Virtualization Enabled MultiPoint Cooperation with Convergence of Communication, Caching, and Computing NFV can effectively improve the flexibility of resource allocation and save energy consumption in networks. With NFV, the servers in communication networks can be virtualized as different types of VMs, including SIVMs and CIVMs. To deal with the everincreasing traffic, in this article, we study the cooperation of servers at different locations. This can efficiently and flexibly utilize the communication, caching, and computing resources to minimize network energy consumption with QoS guarantee. Specifically, we first investigate the impacts of different types of VMs on network performance. Then, we propose a joint allocation of different types of VMs in different servers, and discuss the tradeoffs between SIVMs and CIVMs. Case studies are also provided to verify the feasibility of VM based multipoint cooperation. Finally, potential research directions are presented to shed light on the future study of VM cooperation.

Architectural and Cost Implications of the 5G Edge NFV Systems The recent issued 5G standard promises a comprehensive service provisioning for diverse user demands. The new challenges posed by 5G (e.g. the ultralow latency communication) urge the functionality deployment to offload from network core to edge. Besides, the various requirements of QoS guarantee cast by fastvarying services make the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) an essential enabler of edge network evolution. To date, the performance challenges at the newly created NFVenabled virtual network edge are still unexplored. In this paper, we investigate the converged virtual Radio Access Network (RAN) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) in 5G era. We first outline the solo virtual RAN performance. We then characterize the collocate workloads (RAN and MEC, RAN and RAN) on the commercial offtheshelf (COTS) edge platform. Finally, we provide brief cost comparison between traditional RAN and virtual RAN. The implications of the virtual RAN system will benefit future edge NFV design.