Page 9 - 3GPP Highlights

“The benefits of Edge Computing will strengthen the
promise of 5G and expand the prospects for several

new and enhanced use cases”

The below application architecture (documented in 3GPP TS benefit of the SA6 architecture by directly interacting with and
23.558 [2]) comprises of Edge Enabler Server (EES), primarily thus leveraging all the benefits of the EEC. For Edge-unaware
responsible for enabling discovery of the EASs; Edge Enabler Client applications, the SA6 architecture provides significant benefits
(EEC), providing support functions, such as EAS discovery to the on behalf of the ACs without their direct participation. SA2 is also
ACs in the UE; and, Edge Configuration Server (ECS), providing working on solutions for edge application support (e.g. using DNS
configurations to the EEC to connect with an EAS. for IP routing to an EAS) that can be deployed independently or in
conjunction with the SA6 architecture.
Application Clients on the UE can be “Edge-aware” and “Edge-
unaware”. With Edge-aware applications, the ACs get the full

UE 3GPP Core Edge Data Network
Network
Edge
Application Application Data Traffic Application
Client(s) Server(s)
EDGE-7
EDGE-5 EDGE-3

EDGE-1
Edge Enabler EDGE-9
Server(s)
EDGE-2
Edge Enabler EDGE-6
Client Edge
EDGE-4
Configuration
Server
EDGE-8

SUMMING-UP

In summary, with the support of the enabling layer, 3GPP networks SCEF/NEF northbound APIs (with and without CAPIF
offer native support to several Edge capabilities, including: framework), enabling EASs to access 3GPP network capability
exposure functions.
• Rich discovery: On-demand service provisioning by the ECS and
the support of query filters on the EES to allow rich discovery of • Support for service continuity: With UE mobility, the serving
the EASs by an AC via the EEC. Edge or Cloud may change or become more suitable for serving
the AC. To enable continuity of service in such scenarios, the
• Dynamic availability: Due to the flexible nature, and the architecture supports transfer of the UE’s application context
availability of Edge networks, EAS capabilities can vary due to between the Edge networks for seamless service continuity.
multiple reasons, such as change in deployments, mobility of the
UE etc. UE can subscribe to such dynamic changes to fine tune These features along with many other capabilities offered by 3GPP
the services offered to the AC. in Release 17, will pave the way towards global adoption of Edge
Computing and pervasive deployments of Edge Networks that can
• Network capability exposure: The EASs can utilize service API(s) serve both the end consumers and industry verticals.
exposed by the EES, which in turn are built on the capabilities of
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Issue 01 - September 2020 09