Mobile-Edge Computing Architecture: The role of MEC in the Internet of Things

In this article, we provided a tutorial on MEC technology and an overview of the MEC framework and architecture recently defined by the ETSI MEC ISG standardization group. We described some examples of MEC deployment, with special reference to IoT uses since the IoT is recognized as a main driver for 5G. After having also discussed benefits and challenges for MEC toward 5G, we can say that MEC has definitely a window of opportunity to contribute to the creation of a common layer of integration for the IoT world. One of the main questions still open is: How will this technology coexist with LTE advanced pro and the future 5G network? For this aspect, we foresee the need for very strong cooperation between 3GPP and ETSI (e.g., NFV and possibly other SDOs) to avoid unnecessary duplication in the standard. In this sense, MEC could pave the way and be natively integrated in the network of tomorrow.