ETSI Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)

In 2022 technologies and trends such as Massive Internet of Things (MIoT) and the roll-out of 5G call for a service deployment platform which can deliver high bandwidth as well as ultra-low latency for certain users and applications. ETSI’s work on Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) addresses this, by defining and standardizing an efficient data processing architecture, that extends the existing cloud computing capabilities. The main objectives of MEC can be summarized as: Optimization of mobile network resources by hosting compute-intensive applications at the edge of the network Allowing pre-processing of the large data volumes before sending data deeper into the cloud Enabling cloud services within the proximity of mobile subscribers, and Providing context aware so called MEC Services to MEC Applications with the help of radio access network information. In doing so, MEC enables a wide variety of applications for which very low latencies are required, such as applications for driverless vehicles, virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR), robotics and immerse media.