Third Party Messaging at the Network Edge

The ability to send messages to mobile subscribers has become immensely popular since the introduction of Short message Service (SMS). Despite of different messaging solutions today, SMS is still used for many services. The 5G core network and mobile terminals will support SMS transfer over non-access stratum messages. As a key technology for 5G Multi-access edge computing that distributes cloud intelligence at the network edge may be used to deliver context aware text messaging to mobile subscribers without the support of core network functionality. In this paper, we propose a new mobile edge service that enables third party applications to send messages to mobile subscribers. Third party text messaging at the network edge decreases the core network signaling and saves network resources while at the same time delivers timely location and context based information. The service is described by typical use cases, interfaces definition and the respective data model. Some implementation aspects are discussed related to the service state models supported by a mobile edge application and the platform.