO A and whether MEC App Y can meet the requested KPIs, etc. (S3). When MEC App Y is not installed or does not meet the requested KPIs, etc., MEO A sends the current inter-MEC application request to the alliance manager (S4).

[0133] When MEC App X requests to link with MEC App Y, and when MEC App Y is not installed in MEC system A (or MEP A) associated with MEO A or is installed but does not meet the requested KPI, etc., the alliance manager may receive an inter-MEC application request according to the link request from MEOA (S4).

[0134] When a link trigger occurs due to receiving an inter-MEC application request, the alliance manager can perform a search based on the information registered for each of MEOA, B,... to identify whether there is a second MEC system with the MEC App Y to be linked installed and whether the requested KPIs, etc. can be met.

[0135] When the alliance manager cannot search for the second MEC system with MEC App Y installed among MEO A, B,..., that is, when the second MEC system with MEC App Y installed does not exist or exists but does not meet the requested KPI, etc., the alliance manager can send an inter-MEC application request (S5) to other edge integration control devices (hereinafter, other alliance managers).

[0136] The federation manager may send an inter-MEC application request to one or more federation managers.

[0137] Each of the other federation managers that transmit / receive inter-MEC application requests is a federation manager of the present disclosure and will identically implement the above-mentioned functions of the information register 110 , the link request receiver 120 , and the link controller 130 .

[0138] That is, other alliance managers that have sent / received inter-MEC application requests can identify / search whether there is a second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) installed with the second MEC application (i.e., MEC App Y) to be linked according to the current inter-MEC application request and whether the requested KPIs, etc. are met (S6).

[0139] At this time, when searching for a second MEC system in which MEC App Y is installed, the other alliance manager may perform a search based on the proximity between the terminal and the system (S6), the proximity being pre-defined based on the location information (UE location) of the terminal served by MEC App X related to the currently received inter-MEC application request and the system location information (e.g., IP information, etc.) of each MEC system registered in the other alliance manager 100 (2).

[0140] Accordingly, when a second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) is successfully searched for in which MEC App Y is installed even with guaranteed proximity, that is, when a suitable MEP is found (S7), the other alliance managers send a search result including information about MEC system C (or MEP C) required for direct communication between the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) and MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEC system A (or MEP A).

[0141] Specifically, MEO C of the MEC system C (or MEP C) searched / found by other alliance managers directly sends information about the MEC system C (or MEP C) (search result) to MEO A through the interface between MEOs, and MEO A that has received the information sends information about the MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEP A (S8).

[0142] In this way, the present disclosure implements communication between MEC system A (or MEP A) and MEC system C (or MEP C) by using an interface between MEOs to send information about MEC system C (or MEP C), thereby enabling MEC App X to link with MEC App Y (S9).

[0143] Figure 9 and Figure 10 Embodiments that are different from each other in a method for transmitting information about an MEC system C (or MEP C) searched / found in other federation managers are illustrated.

[0144] First, in Figure 9 In the implementation scheme, it is assumed that MEC App X is implemented via MEC platform (MEP) ( Figure 1 Steps S1 and S2 of sending a request for linking with MEC App Y (hereinafter, inter-MEC application request) to MEO A and subsequent steps up to S7 are the same as Figure 8 The steps in the implementation method are the same as those in the embodiment, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0145] Reference Figure 9 In an embodiment, when the search for the second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) on which MEC App Y is installed even with guaranteed proximity is successful, that is, when a suitable MEP is found (S7), other alliance managers can receive information about MEC system C (or MEP C) required for direct communication between the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) and MEC system C (or MEP C) from MEO C, and can include the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) in the search results and send the search results to the alliance manager (S8').

[0146] The alliance manager having received the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) (search result) may send the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEO A, and MEO A having received the information may send the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEP A (S8').

[0147] In this way, the present disclosure implements communication between MEC system A (or MEP A) and MEC system C (or MEP C) by using an interface between federation managers to transmit information about MEC system C (or MEP C), thereby enabling MEC App X to link with MEC App Y (S9').

[0148] Next, in Figure 10 In the implementation scheme, it is assumed that MEC App X is implemented via MEC platform (MEP) ( Figure 1 Steps S1 and S2 of MEP A sending a request for linking with MEC App Y (hereinafter, inter-MEC application request) to MEO A and subsequent steps up to S6 are the same as Figure 8 The steps in the implementation method are the same as those in the embodiment, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0149] refer to Figure 10 In the implementation in FIG, it is assumed that the federation manager already maintains information about all MEPs managed by the federation manager.

[0150] Accordingly, when the search for the second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) in which MEC App Y is installed even with guaranteed proximity is successful based on the internally maintained information, that is, when an appropriate MEP is found (S7”), other alliance managers can include information about MEC system C (or MEP C) required for direct communication between the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) and MEC system C (or MEP C) in the search results and can send the search results to the alliance manager (S8”).

[0151] The alliance manager that has received the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) (search result) can send the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEO A, and MEO A that has received the information can send the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEP A (S8").

[0152] In this way, the present disclosure implements communication between MEC system A (or MEP A) and MEC system C (or MEP C) by using an interface between alliance managers to send information about MEC system C (or MEP C), thereby enabling MEC App X to link with MEC App Y (S9").

[0153] Therefore, in the present disclosure, communication / linkage between MEC App X and MEC App Y can be supported through links between different MEC operators (e.g., MEC A<->MEC C) in different MEC infrastructure (e.g., MNO 1 and MNO 2) environments.

[0154] In the following, reference will be made to Figure 11 An operation method of an edge integration control device (hereinafter, alliance manager) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0155] For the convenience of description, we will mention and describe Figure 1 The alliance manager 100(1) among the alliance managers 100(1), 100(2), ... of each MNO is shown in FIG.

[0156] According to the operating method of the alliance manager of the present disclosure, the alliance manager 100 (1) can receive information related to at least one of the MEC systems associated with each MEO and the MEC applications (hereinafter, MEC Apps) installed in the MEC systems from MEOs A, B, ... of MEC systems A, B, ... owned by multiple MEC providers existing in the MNO 1, and can register / manage the information (S10).

[0157] That is, the alliance manager 100 (1) can receive information about the MEC system A associated with MEO A and about the MEC Apps A, B, ... installed in the MEC system A from MEO A and register / manage the information, and can register / manage information received from each of MEO B... in this manner, thereby registering / managing information related to the MEO systems A, B, ... existing in the MNO 1.

[0158] More specifically, each MEC provider, ie, each MEO (eg, MEO A), registers information about each MEC system associated therewith in the federation manager 100(1).

[0159] The information registered by each MEO (eg, MEO A) about each MEC system may be as follows.

[0160] - MEO information: MEO identification information (eg, MEO identifier), etc.

[0161] -System-related information: supported (computing) resource information, current NW status information, MEC system location information (e.g., IP information, etc.), etc.

[0162] -MEC application related information: MEC App identification information (for example, App ID), MEC App related KPIs, etc.

[0163] The information on each MEC system registered in the alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) can be updated and managed with the latest information through various standards / events, etc.

[0164] As a result, each of the alliance managers 100(1), 100(2), ... of the present disclosure registers / manages information about MEC systems owned by multiple MEC providers existing in the MNO managed by it, and based on this, provides / implements a structure that enables searching / sending information among MEC systems according to necessary circumstances.

[0165] According to the operating method of the alliance manager of the present disclosure, when a link trigger occurs due to reception of an inter-MEC application request (S20, "Yes"), the alliance manager 100(1) may search for at least one of the MEC systems and MEC applications to be linked according to the currently received inter-MEC application request based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, ... (S30).

[0166] More specifically, the federation manager 100(1) may receive, from a first MEO (e.g., MEO A), an inter-MEC application request that occurs when a first MEC application (e.g., MEC App X) in a first MEC system (e.g., MEC system A) associated with a first MEO (e.g., MEO A) among MEOs A, B, ... present in MNO 1 requests a link with a second MEC application (e.g., MEC App Y) that is different from the first MEC application.

[0167] The inter-MEC application request may include identification information of MEC App X (e.g., App ID), identification information of MEC App Y to be linked (e.g., App ID), KPIs of MEC App X and MEC App Y, and location information of the terminal served by MEC App X (UE location).

[0168] The alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) may search for a second MEC system installed with a second MEC application (ie, MEC App Y) to be linked according to the current inter-MEC application request based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, . . . ( S30 ).

[0169] More specifically, the alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) may perform a search based on information registered for each of MEOs A, B, . . . to identify whether there is a second MEC system with MEC App Y installed and whether the requested KPI, etc., can be satisfied.

[0170] Accordingly, when a second MEC system with MEC App Y installed is found among MEO A, B, ..., that is, when the second MEC system with MEC App Y installed (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) exists and satisfies the requested KPI, etc. (S40, "Yes"), the alliance manager 100 (1) sends information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) (S50).

[0171] In this way, the alliance manager 100 (1) can send information (e.g., MEP ID) about the MEC system C (or MEP C) on which the MEC App Y is installed to the MEC system A (or MEP A), so that the MEC App X and the MEC App Y are linked through communication between the MEC system A (or MEP A) and the MEC system C (or MEP C) (S60).

[0172] That is, in the present disclosure, the communication / link between MEC App X and MEC App Y is supported by the link between different MEC operators in the same MEC infrastructure environment (e.g., MEC A<->MEC C). This scenario corresponds to Figure 4 The inter-MEC / intra-MNO scenario is shown in FIG.

[0173] According to the operating method of the alliance manager of the present disclosure, when the second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) in which MEC App Y is installed does not exist or exists but does not meet the requested KPI, etc., the alliance manager 100 (1) may determine that the search is unsuccessful (S40, "No") and may send an inter-MEC application request to other edge integration control devices (hereinafter, other alliance managers) (S70).

[0174] Each of the other federation managers that transmit / receive inter-MEC application requests is a federation manager of the present disclosure and will identically implement the above-mentioned functions of the information register 110 , the link request receiver 120 , and the link controller 130 .

[0175] For convenience of description, other alliance managers 100 ( 2 ) will be described.

[0176] The other alliance manager 100 (2) can identify / search whether there is a second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) installed with the MEC App Y to be linked according to the current inter-MEC application request and whether the requested KPI is met, etc. based on the information registered for each MEO existing in the MNO 2 registered in the alliance manager 100 (2), and return / send the search result to the alliance manager 100 (1) (S80).

[0177] At this time, when searching for a second MEC system in which MEC App Y is installed, the other alliance manager 100(2) may perform a search based on the proximity between the terminal and the system, which is pre-defined based on the location information (UE location) of the terminal served by MEC App X related to the currently received inter-MEC application request and the system location information (e.g., IP information, etc.) of each MEC system registered in the other alliance manager 100(2).

[0178] Accordingly, when the search for the second MEC system (e.g., MEC system C (or MEP C)) in which MEC App Y is installed even with a guaranteed proximity is successful, the other alliance manager 100 (2) may include information about MEC system C (or MEP C) required for direct communication between the first MEC system (i.e., MEC system A (or MEP A)) and MEC system C (or MEP C) in the search results, and may include the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) and send the search results (S80).

[0179] According to the operating method of the alliance manager of the present disclosure, when the search result returned / sent from the other alliance manager 100 (2) includes information about MEC system C (or MEP C), the alliance manager 100 (1) determines that the search is successful (S90, "Yes"), and sends the information about MEC system C (or MEP C) to MEC system A (or MEP A) (S100).

[0180] In this way, the alliance manager 100 (1) can send information (e.g., MEP ID) about the MEC system C (or MEP C) on which the MEC App Y is installed to the MEC system A (or MEP A), so that the MEC App X and the MEC App Y are linked through communication between the MEC system A (or MEP A) and the MEC system C (or MEP C) (S110).

[0181] Therefore, in the present disclosure, the communication / link between MEC App X and MEC App Y is supported through the link between different MEC operators (e.g., MEC A<->MEC C) in different MEC infrastructure (e.g., MNO 1 and MNO 2) environments. This scenario will correspond to Figure 5 The inter-MEC / inter-MNO scenario shown in FIG.

[0182] According to the operation method of the alliance manager of the present disclosure, when it is determined from the returned / sent search results that the search is unsuccessful ( S90 , “No”), the alliance manager 100 ( 1 ) may support the link between MEC App X and Cloud App Y ( S120 ).

[0183] That is, in this disclosure, Figure 7As shown in , when the search for a MEC system (or MEP) suitable for MEC App Y with which a link is requested by MEC App X is unsuccessful among the MEC systems (or MEPs) registered in the alliance manager 100 (1) and the MEC systems (or MEPs) registered in other alliance managers, the link between MEC App X (i.e., App X in the MEC environment) and Cloud App Y can be supported / established through the cloud as before.

[0184] As described above, in the present disclosure, a federation manager can be provided for each MNO (or MEC provider) operating MEC, thereby implementing a structure that enables searching / sending information among MEC systems managed by each federation manager. In addition, based on the above-mentioned structure, various linking scenarios can be served that provide direct links between each of the MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0185] In this way, in the present disclosure, an effect of supporting inter-service linkage in an inter-MEC environment is achieved by realizing a structure that enables direct linkage between MEC services installed in different MEC systems.

[0186] For this reason, the present disclosure can contribute to the improvement of MEC service quality and the commercialization of MEC through inter-service link support in the inter-MEC environment, and thus the effect of building a more complete MEC environment can also be expected.

[0187] As described above, the operating method of the alliance manager according to the present disclosure can be implemented in the form of program commands executed by various computer devices and can be recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium can include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. independently or in combination. The program commands recorded in the medium can be specially designed and configured for the present disclosure, or can be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floppy disks, and hardware devices (such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc.) that are specially configured to store and execute program commands. Examples of program commands can include high-level language codes that can be executed in a computer using an interpreter and machine language codes formed by a compiler. The above-mentioned hardware devices can be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present disclosure, and vice versa.

[0188] The present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to various embodiments, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical concept of the present disclosure is extendible to the extent that various changes or modifications can be made without departing from the subject matter of the present disclosure claimed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An edge integrated control device, comprising: An information register configured to obtain, from at least one multi-access edge computing (MEC) orchestrator (MEO), information related to at least one MEC system associated with the at least one MEO and at least one MEC application installed in the MEC system and register the information in the information register; as well as A link controller that is configured to: receiving an inter-MEC application request from a first MEC application among the at least one MEO, the received inter-MEC application request including identification information of a first MEC application and identification information of a second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received when the first MEC application in a first MEC system associated with the first MEO requests a link with the second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request from the first MEO is received at the link controller when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application and the second MEC application is not installed in the MEC system associated with the first MEO, and In response to receiving the inter-MEC application request, searching for at least one of an MEC application and an MEC system to be linked based on the information registered in the information register for each of the at least one MEO, and Wherein, the edge integrated control device including the information register and the link controller is arranged outside the first MEO.

2. The edge integrated control device according to claim 1, wherein: The inter-MEC application request includes at least one of a key performance indicator (KPI) related to the inter-MEC application request and location information of a terminal served by the first MEC application.

3. The edge integrated control device according to claim 1, wherein: The information obtained from the at least one MEO and registered in the information register includes: Information about each MEO, System-related information, including at least one of MEC system resource information, network status information, and system location information of each MEC system, and The MEC application related information includes at least one of a KPI and identification information of each MEC application installed in the MEC system of each MEC system.

4. The edge integrated control device according to claim 1, wherein: The link controller is configured to: searching for a second MEC system in which the second MEC application to be linked is installed based on the information registered in the information register for each of the at least one MEO, and When the second MEC system having the second MEC application installed is found, information about the second MEC system is sent to the first MEC system, so that the first MEC application can be linked with the second MEC application through communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

5. The edge integrated control device according to claim 4, wherein: The link controller is configured to send the inter-MEC application request to other edge integrated control devices when the second MEC system with the second MEC application installed is not found, so that the result of searching for the second MEC system with the second MEC application to be linked installed among the MEC systems registered in the other edge integrated control devices is sent to the first MEC system.

6. The edge integrated control device according to claim 5, wherein: The search result sent to the first MEC system includes information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system when the second MEC system having the second MEC application installed is found in the other edge integrated control device, and The link controller is configured to send information about the second MEC system included in the search result to the first MEC system, so that the first MEC application can be linked with the second MEC application through communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

7. The edge integrated control device according to claim 5, wherein: The link controller is configured to support a link between the first MEC application and the second MEC application in a cloud environment when the second MEC system having the second MEC application installed is not found in the other edge integrated control devices.

8. An edge integrated control device, comprising: an information register configured to obtain, from at least one MEO, information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one of the MEC applications installed in the MEC system and register the information in the information register; as well as a link controller that receives, when an inter-MEC application request is sent from another edge integrated control device based on a first MEC application requesting a link with a second MEC application different from the first MEC application, the inter-MEC application request including identification information of the first MEC application and identification information of the second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received when the first MEC application in a first MEC system associated with a first MEC system requests a link with the second MEC application, wherein when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application and the second MEC application is not installed in the MEC system associated with the first MEO, the inter-MEC application request is received at the link controller from the first MEO, and the link controller is configured to search for at least one of a MEC system and a MEC application to be linked according to the inter-MEC application request based on the information registered in the information register for each of the at least one MEO, and Wherein, the edge integrated control device including the information register and the link controller is arranged outside the at least one MEO.

9. The edge integrated control device according to claim 8, wherein: The link controller is configured to, when searching for a second MEC system having installed therein the second MEC application to be linked, perform the search based on a proximity between the terminal and the system, The proximity between the terminal and the system is predefined based on system location information of each MEC system registered in the information register and location information of the terminal served by the first MEC application related to the inter-MEC application request.

10. The edge integrated control device according to claim 8, wherein: The link controller is configured to send a search result according to the inter-MEC application request to a first MEC system having the first MEC application installed thereon.

11. The edge integrated control device according to claim 10, wherein: The link controller is configured to, when a second MEC system having the second MEC application to be linked is found, control the MEO associated with the second MEC system to send the search result to the MEO associated with the first MEC system through an interface between MEOs, The search result includes information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

12. The edge integrated control device according to claim 10, wherein: The link controller is configured to, when finding a second MEC system installed with the second MEC application to be linked, send the search result to the MEO associated with the first MEC system via other edge integration control devices through an interface between edge integration control devices, The search result includes information about the second MEC system necessary for communication between the first MEC system and the second MEC system.

13. A method for operating an edge integrated control device, the method comprising the following steps: Acquiring, from at least one MEO, information related to at least one MEC system associated with the at least one MEO and at least one of a MEC application installed in the MEC system and registering the information; receiving an inter-MEC application request for triggering a link from a first MEO among the at least one MEO, the inter-MEC application request including identification information of a first MEC application and identification information of a second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received when the first MEC application in a first MEC system associated with the first MEO requests a link with the second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received from the first MEO when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application and the second MEC application is not installed in the MEC system associated with the first MEO, and At least one of the second MEC application and the MEC system to be linked is searched based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO.

14. A method for operating an edge integrated control device, the method comprising the following steps: Acquiring, from at least one MEO, information related to at least one MEC system associated with the MEO and at least one of a MEC application installed in the MEC system and registering the information; receiving an inter-MEC application request for triggering a link, the inter-MEC application request including identification information of a first MEC application and identification information of a second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application, wherein the inter-MEC application request is received from the first MEO when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application and the second MEC application is not installed in a MEC system associated with the first MEO, and When the inter-MEC application request is sent from the other edge integration control device when the first MEC application requests a link with the second MEC application that is different from the first MEC application, at least one of the MEC systems and MEC applications to be linked according to the inter-MEC application request is searched based on the information registered for each of the at least one MEO.

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