MEC Application Registry for Federated Service Discovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing MEC federation systems face challenges in ensuring proper collaboration and interoperability among various entities due to limitations in orchestration, functional coordination, and resource management, particularly in complex mobility settings with multiple participants, leading to inefficiencies in network resource utilization and service availability.
Innovation Solution
A hierarchical framework is introduced for a MEC App Registry in a MEC Federation, incorporating customizable information exchange protocols and interfaces to enable interoperability, secure communication, and customized access policies among federating members, adhering to GSMA OPG and ETSI MEC standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a federated MEC system is implemented to enable collaboration among multiple entities, then service availability and resource utilization are improved, but orchestration complexity and functional coordination difficulties increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the federated MEC system into hierarchical levels (core network level, edge level, and device level), with each level having dedicated management functions. The core network handles high-level orchestration and policy management, while edge levels handle local resource coordination, thereby distributing complexity across multiple manageable segments rather than concentrating it in a single centralized system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary entities such as Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), and Edge Orchestration Functions that act as mediators between different federated MEC participants. These intermediaries facilitate coordination, information exchange, and resource allocation among multiple entities, reducing direct communication complexity while maintaining system-wide coherence.
2Reliability
If customized access policies and secure communication protocols are implemented among federating members, then security and interoperability are improved, but system complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universal standardized interfaces and protocols (such as Service-Based Interfaces, RESTful APIs, and common data models) that enable multiple federated MEC participants to interoperate using the same communication framework. This multi-functional approach allows different entities to securely communicate through standardized mechanisms rather than requiring custom point-to-point solutions, reducing implementation difficulty while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter-based access control policies where security permissions, resource allocation parameters, and communication rights are defined through configurable parameters and attributes. By changing and adjusting these parameters rather than redesigning the entire security architecture, the system can adapt to different security requirements and interoperability scenarios, making implementation more manageable.
3Productivity
If comprehensive application registry information is maintained across MEC federation, then service discovery and resource management are improved, but information exchange overhead and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary registration and indexing of applications, services, and resources in centralized repositories and distributed registries before actual service requests occur. Application metadata, capability descriptions, and resource inventories are pre-processed and stored in structured formats, enabling rapid service discovery through simple queries rather than requiring comprehensive real-time information exchange when services are actually needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent organizes application registry information across multiple dimensions including spatial distribution (local edge registries vs. centralized federation-wide repositories), temporal aspects (real-time updates vs. periodic synchronization), and hierarchical levels (application-level vs. service-level vs. resource-level metadata). This multi-dimensional organization allows efficient service discovery by querying only the necessary dimension rather than processing the entire information space.
Data Source
AI summary
Various systems and methods are described implementing a multi-access edge computing (MEC) based system to realize MEC application registration and application data functions for MEC frameworks. In an example, operations are performed at a MEC orchestrator to maintain a registry of applications within a MEC system or among a federation of MEC systems, with the MEC orchestrator performing operations including: identifying, based on the communications with a plurality of MEC hosts, a plurality of applications provided by the MEC hosts in the MEC system (or, by applications provided by a plurality of MEC hosts in a federation); storing and synchronizing application information for the plurality of applications in a registry; and communicating the application information from the registry to an entity of the MEC system or to an entity federated with the MEC system.