Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); End to End Mobility Aspects

DGR/MEC-0018E2EMobility

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
17-Oct-2017
Current Stage
12 - Completion
Due Date
25-Oct-2017
Completion Date
18-Oct-2017
Ref Project
Standard
ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10) - Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); End to End Mobility Aspects
English language
52 pages
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Standards Content (Sample)


GROUP REPORT
Mobile Edge Computing (MEC);
End to End Mobility Aspects
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) ETSI Industry Specification
Group (ISG) and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.

2 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)

Reference
DGR/MEC-0018E2EMobility
Keywords
MEC, mobility
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3 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Modal verbs terminology . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 6
3 Definitions and abbreviations . 6
3.1 Definitions . 6
3.2 Abbreviations . 7
4 Mobility requirements and use cases . 7
4.1 Requirements and scenarios for mobility in ME system . 7
4.1.1 Requirements for mobility in ME system . 7
4.1.2 Mobility scenarios in ME system . 8
4.2 Use case for optimization of application state relocation . 9
4.3 Use case for prediction of relocation timing. 10
4.4 Use case for mission critical low latency application relocation . 11
4.5 Use case for service continuity with the UE moves in/out of ME host serving area . 12
4.6 Use case for initial or/and simple deployment . 13
4.7 GW based use case . 13
5 End to end information flows to support mobility . 14
5.1 An overview . 14
5.2 A flow for intra-ME host mobility . 16
5.3 A flow for inter-ME host mobility . 16
5.4 A flow for terminating an application instance . 17
5.4.1 Terminate a dedicated service produced by application instance . 17
5.4.2 Terminate a shared service produced by application instance . 18
5.4.3 Gaps identified by information flow . 20
5.4.3.1 App instance life cycle change/creation/deletion notification . 20
5.4.3.2 Shared application instance creation and deletion . 20
5.5 Evaluation of application instance relocation . 21
5.5.1 General . 21
5.5.2 Relocation notations . 21
5.5.3 High-level information flows for relocation procedure . 22
5.5.4 Overview for a specific relocation method . 22
5.5.5 Evaluation for a specific relocation method. 23
5.5.6 Gaps identified by information flow . 23
6 Key issues and potential solutions . 24
6.1 Introduction . 24
6.1.1 Roles and functions in service provisioning . 24
6.1.2 Problems and Assumptions . 25
6.1.3 Characterization of Service Continuity . 26
6.2 Key Issues . 27
6.2.1 Key Issue: The optimization of application state relocation . 27
6.2.1.1 Description . 27
6.2.1.2 Solution 1: MEH assisted state relocation without RNIS. 27
6.2.1.3 Solution 2: MEH assisted proactive state relocation for UE in connected mode . 28
6.2.1.4 Solution 3: UE assisted state relocation . 29
6.2.1.5 Solution 4: User plane optimization function . 30
6.2.1.6 Gaps identified by the key issue . 30
6.2.1.6.1 ME application relocation detection . 30
6.2.1.6.2 New function of user plane optimization function in MEPM . 31
6.2.2 Key Issue: UE IP address change . 31
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4 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
6.2.2.1 Description . 31
6.2.2.2 Solution 1 . 31
6.2.2.3 Gaps identified by the key issue . 32
6.2.3 Key Issue: Updating downlink traffic rules . 32
6.2.3.1 Description . 32
6.2.3.2 Solution 1: Update bearer information between different RNIS within one host . 32
6.2.3.3 Solution 2: Update bearer information by RNIS within one host . 33
6.2.3.4 Solution 3: Update bearer information between different ME hosts . 34
6.2.3.5 Gaps identified by the key issue . 35
6.2.4 Key Issue: Updating forwarding path inter ME host . 35
6.2.4.1 Description . 35
6.2.4.2 Solution . 35
6.2.4.3 Gaps identified by the key issue . 35
6.2.5 Key Issue: Application instance relocation . 35
6.2.5.1 Description . 35
6.2.5.2 Solutions . 36
6.2.5.2.1 Assumption . 36
6.2.5.2.2 Solution for stateless application instance relocation . 36
6.2.5.2.3 Solution for stateful application instance relocation . 38
6.2.5.3 Gaps identified by the key issue . 40
6.2.5.3.1 ME application mobility service . 40
6.2.5.3.2 Enhancement of platform application enablement . 41
6.2.6 Key Issue: Update traffic routing rules . 41
6.2.6.1 Description . 41
6.2.6.2 Solution 1: update traffic routing rules triggered by RNIS . 41
6.2.6.3 Solution 2: update traffic routing rules triggered by UE UL Traffic . 43
6.2.6.4 Solution 3: update traffic routing rules triggered by Mobile Edge Orchestrator . 45
6.2.6.5 Gaps identified by the key issue . 46
6.2.7 Key Issue: Connectivity architecture . 47
6.2.7.1 Description . 47
6.2.7.2 Solutions . 48
6.2.8 Key Issue: Session and service continuity mode indication to network . 48
6.2.8.1 Description . 48
6.2.8.2 Solutions . 49
6.2.8.3 Gaps identified by the key issue . 49
6.2.9 Key Issue: Application relocations in case of ping-pong handovers . 49
6.2.9.1 Description . 49
6.2.9.2 Solutions . 49
7 Gap Analysis and Recommendations . 49
7.1 Gap analysis . 49
7.2 Recommendations . 51
History . 52

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5 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Group Report (GR) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Mobile Edge Computing
(MEC).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.

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6 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
1 Scope
The present document focuses on mobility support provided by Mobile Edge Computing. It documents mobility use
cases and end to end information flows to support UE and Application mobility for Mobile Edge Computing. When
necessary, the present document describes new mobile edge services or interfaces, as well as changes to existing mobile
edge services or interfaces, data models, application rules and requirements. The present document identifies gaps to
support mobility that are not covered by existing WIs, documents these gaps and recommends the necessary normative
work to close these gaps.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ETSI GS MEC 001: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) Terminology".
[i.2] ETSI GS MEC 003: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Framework and Reference Architecture".
[i.3] ETSI GS MEC 013: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Location API".
[i.4] ETSI GS MEC 010-2: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Mobile Edge Management;
Part 2: Application lifecycle, rules and requirements management".
[i.5] ETSI GS MEC 011: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Mobile Edge Platform Application
Enablement".
[i.6] ETSI GS MEC 012: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Radio Network Information API".
[i.7] ETSI GS MEC 002: "Mobile Edge Computing (MEC); Technical Requirements".
[i.8] 3GPP TS 23.501: "System Architecture for the 5G System; Stage 2".
3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the terms and definitions given in ETSI GS MEC 001 [i.1] and the following
apply:
application instance: realized software program executed in mobile edge host, which can provide service to serve
consumer(s)
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7 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
application instance relocation: procedure of moving an application instance running on a mobile edge host to another
mobile edge host, to support service continuity over underlying network
application instance state transfer: procedure of transferring the operational state of application instance from the
source mobile edge host to the instance of the same application in the target host
application mobility: part of mobility procedure for mobile edge system
NOTE: It relocates an application dedicated to a service consumer or shared by multiple service consumers from
one mobile edge host to another. Application mobility may include application instance relocation and/or
application instance state transfer from one mobile edge host to another.
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in ETSI GS MEC 001 [i.1] and the following apply:
App Application
CPN Connectivity Provider Network
DP Data Plane
GW Gateway
FFS For Further Study
MAMS ME Application Mobility Service
ME Mobile Edge
MEH Mobile Edge Host
MEO Mobile Edge Orchestrator
MEP Mobile Edge Platform
MEPM Mobile Edge Platform Manager
PDN Packet Data Network
RNIS Radio Network Information Service
S-DP Date Plane of Source MEH
S-MEH Source MEH
S-MEP MEP of Source MEH
T-DP Data Plane of Target MEH
T-MEH Target MEH
T-MEP MEP of Target MEH
UE User Equipment
VIM Virtualization Infrastructure Manager
VM Virtual Machine
4 Mobility requirements and use cases
4.1 Requirements and scenarios for mobility in ME system
4.1.1 Requirements for mobility in ME system
ME mobility is an important Mobile Edge Computing feature in a mobile environment, since UE mobility supported by
the underlying network can result in UE moving to a network entity associated with a different ME host from the
current serving ME host. ME system needs to support the following:
• continuity of the service;
• mobility of application (VM), i.e. relocation of application instance; and
• mobility of application-specific user-related information, i.e. transfer application instance state related to UE.
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To support ME service continuity, ME application mobility may involve multiple ME functional entities in order to
relocate application instances and transfer user and application-specific information within the ME system. Relocation
decisions may be based on UE mobility, customer profiles and/or ME infrastructure capability. The requirements
related to ME application mobility are listed as Mobility-01, 02, 03, Connectivity-01, 02, 03, 04, Routing-01, 02, 03, 04,
06, 10, 14, SmartReloc-01, 02, 03, 04,05, 06 in ETSI GS MEC 002 [i.7]. Table 4.1.1-1 summarizes the architecture
requirements related to ME mobility in ETSI GS MEC 003 [i.2].
Table 4.1.1-1: Requirements for ME mobility
Numbering Functional requirement description
Arch-01 The mobile edge system should support the mobility of application:
• as a consequence of UE moving within the ME system; or
• at a certain condition that requires to move the ME applications to different ME
host.
Arch-02 The mobile edge system should support the ME service continuity of UE as the
consequence of the application movement within the ME system, and support the
mobility of application-specific and user-related information.
Arch-03 The mobile edge system should support application mobility for ME applications not
sensitive to UE mobility.
See note 1.
Arch-04 The mobile edge system should support application mobility for the ME applications
sensitive to UE mobility:
• Maintaining connectivity between UE and mobile edge application instance.
• Application state relocation.
• Application instance relocation within the mobile edge system.
Arch-05 The mobile edge system should support:
• application instance or state relocation in MEC system.
• application instance relocation between the mobile edge system and/or an
external cloud environment.
See note 2.
NOTE 1: UE mobility means IP session mobility supported by underlying network.
NOTE 2: This requires FFS.
4.1.2 Mobility scenarios in ME system
Mobility in ME system is concerned with service continuity when the service to UE is relocated to another ME host
within the ME system. ME service relocation may be triggered by UE's bearer path change in underlying network, or
MEC system optimization to reduce service latency to UE, and procedure of relocation depends on:
• topology of ME host deployment in underlying network;
• scope (to be defined below) of application instances being served to UE(s); and
• aspects of applications.
Scenario 1:
A UE moves in underlying network, but is still in the coverage of serving ME host, i.e. intra ME host mobility. In this
scenario, the ME system does not need to relocate service (i.e. application instance being served to UE, and/or UE
context) to keep service continuity.
Scenario 2:
A UE moves out of coverage area of source ME host to the coverage area of another ME host (target), i.e. inter ME host
mobility. This scenario may result in interrupt of service to the UE. In order to provide service continuity to UE, the ME
system needs to relocate the service to UE from source ME host to target ME host.
Relocation of service to UE may need to further consider application scope:
• Dedicated application: An ME application instance is dedicated to serving a specific UE. When the UE moves
to another entity of underlying network which is associated to different ME host from the serving ME host, the
ME application instance being served to the UE should be relocated to the new ME host from the current
serving ME host.
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9 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
• Shared application: An ME application instance at the serving ME host may not be dedicated to serving a
specific UE. Instead, it may serve multiple UEs (such as multi-cast), or all UEs associated with the ME host
(broadcast). When a UE moves to another entity of underlying network which is associated to a different ME
host from the serving ME host, the ME application may not need to be instantiated at the target ME host, but
require transfer the UE context to the application instance if it has been instantiated at the target ME host
already. For example, a broadcast service may be provided by the shared application instance. When a UE
subscribing to the broadcast service at the serving ME host moves to a new location in the underlying network,
UE context related to the broadcast service is transferred from the serving ME host to the broadcast service at
the new ME host so that the UE can continue being served by the broadcast service at the new location of
underlying network. As the application instance at the source ME host may still be required to serve other
UEs, the application instance at the source ME host is not torn down after the UE is served at the target ME
host.
In addition, ME mobility also needs to consider aspects of the application instance being served to a UE:
• Stateless: A stateless application is an application that does not memorize the service state or recorded data
about UE for use in the next service session; or
• Stateful: A stateful application is an application that can record the information about service state during a
session change. The state information may be stored in the UE app or ME app instance in the serving ME host,
which can be used to facilitate service continuity during the session transition.
ME mobility for stateless application does not require transferring UE state information to the application instance at
target ME host, while ME mobility for stateful application does need to transfer UE context to support service
continuity to UE.
Table 4.1.2-1 summarizes relocation of application instance and state information involved in different service mobility,
application scopes and aspects.
Table 4.1.2-1: Application instance relocation and UE state information transfer for service continuity
Service Mobility Scope State Application instance Application
relocation for high instance
service continuity relocation for low
service continuity
Intra ME host Any Any No No
Inter ME host Dedicated Stateless App instance relocation FFS
Stateful State transfer; FFS
and/or
App instance relocation
Shared Stateless App instance relocation FFS
(conditional)
Stateful State transfer; FFS
and/or
App instance relocation
(conditional)
4.2 Use case for optimization of application state relocation
Optimization based on user group
In a virtual reality multiplayer game, the mobile players are one by one moving away for current serving ME host.
Ideally it would be to have all players on the same game level hosting on the same ME host. However this may impact
latency. The players should be distributed in such a way that as many players as possible experience the required
latency. The system may then group the players on to as few ME hosts as possible as long as the latency requirements
are still fulfilled.
Optimal time window
A user playing a virtual reality game on a train is moving further away from the current ME host. The user context of
the ME application needs to be relocated to a more optimal ME host. An optimal time window needs to be allocated to
make the user context relocation with minimum impact on the QoE. Figure 4.2-1 shows an example of optimal time
window for a latency sensitive application e.g. when the game is changing between different levels.
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10 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Planned relocation
without this
Optimized relocation
optimization
Latency sensitiv period Latency sensitiv period
Latency sensitiv period
Time
Less latency sensitive period
(e.g. change of game level)
Application start
Figure 4.2-1: Optimal time window
4.3 Use case for prediction of relocation timing
Since user mobility in mobile systems is inevitable when a UE moves within a mobile network, the mobile edge host
serving to the UE can be changed. If it is foreseen that the application can react to such handover events by application-
specific means, or, if the optional SmartRelocation feature is supported, the mobile edge system could relocate the
application instance serving the UE to the target host. Reducing the relocation failure rate will be the key to improving
the quality of experience (QoE). Relocation failure has three components:
• too late relocation;
• too early relocation; and
• relocation to a wrong ME host.
Therefore, accurate prediction of the handover to the target ME host is an important issue in MEC.
EXAMPLE: If the UE is classified as having high mobility (e.g. connected car), the main concern is about the
possibility of too late relocation due to the UE's high velocity. However, if UE mobility
information is available, then the ME system can proactively predict the handover timing and
guarantee seamless and smooth relocation with optimal ME host selection such that the UE can
always receive maximum QoE. Figure 4.3-1 shows an example of the prediction of handover
timing for the connected car use case. The transit time in each cell can be estimated by the
assistance of the UE application (e.g. the car navigation system) or by a MEC-based solution. The
Location Service may also support prediction of the handover timing by retrieving the location
information of UEs and radio nodes (see ETSI GS MEC 013 [i.3]).

Figure 4.3-1: The prediction of handover timing for a connected car use case
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11 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
In a make-before-break scenario, the relocation of application state information to another ME host is completed before
the optimal ME host is changed, shown in figure 4.3-2. The ME system predicts the handover timing and informs the
ME application, which initiates state relocation to the optimal ME host in advance. The aim of pre-relocation is mainly
to reduce ME service's end to end delay and relocation delay during high mobility which can severely degrade ME
service performance.
NOTE: The actual procedure of application state relocation is application-specific.

Figure 4.3-2: Pre-relocation of application state information
4.4 Use case for mission critical low latency application
relocation
Mission critical low latency applications, such as Industrial IoT, Self-Driving Car, requires communication with very
high reliability and availability, as well as very low end toend latency going down to millisecond level. In order to
support very low latency, ME application is relocated close to the user as the user moves from one cell to another. The
relocation process itself may have a negative effect on application latency, e.g. there may be a "period of time" between
the attachment point handover and the ME host relocation, resulting in higher latency. To support critical low latency
applications it is therefore necessary for the ME system to support a relocation process that keep handover-induced
latency to a minimum.
A relocation process involves the following steps:
• Detect the need for relocation using radio network information.
• Identify target ME host.
• Move the application to the target ME host.
• Setup communication path.
Collecting the radio network information and processing it to complete the relocation process may not only require a
considerable amount of time, but will typically not meet the requirements in the worst case scenarios, e.g. when
prediction fails due to high UE manoeuvrability with regards to detection accuracy. Thus it becomes unsuitable for
mission critical very low latency applications.
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12 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)

Figure 4.4-1: Preconfigured Relocation Group
In such cases, it may be appropriate to pre-configure a set of ME hosts, where the ME application is allowed to run as
the user moves within those ME hosts. This set of ME hosts may be called a "relocation group". The relocation group
may be created based on the topological or physical location of ME hosts with regards to the application end users.
Users may influence the creation of a relocation group based on their QoE (Quality of Experience) and Security
preferences. Otherwise, ME system may also choose the relocation group for a User and ME application based on
subscription level and policy.
All ME hosts in the group may share user and application information, so that when user changes its attachment point,
communications among ME hosts of the relocation group may be setup quickly. Additionally, the ME application may
even start communicating with the UE before actual handover. As the user moves, ME system knows the list of target
hosts. Depending on the latency and criticality requirement, it may relocate ME application instance or application state
in advance to one or more hosts.
4.5 Use case for service continuity with the UE moves in/out of
ME host serving area
When a UE (in active mode) moves out of the ME host serving area and no other ME host could provide the service, the
UE should be provided with the service from the application server in SGi to maintain the service continuity and keep
the UE IP address the same. When the UE moves out of the ME host serving area, the user plane could have the
capability to retrieve the UE context from the ME host. When the UE moves in the ME host serving area, the control
plane could determine whether the current service from SGi should be terminated and the UE context is retrieved from
user plane to MEC host.
EXAMPLE: A user is watching videos on the mobile phone in a driving car and is moving out of the current
ME host serving area. There is no other ME host providing video service outside of the current
ME host. The video service should be terminated and the user context of the ME application needs
to be relocated to user plane. Figure 4.5-1 shows an example of this use case.
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13 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)

Figure 4.5-1: Use case of service continuity with the UE moves in/out of ME host serving area
4.6 Use case for initial or/and simple deployment
rd
A budget constrained 3 party MEC operator starts to roll out a new MEC network consisting of a few servers. The
operator does not have an RNIS available. What this operator has is only the servers connected to several gateways of a
mobile network or of a few networks of different technologies, based on a simple Service Level Agreement (SLA). The
application services provided by this operator have a QoS target that deviates from that of other operators. It is expected
that the design of MEC system provides means and options for such an operator to conduct business, without additional
technical limitations.
4.7 GW based use case
In this scenario, the mobile edge host is co-located with gateway. See figure 4.7-1.

Figure 4.7-1: Mobility in GW-based Use Case
When a UE moves to the serving area of target mobile edge host, the relocation of the mobile edge applications will be
performed for a guaranteed performance. As a consequence, the target mobile edge host will continually serve the UE
instead of the source mobile edge host. Potential issues caused in this situation are listed below:
• How the GWs (i.e. mobile edge host) keep session continuity for the PDN sessions of the moving UE whose
IP address changes after UE handover procedure.
• How to assist the mobile edge system to select the target mobile edge host with the information provided by
GWs.
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• How to optimize the application relocation with the mobile edge services, as well as the local context in GWs.
• How to maintain service continuity with upper layer mechanism if session continuity is not supported.
• How to reuse the Anchor functions provided by the GWs in mobile edge host.
• What information, favourable for (re)selection of user plane path and UE handover, can be fed back to GWs
by the mobile edge system.
5 End to end information flows to support mobility
5.1 An overview
ME mobility may involve multiple network entities, functional modules and services in ME system. The overview of
end to end message flows for support mobility provides a high level picture of relocating the service offered by an ME
application instance to another ME host of ME system. It aims to decouple the complete message flow of ME mobility
into one or more basic procedures which are defined in the present document or other MEC documents. Therefore ME
mobility can reuse those existing procedures, APIs, message flow and data models for relocating ME applications or
services as much as possible.
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T-app
S-app
UE S-MEP S-DP T-MEPM
S-RNIS S-MEPM OSS & MEO T-RNIS T-MEP T-DP
inst
Inst
1. UE bearer change detection
2. Service relocation management
3. Relocate the app instance to T-MEH if needed
4. Update traffic rules for UE and activate service to UE
5. Terminate the source service if needed
S-app T-app
UE S-DP
S-MEP S-MEPM OSS & MEO T-RNIS T-MEP T-DP T-MEPM
S-RNIS
Inst inst
Figure 5.1-1: An overview of ME mobility flow

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16 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
An ME mobility can start from an UE movement in underlying network. Figure 5.1-1 shows an example of ME
mobility flow triggered by UE movement in underlying network, with separated sub-procedures:
1) UE bearer change detection. An UE moves in underlying network and results in its bearer path change. The
bearer path change could cause:
a) UE is still in the coverage of serving ME host; or
b) UE moves out the coverage of serving ME host to the coverage of another ME host (target).
The UE bearer change could be detected by:
a) UE if its IP address is changed; or
b) RNIS if the MEH is associated with the signalling of underlying network, like S1 interface;
c) Data plane (DP) if a special traffic filter is applied to DP such as "end mark", source and/or destination
IP address of data packet which belongs to other MEH, etc.
2) Service relocation management. In this step, the detector of UE bearer path change may:
a) notifies MEO for UE assisted application instance relocation if UE detects its bearer path change;
b) notify S-MEP if S-DP or S-RNIS detects the UE bearer path. S-MEP may communicate with MEO to
relocate the application instance if it is required;
c) notifies T-MEP if T-DP detects IP address of received data packet that belongs to other MEH. T-MEH
may communicate with other MEH to get UE context related to received data packet. T-MEH may
communicate with MEO for relocation of application instance associated to the UE if it is required.
Service relocation management decides what kind of service relocation is required and how sub-procedures of
service relocation is involved.
3) Application instance relocation. In this step, the application instance being served to UE is relocated from
S-MEH to T-MEH, if needed.
4) Traffic rule update. This sub-procedure includes updating the traffic rules for the UE and activating the new
service for UE at target ME host.
5) Termination of the service at S-MEH. This sub-procedure is to terminate the service and release resource
associated to the application instance being served to UE at S-MEH if needed, depending on the application
scope.
5.2 A flow for intra-ME host mobility
Intra-ME host application mobility is triggered by a UE moving in underlying network, but not resulting in a change
and relocation of ME application instance that is serving to the UE, as the serving ME host may connect to multiple
network entities (like eNBs) in underlying network.
Intra-ME host mobility does not require relocation of application instance or transfer UE state.
5.3 A flow for inter-ME host mobility
Inter-ME host mobility is caused by a UE moving to another network entity of underlying network that is not associated
to the ME host being served to the UE. Therefore inter-ME host mobility may trigger:
• relocate the application instance being served to the UE from the serving ME host (source) to another ME host
(target), depending the application scope;
• update traffic rules related to the UE;
• activate the service at target ME host to continue the service;
• terminate the service associated to UE at S-MEH, depending on the application scope.
ETSI
17 ETSI GR MEC 018 V1.1.1 (2017-10)
Solutions for inter-ME host application mobility scenario may involve:
• update traffic rules at sour
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