Access and Mobility Policy Control at the Network Edge

Abstract

The fifth generation (5G) system architecture is defined as service-based and the core network functions are described as sets of services accessible through application programming interfaces (API). One of the components of 5G is Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) which provides the open access to radio network functions through API. Using the mobile edge API third party analytics applications may provide intelligence in the vicinity of end users which improves network performance and enhances user experience. In this paper, we propose new mobile edge API to access and control the mobility at the network edge. The application logic for provisioning access and mobility policies may be based on considerations like load level information per radio network slice instance, user location, accumulated usage, local policy, etc. We describe the basic API functionality by typical use cases and provide the respective data model, which represents the resource structure and data types. Some implementation aspects, related to modeling the resource states as seen by a mobile edge application and by the network, are discussed.