Joint Optimization of Latency and Deployment Cost Over TDM-PON Based MEC-Enabled Cloud Radio Access Networks

The convergence of optical and wireless networks, and the marginalization of centralized data centers are required for next-generation telecommunications. According to the operators' concern of cost-efficient deployment combined with latency-sensitive requirements, network planning will lay a foundation for the development of next-generation networks. In particular, the network planning of mobile edge computing (MEC)-enabled cloud radio access networks (C-RAN) in a cost-effective and low-latency manner becomes exceedingly challenging. However, most research studies focus on the cost-effective deployment of C-RAN without considering the optimal placement of MEC servers simultaneously. Moreover, deployment costs and access latency will be directly affected by the optimal deployment of both the MEC servers and access networks. Therefore, we investigate how to coordinate the optimal deployment of MEC servers and C-RAN for latency-sensitive services. In detail, a MILP model is proposed to minimize the joint cost of latency and network deployment of time division multiplexing-passive optical network (TDM-PON) based MEC-enabled C-RAN. Given the model's complexity, a heuristic algorithm is also proposed to solve the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. Simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance comparisons of different approaches under different network scenarios. The impacts of some key parameters on comparisons of different approaches are also analyzed.