MEC Support for Network Slicing: Status and Limitations from a Standardization Viewpoint

Abstract

Edge computing and network slicing might be considered as main pillars of the upcoming 5G systems as they inject flexibility in the network management operations. While one prominent architectural framework for edge computing has been recently defined by the ETSI standard organization, namely Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), network slicing has reached its momentum by fostering interest in different standardization bodies and fora. To better understand how such distinct network slicing definitions impact on the standardized MEC framework, ETSI has recently published a study on the matter. In this paper, we first overview with a comprehensive analysis the different network slicing concepts and their relationship. Then, we elaborate on the ETSI study to provide an integrated view of network slicing technology within the context of MEC. Finally, we report on the open challenges in the ETSI study and we propose two solutions to evolve the current MEC framework towards end-to-end multi-slice support and efficient multi-tenant inter-slice communication in 5G deployments.