Software defined mobility management in network slicing enabled multi-access edge computing

Network slicing is a key enabler for 5G and beyond networks that permits operators to provide scalable, flexible, and dedicated networks over a common physical infrastructure. To cope with the rising demand for Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication in beyond 5G networks, the provision of dedicated secure networks closer to the users is essential. Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) is a promising technology that provides data and computational resources closer to mobile users. However, MEC servers are resource-constrained, and offering dedicated service-specific network slices at the edge in a highly dynamic and mobile environment is challenging. Network slicing and MEC are being evolved by two different standardization bodies that limit their integration and raise mobility challenges that are the focus of this research. Achieving diverse network performance requirements of service-specific dedicated network slices in a mobile and dynamic environment is challenging because of the densely deployed yet resource-constrained MEC servers. A solution to ensure continued service quality is to migrate the service-specific dedicated network slices at the MEC according to the mobility of users. However, in a highly dynamic and mobile environment like vehicular communications, this may result in repeated relocation of services, incurring high operational costs and poor utilization of network resources. Each service has a diverse set of requirements, e.g., delay and throughput. Meeting these strict requirements in a highly dynamic and complex vehicular network environment is an exacting challenge. In this research, the support of the Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm for wireless networks was extended to include novel and efficient network architectures and frameworks that support MEC service mobility and handover management. The SDN-based extension modules perform MEC services, and network slice mobility management, i.e., handover, beyond the conventional handover approaches found in the literature. The proposed research answers the following challenges in the network slicing enabled MEC domain: when to migrate, what to migrate, and where to migrate, particularly for multiple services and mobile network operator scenarios. In this research, SDN concepts are leveraged in MEC to provide a unified control plane interface that performs effective network and service mobility management, to manage the heterogeneity of service requests within the resource-constrained MEC servers. This research also presents a novel framework and networking architecture that supports network slicing enabled MEC leveraging cloud-native virtualization technologies. A proposed cloud-native microservices architecture for network slice mobility management in MEC permits each MEC slice to be distributed as stateless and independently deployable microservices. The proposed architecture leverages new SDN extended federation modules in compliance with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute requirements for inter-MEC system coordination. The federation modules support a more flexible and scalable creation of network slices at MEC servers, efficient resource utilization, and mobility of network slices across MEC servers.