Multi-Access Edge Computing: The Driver Behind the Wheel of 5G-Connected Cars

The automotive and telco industries have taken an investment bet on the connected car market, pushing for the digital transformation of the sector by exploiting recent information and communications technology (ICT) progress. As ICT developments continue, it is expected that the technology advancements will be able to fulfill the sophisticated requirements for vehicular use cases, such as: low latency and reliable communications for safety; increased computing power to process large amounts of sensed data; and increased bandwidth for onboard infotainment. The aforementioned requirements have received significant focus during the ongoing definition of the 3GPP 5G mobile standards, where there has been a drive to facilitate vertical segments such as automotive, in addition to providing the core aspects of the communication infrastructure. Among the technology enablers for 5G, multi-access edge computing (MEC) can be considered essential. That is, a cloud environment located at the edge of the network, in proximity of the end users and coupled with the service provider's network infrastructure. Even before 5G is rolled out, current mobile networks can already target support for these challenging use cases using MEC technology. This is because MEC is able to fulfill low latency and high bandwidth requirements, and, in addition, lends itself to be deployed at vertical industrial sector premises such as road infrastructure, air/seaports, and smart factories, thus bringing computing power where it is needed most. This work showcases the automotive use cases that are relevant for MEC, providing insights into the technologies specified and investigated by the ETSI Industry Specification Group MEC, who were the pioneers in creating a standardized computing platform for advanced mobile networks with regard to network edge related use cases.