Mobile Edge Computing Conference
MEC day conference event was organised by SCWS (Small Cell World Series) on 9th May 2016 at the Continental O2 Hotel in London. This event brings together the mobile operators, small cell groups and vendors to share trial and deployment experiences and provide a platform for new technological developments.
Biswanath 8UK 2015 member Sundar Ali attended this conference and he provided below summary report about MEC, key topics discussed and new technologies in the horizon.
What is Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)?
MEC is a network architecture concept that enables cloud computing capabilities and an IT service environment at the edge of the cellular network. MEC can complement SDN (Software Defined Networking) and NFV (Network Function Virtualisation) and advance transformation of mobile broadband. Examples of MEC can be;
- RAN aware content optimisation
- High Bandwidth low latency content delivery
- Intelligent video analysis
- Vehicle to infrastructure communications
EE Director of Access Network Mansoor Hanif presented information about their Wembley Trial focusing on Innovation and Skunkworks on the edge. He talked about how the trials have shown improvement in throughput, latency and reliability. Furthermore EE is pushing for hardware solutions moving to COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) and working with many vendors to develop open source network.
There were many other guest speakers and panel group discussions. Below is a summary of interesting use cases presented during the conference;
- Digital footprint analysis for shopping malls
- Accurate ad deliveries indoor
- Indoor navigation for large premises
- Children or Senior sensors
- Medical monitoring
- Wearable more generally
- Augmented reality for consumers
- Multimedia content delivery
- On-site live event experience (connected stadiums)