ent ME app rules and requirements Service registry Service management Traffic ME app life cycle management ME app ME app ME app rules control handling ME platform manager ME platform Other Data plane Virtualization infrastructure Virtualization infrastructure ME host Figure 1.48 MEC reference architecture [46]. events. The MEC orchestrator is the central function in the MEC system that has visibility over the resources and capabilities of the entire MEC network. The MEC orchestrator main- tains information on the entire MEC system, the services and resources available in each host, the applications that are instantiated, and the topology of the network. The orchestrator is also responsible for managing the MEC applications and the related procedures by inte- grating the applications, checking the integrity and authenticity of the application, validating the policies for the applications, and maintaining a catalog of the applications that are available. The MEC applications may indicate their requirements for the resources, services, location, and performance, such as maximum allowed latency, and it is the MEC orchestrator's responsibility to ensure that their requirements are satisfied. The orchestrator uses the requirements received from the applications in the selection process for the target MEC host. The reference point toward the VIM is used to manage the virtualized resources of the MEC host and to manage the application images that are provided for instantiation. It is fur- ther used for maintaining status information on available resources. The operations support system of an operator is a function that is widely used to manage various services and sub- systems in the operators' network. The reference point between the MEC orchestrator and VIM is used for management of the application images and the virtualized resources as well as for monitoring the availability of the resources. The customer-facing service (CFS) acts as an entry point for a third-party application. This portal can be used for operations