Multi-access edge computing (MEC) is an extension of cloud computing technology to provide an application deployment platform close to the end users. This platform helps to deploy real-time, compute and resource-intensive applications like video caching, augmented reality, virtual reality, and Internet of Things at the edge. MEC enhances the performance of 4G and 5G networks since it achieves reduced application latency and optimizes the backhaul bandwidth utilization. Due to these benefits, MEC has become one of the key enablers of 5G technology. This paper covers evolution, architecture, current standardization activities, and use cases of MEC in cellular networks. The paper also emphasizes on how key enablers of 5G like software defined networking, network function virtualization, quality of service handling, and service based interface model will handle faster connectivity, huge data demand with less backhaul congestion, large number of devices and real-time applications as compared to MEC in 4G. Further, MEC deployment approaches in 4G and 5G are discussed, which play a vital role in achieving the requirement of 5G services.

中文翻译：

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蜂窝网络中的多路访问边缘计算

多路访问边缘计算（MEC）是云计算技术的扩展，可为最终用户提供靠近应用程序的部署平台。该平台有助于在边缘部署实时，计算和资源密集型应用程序，例如视频缓存，增强现实，虚拟现实和物联网。MEC提高了4G和5G网络的性能，因为它减少了应用程序延迟并优化了回程带宽利用率。由于这些优势，MEC已成为5G技术的关键推动力之一。本文介绍了蜂窝网络中MEC的发展，架构，当前的标准化活动和用例。本文还重点介绍了5G的关键推动因素，例如软件定义网络，网络功能虚拟化，服务质量，与基于服务的接口模型相比，与4G中的MEC相比，它将处理更快的连接，更大的数据需求，更少的回程拥塞，大量的设备和实时应用。此外，还讨论了4G和5G中的MEC部署方法，它们在满足5G服务要求方面起着至关重要的作用。