Methods and apparatus for supporting application mobility in multi-access edge computing platform architectures

1 . A method implemented by a multi-access edge computing (MEC) distributed controller, the method comprising:

receiving, by the MEC distributed controller from a mobile device, a MEC computing task request for execution of a service on MEC nodes controlled by the MEC distributed controller;

obtaining, by the MEC distributed controller, mobile device geo-location information associated with the mobile device, the mobile device geo-location information indicating predicted future locations of the mobile device;

determining, by the MEC distributed controller, an execution plan and a pool of MEC nodes, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being for the execution of the service, the determining the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being in accordance with the mobile device geo-location information indicating a current location of the mobile device and a planned route of the mobile device, the predicted future locations of the mobile device being at different time instances along the planned route, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes specifying the execution of the service for a time window or a specified number of MEC nodes;

scheduling, by the MEC distributed controller, the execution plan for the pool of MEC nodes; and

deploying, by the MEC distributed controller, the execution plan.

2 . The method of claim 1 , the determining the execution plan comprising:

partitioning, by the MEC distributed controller, the execution of the service into a plurality of tasks, with each task of the plurality of tasks being executable on a MEC node; and

selecting, by the MEC distributed controller, for the each task in the plurality of tasks, a corresponding subset of MEC nodes in the pool of MEC nodes, in accordance with a selection function.

3 . The method of claim 2 , the pool of MEC nodes being determined in accordance with one of a user account level of the mobile device or an account level of an owner of an application associated with the service.

4 . The method of claim 2 , the selecting the corresponding subset of MEC nodes comprising:

generating, by the MEC distributed controller, for the each MEC node of the pool of MEC nodes, a corresponding cost and a corresponding value for executing the each task of the plurality of tasks; and

selecting, by the MEC distributed controller, for each task of the plurality of tasks, the corresponding MEC node from the pool of MEC nodes, the selecting being in accordance with a cost and a value for executing the each task on the corresponding MEC node to produce the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes.

5 . The method of claim 4 , the scheduling the execution plan comprising:

assigning, by the MEC distributed controller, release times and deadline times for the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes.

6 . The method of claim 5 , the deploying the execution plan comprising:

providing, by the MEC distributed controller, application data associated with the execution of the service, the application data being provided to the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes, the providing the application data being in accordance with the release times and the deadline times.

7 . The method of claim 5 , the release times comprising required start times, and the deadline times comprising required finish times for the plurality of tasks.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the MEC computing task request includes at least one of a service account, a mobile device user identifier, or a number of MEC nodes the execution plan is intended to cover, and wherein the mobile device geo-location information includes at least a route of the mobile device.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

updating, by the MEC distributed controller, the mobile device geo-location information of the mobile device to generate updated mobile device geo-location information in accordance with at least one of traffic information or emergency information;

determining, by the MEC distributed controller, an updated execution plan and an updated pool of MEC nodes in accordance with the updated mobile device geo-location information;

scheduling, by the MEC distributed controller, the updated execution plan for the updated pool of MEC nodes to produce an updated scheduled execution plan; and

deploying, by the MEC distributed controller, the updated scheduled execution plan.

10 . A multi-access edge computing (MEC) distributed controller comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory, the at least one processor configured, upon execution of the instructions, to perform steps comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device, a MEC computing task request for execution of a service on MEC nodes controlled by the MEC distributed controller;

obtaining mobile device geo-location information associated with the mobile device, the mobile device geo-location information indicating predicted future locations of the mobile device;

determining an execution plan and a pool of MEC nodes, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being for the execution of the service, the determining the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being in accordance with the mobile device geo-location information indicating a current location of the mobile device and a planned route of the mobile device, the predicted future locations of the mobile device being at different time instances along the planned route, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes specifying the execution of the service for a time window or a specified number of MEC nodes;

scheduling the execution plan for the pool of MEC nodes; and

deploying the execution plan.

11 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 10 , the determining the execution plan comprising:

partitioning the execution of the service into a plurality of tasks, with each task of the plurality of tasks being executable on a MEC node; and

selecting for the each task in the plurality of tasks, a corresponding subset of MEC nodes in the pool of MEC nodes, in accordance with a selection function.

12 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 11 , the pool of MEC nodes being determined in accordance with one of a user account level of the mobile device or an account level of an owner of an application associated with the service.

13 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 11 , the selecting the corresponding subset of MEC nodes comprising:

generating, by the MEC distributed controller, for each MEC node of the pool of MEC nodes, a corresponding cost and a corresponding value for executing the each task of the plurality of tasks; and

selecting, by the MEC distributed controller, for the each task of the plurality of tasks, the corresponding MEC node from the pool of MEC nodes, the selecting being in accordance with a cost and a value for executing the each task on the corresponding MEC node to produce the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes.

14 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 13 , the scheduling the execution plan comprising:

assigning, by the MEC distributed controller, release times and deadline times for the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes.

15 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 14 , the deploying the execution plan comprising:

providing, by the MEC distributed controller, application data associated with the execution of the service, the application data being provided to the corresponding subset of the pool of MEC nodes, the providing the application data being in accordance with the release times and the deadline times.

16 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 14 , wherein the MEC computing task request includes at least one of a service account, a mobile device user identifier, or a number of MEC nodes the execution plan is intended to cover, and wherein the mobile device geo-location information includes at least a route of the mobile device.

17 . The MEC distributed controller of claim 10 , the steps further comprising:

updating the mobile device geo-location information to generate updated mobile device geo-location information in accordance with at least one of traffic information or emergency information;

determining an updated execution plan and an updated pool of MEC nodes in accordance with the updated mobile device geo-location information;

scheduling the updated execution plan for the updated pool of MEC nodes to produce an updated scheduled execution plan; and

deploying the updated scheduled execution plan.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer instructions that configure at least one processor, upon execution of the computer instructions, to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device, a multi-access edge computing (MEC) computing task request for execution of a service on MEC nodes controlled by a MEC distributed controller;

obtaining mobile device geo-location information associated with the mobile device, the mobile device geo-location information indicating predicted future locations of the mobile device;

determining an execution plan and a pool of MEC nodes, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being for the execution of the service, the determining the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes being in accordance with the mobile device geo-location information indicating a current location of the mobile device and a planned route of the mobile device, the predicted future locations of the mobile device being at different time instances along the planned route, the execution plan and the pool of MEC nodes specifying the execution of the service for a time window or a specified number of MEC nodes;

scheduling the execution plan for the pool of MEC nodes; and

deploying the execution plan.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18 , the determining the execution plan comprising:

partitioning the execution of the service into a plurality of tasks, with each task of the plurality of tasks being executable on a MEC node; and

selecting for the each task in the plurality of tasks, a corresponding subset of MEC nodes in the pool of MEC nodes, in accordance with a selection function.