# US 11,310,107 B2 · Multi-access edge computing, MEC, system and method for operating the same > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,310,107 B2 - Document ID: US11310107B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/253,148 - Filed: 2018-06-20 - Published: 2021-05-13 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2018-06-20 - Assignees: NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH - Applicants: NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH - Inventors: Fabio Giust; Vincenzo Sciancalepore; Xi Li - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11310107B2 ## CPC - H04L 41/0806: for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play - H04L 41/342: between virtual entities, e.g. orchestrators, SDN or NFV entities - H04L 41/5006: Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties - H04L 41/5009: Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF] - H04L 63/0869: {for achieving mutual authentication (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273)} - H04L 63/205: {involving negotiation or determination of the one or more network security mechanisms to be used, e.g. by negotiation between the client and the server or between peers or by selection according to the capabilities of the entities involved (negotiation of communication capabilities H04L69/24)} - H04L 67/141: Setup of application sessions (admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70) - H04L 67/51: Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A method for operating a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system includes establishing, between two or more MEC providers, an agreement that defines mutual access policies that specify which MEC platforms and which MEC applications and/or services running on the MEC platforms are allowed to be exposed among each other and/or to other tenants. The MEC platforms are provisioned with appropriate configurations in accordance with the access policies of the agreement. A discovery process is executed for discovering a MEC platform within a MEC stack of another tenant and a communication link is established with the other tenant's MEC platform. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for operating a multi-access edge computing (MEC) system in which a physical infrastructure provider provides a physical infrastructure and in which MEC providers are enabled to become tenants of the physical infrastructure provider by getting allocated network, computing and/or storage resources of the physical infrastructure to obtain their own MEC slices, wherein each of the MEC providers deploys its respective MEC slice to install and run distinct tenant MEC stacks, wherein each tenant MEC stack includes a MEC platform for installation of the respective tenant's MEC applications and/or services, the method comprising: establishing, between two or more of the MEC providers, an agreement that defines mutual access policies between the two or more of the MEC providers of the agreement, wherein the access policies specify which of the MEC platforms and which of the MEC applications and/or services running on the MEC platforms are allowed to be exposed among each other and/or to other tenants, provisioning the MEC platforms with appropriate configurations in accordance with the access policies of the agreement, and executing a discovery process for discovering one of the MEC platforms within one of the MEC stacks of one of the other tenants and establishing a communication link with the other tenant's MEC platform. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the agreement is negotiated at the MEC providers' Operations Support System/Business Support System (OSS/BSS) level. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the agreement includes an exchange of information on an identity of the MEC platforms that are allowed to be exposed to other tenants, together with information on the identity of the MEC applications and/or services running on these MEC platforms that are allowed to be exposed to other tenants including the MEC platform's identifier (ID) and/or uniform resource identifier (URI) and/or the MEC application and/or service instance's ID and/or URI. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein: the agreement contains policies that specify accessibility to Domain Name System (DNS) records, traffic rules and configuration parameters for creating the communication link between MEC platforms, and/or the agreement contains policies that specify Quality of Service (QoS)-related parameters to be guaranteed in the communication link between MEC platforms. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication link between different tenants' MEC platforms is established via a MEC Mp3 reference point. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the discovery process is executed either between the tenant MEC stacks at Operations Support System/Business Support System (OSS/BSS) level or among MEC orchestrators that interface with the tenant MEC stacks. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a MEC orchestrator, upon receiving the address and/or uniform resource identifier (URI) of a further MEC orchestrator, executes a mutual authentication process with the further MEC orchestrator. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the MEC orchestrator, after successful authentication, queries the address and/or URI of the MEC platform of the further MEC orchestrator. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, wherein the MEC orchestrator provides the obtained address and/or URI of the MEC platform of the further MEC orchestrator to its own MEC platform through a dedicated function implemented within an associated MEC platform manager. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a MEC platform registry is used as a rendezvous point among the MEC platforms of a shared infrastructure in order to enable their automatic discovery and interaction. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the MEC platform registry, upon receiving a registration from a newly installed MEC platform that is newly installed in the MEC system, sends a platform registration notification, including a list of exposed MEC applications and/or services, to all existing ones of the MEC platforms that can access the newly installed MEC platform. ### Claim 12 A multi-access edge computing (MEC) system, comprising: a physical infrastructure of a physical infrastructure provider, a plurality of MEC providers that are enabled to become tenants of the physical infrastructure provider by getting allocated network, computing and/or storage resources of the physical infrastructure to obtain their own MEC slices, wherein each of the MEC providers is configured to deploy its respective MEC slice to install and run distinct tenant MEC stacks, wherein each tenant MEC stack includes a MEC platform for installation of the respective tenant's MEC applications and/or services, wherein two or more of the MEC providers of the plurality of MEC providers are configured to establish an agreement among each other that defines mutual access policies between the two or more of the MEC providers of the agreement, wherein the access policies specify which of the MEC platforms and which of the MEC applications and/or services running on the MEC platforms are allowed to be exposed among each other and/or to other tenants, communication means for provisioning the MEC platforms with appropriate configurations in accordance with the access policies of the agreement, and at least one of a tenant MEC stack or a MEC orchestrator that interfaces with the tenant MEC stack being configured to execute a discovery process for discovering one of the MEC platforms within one of the MEC stacks of one of the other tenants and to establish a communication link with the other tenant's MEC platform. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The MEC system according to claim 12, wherein the MEC system comprises the MEC orchestrator that interfaces with the tenant MEC stack, the MEC system further comprising a reference point provided between the MEC orchestrator that interfaces with the tenant MEC stack and a further MEC orchestrator of another one of the tenant MEC stacks whose MEC platform is a neighbor, the reference point being configured for exchanging addresses and/or Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) between the respective MEC orchestrators. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The MEC system according to claim 12, wherein the MEC system comprises the MEC orchestrator that interfaces with the tenant MEC stack, the MEC system further comprising a function implemented within a MEC platform manager of the tenant MEC stacks, the function being configured to: receive configuration parameters from the MEC orchestrator that interfaces with the tenant MEC stack, including at least an identifier of a neighbor tenant and an address and/or Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the neighbor tenant's MEC platform, and instruct the MEC platform of the tenant MEC stack associated with the MEC orchestrator to expose certain MEC applications and/or services running on the MEC platform to the neighbor tenant's MEC platform by a reference point Mp3. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The MEC system according to claim 12, further comprising a logical component installed on a shared infrastructure, wherein the logical component is a MEC platform registry being configured to act as a rendezvous point among the MEC platforms of the shared infrastructure in order to enable their automatic discovery and interaction. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The MEC system according to claim 15, further comprising a reference point provided between the platform registry and the MEC platforms, the reference point being configured for exchanging control messages for registering of MEC platforms at the platform registry.