# Integrating Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) into Open 5G Core
## 6 Conclusions  
The existing literature addresses integration between 5G networks and MEC in a limited way, mainly focusing on new conceptual architectures. However, there are gaps related to implementing and validating these proposals in a 5 GC.  
Hence, we have proposed an implementation as a service to connect 5G and MEC. The service is an extension of the MTS API defined by ETSI, seeking compatibility of objectives. Validation has been performed in a virtualized environment with a 5G network core, simulating UE, gNB, and a Kubernetes cluster as the MEC platform.  
The validation results demonstrated the ability of the proposed service to communicate between the UE and application, including performance evaluation, especially for URLLC applications. The proposed solution can be compared with others in the literature and optimized to improve response time, aiming to achieve consistent lower times.  
This work achieved its overall objective by enabling 5G-MEC integration through a service deployed as an application. The solution showed satisfactory results in the scenarios evaluated, providing a basis for future studies and optimizations. For future work, we are working on validating the service, including the O-RAN real environment and real multi-tenancy application.  
Conceptualization, R.X., L.F. and A.O.-J.; methodology, R.X., A.O.-J. and L.F.; software, R.X.; validation, R.X., L.F., R.S.S. and A.O.-J.; investigation, R.X.; resources, R.X.; writing--original draft preparation, R.X.; writing--review and editing, R.X., R.S.S., M.R., W.M., L.F and A.O.-J.; visualization, R.X., L.F. and A.O.-J.; supervision, A.O.-J. and L.F.; project administration, A.O.-J., M.R. and W.M.; funding acquisition, A.O.-J., M.R. and W.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
Figure 8: Performance with 100 users.  
**Funding:** This work was partly supported by Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS and partly supported by the MCTIC/CGLbr/Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) through the Project Smart 5 GC And MUltiRAn Integration (SAMURAI) under Grant 2020/05127-2.  
**Data Availability Statement:** Dataset available on request from the authors.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.  
**Abbreviations**  
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:  
3 GPP 3 rd Generation Partnership Project  
5 GS 5G System  
AMF  Access and Mobility Management Function  
API  Application Programming Interface  
B5G  Beyond 5G  
B-UPF  Branching UPF  
BMI  Body Mass Index  
BWM  BandWidth Management  
CP  Control Plane  
DASMO  Distributed Autonomous Slice Management  
DN  Data Network  
DP  Data Plane  
EB  Exabytes  
eMBB  Enhanced Mobile Broadband  
EPC  Evolved Packet Core  
gNB 5G New Radio  
HSS  Home Subscriber Server  
HTTP  Hypertext Transfer Protocol  
I-near-RT RIC  Integrated near-RT RIC  
I-UPF  Internet UPF  
IAB  Integrated Access Backhaul  
IoT  Internet of Things  
JSON  JavaScript Object Notation  
JWT  JSON Web Token  
KPI  Key Performance Indicator  
M-UPF  MEC UPF  
MBB  Mobile BroadBand  
MEC  Multi-Access Edge Computing  
MEC-App  MEC Application  
MEO  Multi-Access Edge Orchestrator  
MEP  MEC Platform Manager  
MIMO  Multiple-Input Multiple-Out  
MME  Mobility Management Entity  
mMTC  Massive Machine Type Communications  
MTS  Multi-Access Traffic Steering  
near-RT RIC  near-Real Time RAN Intelligent Controller  
NEF  Network Exposure Function  
NFV  Network Function Virtualization  
NPNs  Non-Public Networks  
NR  New Radio  
NS  Network Slice  
NSA  Non-Standalone  
OAI  OpenAirInterface  
QoS  Quality Of Service  
REST  Representational State Transfer  
SA  Standalone