5G has a number of challenges to solve. Higher data usage and processing power necessities have
emerged from the increasing number of mobile users as well as mobile applications becoming more and
more demanding. There is a significant need to reduce the latency of the mobile network while cutting
down on energy consumption. Backhaul traffic needs to be optimized to avoid setting up costly backhaul
connections. Many IoT scenarios have conflicting requirements; the need for cheap and low complexity
devices vs the need for processing power. Operators need to come up with value added services to
avoid being dumb-pipe operators. The answer to these challenges and more require cloud-computing
capabilities within the Radio Access Network (RAN) as well as a platform for mobile operators and third-
party application providers to utilize these computing capabilities. This is where Mobile Edge Computing
(MEC), one of the key emerging technologies for 5G, comes into play. With advanced technologies and
architectural concepts MEC provides computation and storage capabilities in close proximity to mobile
subscribers and offer applications and services with context-related service capabilities to have direct
access to real-time radio network information and a service environment with ultra-low latency and high
bandwidth. The project proposes to not only develop and demonstrate a complete MEC solution,
including the MEC framework, Base Station services and applications to run on top, but also offers
innovative features like constraint based mobile edge selection, using data analytics to enrich and refine
real-time radio network information and utilizing Software Defined Wireless Networks (SDWN) concepts
to improve mobility and resource allocation services to enable operators and applications providers to
come up with new and improved service capabilities.
