The trend towards the cloudification of the 3GPP LTE mobile network architecture and the emergence of federated cloud infrastructures call for alternative service delivery strategies for improved user experience and efficient resource utilization. We propose Follow-Me Cloud (FMC), a design tailored to this environment, but with a broader applicability, which allows mobile users to always be connected via the optimal data anchor and mobility gateways, while cloud-based services follow them and are delivered via the optimal service point inside the cloud infrastructure. FMC applies a Markov-Decision-Process-based algorithm for cost-effective, performance-optimized service migration decisions, while two alternative schemes to ensure service continuity and disruption-free operation are proposed, based on either Software Defined Networking technologies or the Locator/Identifier Separation Protocol. Numerical results from our analytic model for FMC, as well as testbed experiments with the two alternative FMC implementations we have developed, demonstrate quantitatively and qualitatively the advantages it can bring about.

翻译：3GPP LTE移动网络架构的云化趋势以及联合云层基础设施的出现,要求采取替代服务提供战略,改善用户经验和有效利用资源。我们提议采用针对这种环境的设计,但具有更广泛适用性,使移动用户能够始终通过最佳数据锚和移动网关连接,而云基服务则跟随它们,并通过云层基础设施内的最佳服务点提供。FMC采用基于Markov-Decis-Process的算法,作出成本效益高、业绩优化的服务迁移决定,同时根据软件定义网络技术或定位器/标识器分离协议,提出两种确保服务连续性和无中断运作的替代方案。我们为FMC开发的两种备选分析模型的数值结果,以及我们开发的FMC实施方法的试验实验结果,从数量和质量上展示了它所能带来的好处。