Sophia Antipolis, 30 October 2014
IT and cloud-computing capabilities in close proximity to mobile subscribers
ETSI is launching a new Industry Specification Group (ISG) for Mobile-edge Computing (MEC). The initiative was announced during the SDN & OpenFlow World Congress in Dusseldorf in Germany, taking place from 14-17 October. The first meeting of the group will take place, December 2-4, 2014 in Munich, Germany.
Mobile-edge Computing provides IT and cloud-computing capabilities within the Radio Access Network (RAN) in close proximity to mobile subscribers. Located at the base station or at the Radio Network Controller, it also provides access to real-time radio and network information such as subscriber location or cell load that can be exploited by applications and services to offer context-related services. For application developers and content providers, the RAN edge offers a service environment characterized by proximity, ultra-low latency, high-bandwidth, as well as real-time access to radio network information and location awareness. Mobile-edge Computing allows content, services and applications to be accelerated, maintaining a customer’s experience across different radio and network conditions.
“Mobile-edge Computing creates a new value chain and an energized ecosystem, based on innovation and business value where mobile operators, application developers, content providers, OTT players, network equipment vendors, IT and middleware providers can benefit from greater cooperation,” says Nurit Sprecher, Convenor of the ETSI’s Industry Specification Group. “MEC will enable operators to open their Radio Access Network (RAN) edge to authorized third-parties, allowing them to flexibly and rapidly deploy innovative applications and services. We can look forward to a myriad of new use cases across multiple sectors as well as the many benefits that will result from increased collaboration between the different players in the value-chain”.
The future standardized, open environment will allow efficient and seamless integration of third-party applications across multi-vendor platforms, ensuring that the vast majority of customers of a mobile operator can be served. The ISG MEC will also enable and accelerate the development of edge applications across the industry, increasing the market scale and improving the market economics.
The ISG will start working on a framework and reference architecture, specification of platform services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), a Virtual Machine Service Level Agreement, and an ontology of terminology used.
Participation in the Mobile-edge Computing Industry Specification Group is open to all ETSI members as well as organizations who are not members, subject to signing ISG Agreements. A complete list of ISG MEC members is published on the ETSI Portal pages for MEC. For information on how to participate please contact ISGsupport@etsi.org