Application Context Relocation Using EES Endpoint Awareness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for application context relocation (ACR) between Cloud Application Servers (CAS) and Edge Application Servers (EAS) in edge computing environments face challenges in determining and executing seamless service continuity, particularly due to the lack of awareness by CAS about the serving Edge Enabler Server (EES) information, leading to issues in maintaining application context during UE mobility and service continuity.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves allowing the EES to inform the CAS about its presence during ACR, enabling the CAS to store and retrieve EES endpoint information, facilitating targeted EAS discovery and ensuring efficient application context transfer through a central repository for EES information management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the CAS does not store EES endpoint information, then the system complexity is reduced, but the service continuity and ACR capability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The CAS performs preliminary action by proactively retrieving and storing EES endpoint information from the central repository before ACR is needed. This preparation ensures that when ACR occurs, the CAS already has the necessary EES information cached, enabling seamless service continuity without adding complex real-time retrieval mechanisms during the critical transition period.
Solution Approach 2:
The central repository acts as an intermediary that stores EES endpoint information and provides it to the CAS on demand. This intermediary approach allows the CAS to maintain service continuity capability without directly managing complex EES information structures, thereby achieving reliability improvement with controlled complexity increase.
2Productivity
If the EES does not inform the CAS about its presence, then the information management complexity is reduced, but the application context transfer efficiency is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The EES provides feedback to the CAS by informing it of its presence and endpoint information through the central repository. This feedback mechanism enables the CAS to efficiently retrieve necessary EES information for application context transfer during ACR, improving productivity while the centralized feedback structure prevents complexity proliferation.
Solution Approach 2:
The central repository serves multiple functions: it stores EES endpoint information, provides this information to the CAS, and maintains the feedback loop. This multi-functionality consolidates information management complexity into a single universal component rather than distributing it across multiple specialized systems, thereby improving transfer efficiency without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the CAS retrieves EES information in real-time during ACR, then the information accuracy is improved, but the service interruption time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The CAS retrieves EES endpoint information from the central repository in advance during the ACR preparation phase, before the actual service transition occurs. This preliminary retrieval ensures the information is accurate and ready, while eliminating the need for real-time retrieval during the critical ACR execution phase, thereby reducing service interruption time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares and caches the necessary EES information in advance during ACR setup, creating a buffer of ready-to-use information. This beforehand cushioning ensures that when the ACR execution begins, the CAS already has accurate EES information available, eliminating delays that would otherwise occur during real-time information retrieval and reducing overall service interruption time.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide method and apparatus for application context relocation. A method performed by a cloud application server (CAS) comprises receiving a first request from an edge enabler server (EES) selected for an edge enabler client (EEC) of a user equipment (UE) during a procedure of application context relocation (ACR) or after the EES receiving an edge application server (EAS) information provisioning request. The first request comprises endpoint information of the EES. The method further comprises storing the endpoint information of the EES.