The SMF (e.g. SMF 118 of FIG. 1B) may be configured to perform session management, IP address allocation and management, Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) services, selection/re-selection and control of the UPF, configuring traffic rules for the UPF, lawful intercept (LI) for session management events, charging, and support for roaming. As MEC services may be offered in both centralized and edge clouds, for example, the SMF may play a significant role due to its role in selecting and controlling the UPF. The SMF may expose service operations to allow the MEC to serve as a 5G AF to manage PDU sessions, control policy settings and traffic rules, and subscribe to notifications on session management events.

Logically, MEC hosts may be deployed in the edge or a central data network. The UPF (e.g. UPF 120 of FIG. 1B) may handle the steering of UP traffic towards targeted MEC applications. The locations of the UPF and data networks may be based on the choice of the network operator. The network operator may choose to place the physical computing resources in accordance with technical and business parameters, such as available site facilities, supported applications and their requirements, measured or estimated user load etc. In some implementations, the MEC management system that orchestrates the operation of MEC hosts and applications may be configured to determine dynamically where to deploy the MEC applications.