Title
On the integration of NFV and MEC technologies: architecture analysis and benefits for edge robotics
Abstract
Forthcoming networks will need to accommodate a large variety of services over a common shared infrastructure. To achieve the necessary flexibility and cost savings, these networks will need to leverage two promising technologies: Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). While the benefits of NFV and MEC have been largely studied as independent domains, the benefits of an harmonized system comprising these two technologies remains largely unexplored. In this article we first identify a set of reference use cases that would benefit from a joint use of MEC and NFV. Then, we analyze the current state-of-the-art on MEC and NFV integration and we identify several issues that prevent a seamless integration. Next, we consider a reference use case, namely Edge Robotics, to exemplify and characterize these issues in terms of the overall service life cycle: from the initial development, to deployment and termination.
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1016/j.comnet.2020.107274
Computer Networks
Keywords
DocType
Volume
NFV,MEC,Integration,Edge robotics,Use case
Journal
175
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1389-1286
4
0.43
References 
Authors
0
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
K. Antevski151.86
Carlos J. Bernardos212316.42
Luca Cominardi363.18
Antonio de la Oliva456450.52
Alain Mourad57613.62