otocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions. Moreover, a UPF being the PDU session anchor may provide the interface to a data network (DN). Therefore, the logical UPF network node in the 3GPP architecture may correspond to some functional- ities defined in ETSI for the MEC data plane (ETSI GS MEC 003). AMF/UPF AMF/UPF ((q)) ((q)) NG-RAN ((q)) ((q)) ng-eNB ng-eNB Figure 6.4.5 NG-RAN architecture (Source: Reproduced with permission from © 3GPP). 6.4 Multi-Access Edge Computing MEC platform Nausf MEC Data Plane MEC apps (R)AN MEC Host Figure 6.4.6 Example of MEC mapping to the 5G system architecture. AF in 3GPP architecture contains the following high-level functionalities: application influence on traffic routing, access network capability exposure, and interaction with the policy. Therefore, the logical AF in the 3GPP architecture may correspond to some functionalities defined in ETSI for the MEC platform (ETSI GS MEC 003). Finally, the 5G system architecture introduces the DN receiving user-plane traffic from the UPF. Local DN deployments can be the perfect examples of environments hosting MEC applications, in contrast to a remote DN (or a central DN). Figure 6.4.6 shows an example of possible MEC mapping to the 5G system architecture and the related correspondence of logical entities introduced by the two standard bodies. A more detailed example of MEC deployment in 5G (based on fully virtualized network) is provided below. 6.4.4.1 MEC Deployment in a 5G Network Network slicing and management of a virtualized environment (see Section 6.3) are two important technologies in 5G. They have been well discussed within the 5G ecosystem and relevant descriptions have been provided in works such as the NGMN White Paper (NGMN) and the relevant 5G Americas (5GAWP), as well as GSMA White Papers (GSMA). This section is focused on the role of MEC in efficiently supporting 5G network slicing. The considered communications system incorporates a MEC system, the architecture of which is specified in MEC003, deployed in a 5G network, the syst