Virtual Network Functions at the Edge: A Performance Analytic Study

Next generation wireless systems need to be flexible and provide low latency to the users. Mobile Edge Computing and Network Function Virtualization (VNF) are ones of the key technologies for fulfilling such requirements. In this paper, we consider that VNFs are deployed both at the core and the edge network. We consider queuing, processing, and transmission delay. We provide the performance metrics of the system by using tools from queuing theory. We evaluate the performance of the system for different scenarios and give some insights for the design decisions of such networks. This work can be considered as a starting point for developing the policy that optimizes the latency for such networks.