Achieving Deterministic Service in Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) Networks

TL;DR

This paper proposes a deterministic MEC network architecture that ensures bounded latency and reliable service in 5G applications by adapting deterministic IP networking techniques with novel mechanisms for resource management.

Contribution

It introduces a new D-MEC network design with cycle mapping and shifting, enabling deterministic service with heterogeneous resources and improved throughput in MEC environments.

Findings

Achieves bounded latency in MEC networks under high load

Enables deterministic transmission with heterogeneous resources

Improves network throughput while guaranteeing QoS

Abstract

Mobile edge computing (MEC) is proposed to boost high-efficient and time-sensitive 5G applications. However, the "microburst" may occur even in lightly-loaded scenarios, which leads to the indeterministic service latency (i.e., unpredictable delay or delay variation), hence hindering the deployment of MEC. Deterministic IP networking (DIP) has been proposed that can provide bounds on latency, and high reliability in the large-scale networks. Nevertheless, the direct migration of DIP into the MEC network is non-trivial owing to its original design for the Ethernet with homogeneous devices. Meanwhile, DIP also faces the challenges on the network throughput and scheduling flexibility. In this paper, we delve into the adoption of DIP for the MEC networks and some of the relevant aspects. A deterministic MEC (D-MEC) network is proposed to deliver the deterministic service (i.e., providing the MEC service with bounded service latency). In the D-MEC network, two mechanisms, including the cycle mapping and cycle shifting, are designed to enable: (i) seamless and deterministic transmission with heterogeneous underlaid resources; and (ii) traffic shaping on the edges to improve the resource utilization. We also formulate a joint configuration to maximize the network throughput with deterministic QoS guarantees. Extensive simulations verify that the proposed D-MEC network can achieve a deterministic MEC service, even in the highly-loaded scenarios.