Dialogue with Huawei’s Felix Qiu: MEC is Accelerating Digital Innovation Globally

During the MEC Forum and Achievement Release at MWC22 Barcelona, Huawei and Saudi operator du signed the MEC Joint Innovation Memorandum, which attracted a lot of attention. What is the value of MEC? What is the current global deployment? How will the future develop? In response to the questions raised by participants, Felix Qiu, President of Huawei Packet Core Network, shared his thoughts.

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At recent MWC 2022, Huawei signed MoU with du on MEC joint innovation. And Zain launched the First 5G LAN Network in MENA. How to carry out such innovation?

Huawei and global operators have actively trialed MEC and achieved remarkable results. In 2021, with the help of 5G MEC, Huawei and du worked together with local partner Virtuality to provide live broadcasting for the UAE’s President’s Cycling Cup. This is a preliminary trial of 5G MEC in the VR live broadcasting field.

With Zain, Huawei have just completed the first 5G LAN in the Middle East. This is the milestone of 5G MEC development in this region. 5G LAN simplifies Layer 2 private network deployment and can be widely used in campus scenarios.

In the future, Huawei will continue to innovate based on 5G MEC and expand the application of MEC to other fields, to improve the efficiency in private line provisioning, and to meet the requirements of professional service networks, like 5G inspection, remote control, and more.

We will also use 5G MEC to improve the digital service experience for common consumers, including in VR/HD live broadcasting and cloud gaming.

What is the global deployment situation of MEC? How can MEC benefit operators and consumers?

5G deployment is accelerating around the world, which drives the implementation of MEC.  According to GSMAi, by the end of 2021, 200 5G networks had been put into commercial use in 70 countries and regions, with 640 million 5G connections worldwide.

The differentiated experience requirements for consumer services and the enterprise service requirements for local data processing and low latency need the deployment of MEC.

So far, more than 1500 MEC sites have been deployed worldwide, including shared and on-premises MEC sites, covering more than 20 industries like coal mines, industrial manufacturing, and ports. Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Europe are actively exploring the MEC’s application scenarios.

More diversified services, like VR live broadcasting and cloud gaming, have higher requirements on network latency and bandwidth. For example, VR live broadcasting requires a latency of 20 ms to prevent users from becoming dizzy. To achieve this, 5G MEC needs to be deployed at the edge site.

Another example is 5G enterprise private lines, which have lower OPEX, wider customer coverage, shorter rollout time of just 1 to 2 days, and better E2E QoS management and assurance.

Is there any challenges or problems in global MEC practices?

Huawei have encountered many challenges in the global practice of 5G MEC.

For example, MEC may be deployed in a large number of sites, and needs to be deployed quickly. If so many MEC devices are maintained manually, the maintenance costs will increase sharply.

In addition, there are diverse application requirements in various industries. To meet differentiated service requirements, applications must be quickly deployed. What’s more, some enterprises have small deployment space and no professional equipment rooms.

These problems have never been encountered in traditional network construction and need to be addressed.

How does Huawei address these problems?

Huawei has been making continuous innovations in MEC for a long term. And developed Huawei PNI-NPN Kite-Like solution. Huawei MEC solution is based on connectivity and computing, enabling enterprises realize digital upgrade with agile deployment, intelligent O&M, and fast application integration.

Huawei MEC supports plug-and-play. One engineer can deploy an MEC site with their mobile phone within just two hours.

Operators usually use the PNI-NPN Kite-Like solution to deploy MEC. Thousands of MEC devices across the entire network can be remotely and centrally maintained and upgraded.

With the help of Huawei cLab and mature process tools, third-party applications can be integrated on the MEC platform within just several days.

The 5G LAN solution implements Layer 2 interconnection in the industrial field, eliminating complex networking, for example, using AR routers.

Huawei’s 2U MEC devices are lightweight, with a depth of 600 mm, and can be used to deploy all 5GC products. They are suitable for equipment rooms of any size.

In addition, Huawei MEC has other enhanced connection capabilities, like lossless compression and positioning, which were developed gradually through practices.

Huawei hope that MEC can help more and more enterprises to digitally transform and more consumers enjoy optimal service experience.

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