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Enterprise Application on Lightweight 5G Telco Edge is a blueprint under 5G/MEC system blueprint family. It intends to provide a edge computing platform along with application orchestration & management to host enterprise applications on lightweight 5G Telco Edge. Provided edge computing platform and management is meant to be implemented in compliance with reference to ETSI MEC (please refer ETSI MEC for further details - https://www.etsi.org/technologies/multi-access-edge-computing) For details kindly refer "Targeted Architecture section". BP also intend to provide platform for enterprise application developers to develop, test, package & onboard their applications easily & quickly, thereby empowering developers to innovate & ship faster. Also eventually BP aims to provide platform capabilities and features like Multi-Tenancy, Network-Isolation, Dynamic Orchestration, Network Capabilities exposure, enhanced identification etc. as needed for "MEC in an Enterprise Setting"

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The edge computing platform(s) (MEP) needs to be installed at the telco edge(s) and Application development/management related components (MECM (MEO+MEPM+Edge Connector), AppStore, Developer Platform) needs to be installed in Telco's cloud (private/public). Edge computing platform (MEP) provides a platform as a service environment for running "Enterprise Applications" In order to be useful, BP requires 5G RAN & UPF to enable connectivity & have configurations based on use case need. Also 5Gc and OSS system needs to be in place with desired configurations.

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Use Case

Diverse types of applications in various enterprise sectors, not limited to below:

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Architecture

Targeted architecture

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Center Node (Located at Telco Cloud)

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  • MEO: Maintains system level view of edges and carries out the Application orchestration to the desired Edge based on Application requirements and Edge node resource availability.  
  • MEPM: It is MEP manager which carries out application life cycle management and element management for specific Edge(s).  
  • Edge Connector: Enable flexible traffic offloading from the aspects of control interaction with mobile network exposed capabilities.

AppStore: It is like a market place for Application developer to launch their applications.

Developer platform: It is a platform for developer to carry out development and test their applications.

Edge Node (Located at Telco Edge)

  •   There could be a single or multiple instances of MEPM (along with its sub-components) and it could be deployed in cloud or edge depending on deployment needs (like need for Autonomous edges etc.)
    • APPLCM
      • LCMController: Controls life cycle of applications
      • Infra Plugins: Plugin for a specific infrastructure. Objective is to support Kubernetes & Openstack, but architecture would be extensive to add new Infra Manager with plugins.
    • AppRuleMgr: Manages Traffic and DNS rules
    • Edge Connector: Enable flexible traffic offloading from the aspects of control interaction with mobile network exposed capabilities.

AppStore: It is like a market place for Application developer to launch their applications.

Developer platform: It is a platform for developer to carry out development and test their applications.


Edge Node (Located at Telco Edge)

Edge Node components manages  the execution of various enterprise Applications, it provides various services Edge Node components manages  the execution of various enterprise Applications, it provides various services which can be leveraged by edge applications for smooth functioning and its planned to provide additional aPaas services required for Machine Vision, Video Analytics , IoT Analytics etc in future releases. The MEP sites will be a single node  or a multiple node K3s Cluster, on which applications will be deployed by MECM module. The MEC Host will be hosted on a light weight OS. Edge Node will comprise of following:

  • aPaaS: Producer services for Enterprise applications to consume.
  • PaaS: Platform services needed by enterprise application as well as platform components 
  • MEP ServicesServer: 
    • DNS: DNS server and DNS record management service
    • Service Registry: Service registry and discovery, availability notifications
    • AppLCM & AppRuleMgr: Applications life cycle management & application rule management
    Network Capabilities: Network capabilities like location, bandwidth for application to consume
    • Traffic Rule Control: Performs traffic rule control
    • MEP Services: A mobile edge service is a service provided and consumed either by the mobile edge platform or a mobile edge application like RNI, Location, Bandwidth
  • Edge Gateway: Enable the traffic offloading from the aspects of data plane with local traffic routing, traffic management and so on

By leveraging upstream projects like EdgeGallery and In collaboration with other BP in same family "5G MEC/Slice System to Support Cloud Gaming, HD Video and Live Broadcasting" (5G MEC/Slice System to Support Cloud Gaming, HD Video and Live Broadcasting Blueprint - Tentative roadmap of integration other BP is Q3 2021), this BP intends to deliver targeted architecture.. 

Release 4 Architecture

In this release, BP has been targeted to provide Orchestration capability and application developer platform & store for easy & faster app development & onboarding, along with features like multi-tenancy, network-isolation, DNS, LB. Also have added ROBO retail enterprise specific capabilities along with sample application.

Leverage EdgeGallery as an upstream to add following components to the Stack

  • Application/MEC Edge Orchestrator
  • Developer Platform & Application Store.
  • Developer & Tenant Portals
  • Add features like network isolation, DNS support, LB.

ROBO use case integration on EALTEdge:

  • PaaS: Light weight storage. Backup and Restore (scheduled backup/ disaster recovery) for Remote sites
  • aPaaS: Object Detection service for Retail store Inventory
  • Example App: Retail store inventory management

Below is release 4 architecture for details kindly refer platform architecture section.

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Note: In release 4 to use BP, UPF (external entity to this BP) needs to be pre-configured with DNS redirection rules and traffic rules to ensure connectivity.

ETSI MEC Alignment Status

Please refer the below figure for EALTEdge components and reference points alignment with respect to ETSI MEC as of Release 4. For API alignment, please refer API document.

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SDO Compliance/Reference

ETSI MEC

BP leverages EdgeGallery as an upstream which follows the reference architecture as defined in "section 6 Reference architecture" of "https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/MEC/001_099/003/02.01.01_60/gs_mec003v020101p.pdf". Following are components which are available/planned

  1. MEO (Mobile Edge Orchestrator): Mapping to EALTEdge MECM MEO Components
  2. MEPM (Mobile Edge Platform Manager): Mapping to EALTEdge MECM MEPM Components
    1. ME app lifecycle mgmt: Mapping to EALTEdge APPLCM component
    2. ME app rules & reqts mgmt: Mapping to EALTEdge AppRuleMgr component 
  3. MEP
    1. Service Registry: Mapping to EALTEdge MEP-Server sub module
    2. DNS Handler: Mapping to EALTEdge MEP-Server sub module
    3. Traffic Rule Control: Mapping to EALTEdge MEP-Server sub module 

EdgeGallery intends to comply with Application Enablement API as defined in ETSI MEC 011 https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/MEC/001_099/011/02.01.01_60/gs_mec011v020101p.pdf & present @ https://forge.etsi.org/rep/mec/gs011-app-enablement-api. 


EALTEdge BP will leverage other BP in same BP family "5G MEC/Slice System to Support Cloud Gaming, HD Video and Live Broadcasting Blueprint" for dynamic Traffic routing & steering. Kindly refer that BP for any related SDO references/compliance.

Release 4 Architecture

In this release, BP has been targeted to provide Orchestration capability and application developer platform & store for easy & faster app development & onboarding, along with features like multi-tenancy, network-isolation, DNS, LB. Also have added ROBO retail enterprise specific capabilities along with sample application.

Leverage EdgeGallery as an upstream to add following components to the Stack

  • Application/MEC Edge Orchestrator
  • Developer Platform & Application Store.
  • Developer & Tenant Portals
  • Add features like network isolation, DNS support, LB.

ROBO use case integration on EALTEdge:

  • PaaS: Light weight storage. Backup and Restore (scheduled backup/ disaster recovery) for Remote sites
  • aPaaS: Object Detection service for Retail store Inventory
  • Example App: Retail store inventory management

Below is release 4 architecture for details kindly refer platform architecture section.

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Note:

  1. For release 4, Kubernetes based Infra management is supported.
  2. In release 4 to use BP, UPF (external entity to this BP) needs to be pre-configured with DNS redirection rules and traffic rules to ensure connectivity.

SDO Compliance/Reference

ETSI MEC

BP leverages EdgeGallery v0.9 version which deliver implementation referring some part of ETSI MEC reference architecture as defined in "section 6 Reference architecture" of "https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/MEC/001_099/003/02.01.01_60/gs_mec003v020101p.pdf". Following are components which are available as part of release 4

  1. MEO (Mobile Edge Orchestrator): Mapping to EALTEdge MECM MEO Components
  2. MEPM (Mobile Edge Platform Manager): Mapping to EALTEdge MECM MEPM Components
    1. ME app lifecycle mgmt: Mapping to EALTEdge APPLCM component
  3. MEP
    1. Service Registry: Mapping to EALTEdge MEP-Server sub module
    2. DNS Handler: Mapping to EALTEdge MEP-Server sub module

For Application Enablement API compliance details kindly check http://docs.edgegallery.org/zh_CN/release-v0.9/Projects/MEP/MEP_Interfaces.html#mep-serverNote: For release 4, Kubernetes based Infra management is supported.

Platform Architecture

The below diagram gives a overall architecture of the Enterprise Application on Lightweight 5G Telco Edge blueprint as given in Release 4. 

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Note: EALTEdge Blueprint Deployment has been tested on Cloud VM and is not tested on Bare-Metal Environment. Though, theoretically deployment should work in bare metal,  provided hardware and software prerequisites are met. Kindly refer R4 - Test Documentation of Enterprise Applications on Lightweight 5G Telco Edge (EALTEdge) to get details on the tested deployment.


CENTER Components

MECM:

  • DashboardPortal: The dashboard provides user interface for the MECM services where edge nodes, APPLCM can be registered and apps can be distributed.
  • Workflow / Policy: Provide policy to take action based on analytics like application relocation.
  • Database: Open source PostgreSQL database is being used to store the information, Recommended version is 12.3.
  • IAAS Adapter: Will retrieve the query MEP capabilities and KPI information from Prometheus and also upload config, remove config, instantiate, terminate,and query an application.
  • Orchestrator: Provides application orchestration based on static/ dynamic host selection.
  • Inventory: Maintains system level view of all Edges, including edge capabilities, deployed applications and their status etc.
  • SchedulerHost Selection: Responsible for selection of host for deployment.
  • Catalog:  Catalogue displays the details of on hosts and applicationsPackage Manager:  Maintains and manages application packages and is responsible of pushing images to edges. 
  • Common DB: Persistent Database.

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  • Portal: Portal provides the user interface to publish and launch App applications. and has option for user to comment on the application in comment section and give ratings.
  • Appstore Services (App Distribution, App Experience): App Store services where uploading an App package and verifies the upload. Also provides features like comment/like for user experience sharing.
  • Repository PGDB : Open source PostgreSQL database is being used to store the information, Recommended version is 12.3.

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  • Tools: Developer tools are used in Plugin Management, Plugin Life Cycle and grading systems making it more convenient for developers to develop applications and integrate them into the edgegallery platform.
  • Workspace: Developers manage their own Application development process by creating projects or migrating projects. Developers can manage project, app package and test task management.
  • PG DB: PostgreSQL database version 12.2 is being used.
  • Portal: Provides user interface for application developer to interact with developer platform.
  • Sandbox: Test environment for application developers to test their applications.

EDGE Node Components:

MEP: 

  • aPaaS:
    • Defect Detection Service: This is a service to detect the defect when PCB images provided
    • Object Detection Service: This service can be used by developer app for various Object detection for example Bottle detection and count for Retail store inventory.
  • PaaS:
    • Secret Management: Platform services and developer apps can use this service for sensitive info storing like password, cert etc.
    • Cert Management: Platform services and developer apps can use this service for automate certifications management.
    • Storage: Edge native storage for enterprise sites.
    • Backup / Restore: scheduled backup, disaster recovery for remote sites
    • DB: common DB for applications data 
    • Monitoring: system and apps health monitoring. 
    • CNI: k8s based networking for multi interface support in a POD for SFC scenarios, network policies etc.
  • MEP ServicesServer:
    • DNS: DNS server and DNS record management service
    • Service Registry: Service registry and discovery, availability notifications
    • AppLCM: applications life cycle management
    • Network Isolation:  Provides separation of control, management and data plan
  • API Gateway: Provides secure End points for MEP services as well as producer Applications.

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The below image shows the software platform distribution and architecture for Release 4.0.

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EALTEdge Software Components 

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  • aPaaS:
    • Defect Detection Service: This is a service to detect the defect when PCB images provided
    • Object Detection Service: This service can be used by developer app for various Object detection for example Bottle detection and count for Retail store inventory.
  • PaaS:
    • Vault: Vault is a tool for securely accessing secrets. A secret is anything that you want to tightly control access to, such as API keys, passwords, certificates, and more. Vault provides a unified interface to any secret while providing tight access control and recording a detailed audit log.
    • Cert Management: cert-manager is a native Kubernetes certificate management controller. It can help with issuing certificates from a variety of sources, such as Let’s Encrypt, HashiCorp Vault, Venafi, a simple signing key pair, or self signed. It will ensure certificates are valid and up to date, and attempt to renew certificates at a configured time before expiry.
    • OpenEBS: OpenEBS is a Kubernetes native hyper converged storage solution. OpenEBS consumes the storage (disks, SSDs, cloud volumes, etc) available on the Kubernetes worker nodes to dynamically provision Kubernetes Persistent Volumes.

      OpenEBS can provision different type of Local PV for Stateful Workloads like Cassandra, MongoDB, Elastic, etc that are distributed in nature and have high availability built into them. Depending on the type of storage attached to your Kubernetes worker nodes, you can select from Dynamic Local PV - Hostpath, Device, ZFS or Rawfile.

    • Velero: Velero is an open source tool to safely backup and restore, perform disaster recovery, and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources and persistent volumes.
    • Influx DB: Time series data base for user applications data.
    • Prometheus Agent: cAdvisor, NodeExporter
    • Multus: Support secondary interfaces for PODs in case of SFC scenarios and CNFs
  • MEP ServicesServer:
    • DNS:  The MEP platform provides the domain name resolution services to the applications deployed in the EdgeGallery MEC, which can be utilised by the device applications in UE. MEC platform receives the DNS configurations from the MEC management, which includes the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name), IP address and related entries. MEC applications can later query or modify the state of these configurations.
    • MEP server: MEP platform services like service registry, discovery, DNS, traffic rules etc.  MEP provides service registration, update, delete, and query related API interfaces. Applications can register, update, delete, and query services through MEP.  The service registry provides visibility of the services available on the MEC server. It uses the concept of loose coupling of services, providing flexibility in application deployment. In addition, the service registry presents service availability (status of the service) together with the related interfaces and versions. It is used by applications to discover and locate the end-points for the services they require, and to publish their own service end-point for other applications to use. The access to the service registry is controlled (authenticated and authorised).
    • Network isolation: Provides separation of control, management and data plane
  • AppLCM: LCM controller and K8s plugin.  Handles the application life cycle, where lcmController is mainly communicates with K8s plugin to upload config, remove config, instantiate, terminate,and query an application. It also provides APIs to query mep capabilities and kpi information from prometheus.
  • KONG: Provides API gateway functionality along with authentication and authorisation.

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