The OPTIMIST programme sets the ambitious aim to develop a modular end-to-end service platform tailored to the optimized delivery of personalised video content in 5G mobile networks, providing one of the first world-wide implementations of MEC-enabled service provisioning in 5G networks that is fully compatible with the emerging ETSI/3GPP reference architectures.

The OPTIMIST service platform will design and implement different MEC services, which are currently studied in an isolated fashion in current literature, (e.g. edge network caching exploiting edge storage resources, video transcoding and data-driven content popularity prediction exploiting edge processing resources, optimized video content placement and delivery exploiting the new 5G radio capabilities), in the form of virtual network functions (VNFs) that are instantiated and optimized on-the-fly to construct a video service chain that is designed to meet the personalized requirements of 5G mobile video consumers.

The OPTIMIST service platform will be fully aligned with the existing and forthcoming standardization activities in the areas of MEC and 5G networks (ETSI MEC and 3GPP); thus, maximizing the impact of the project in the long-term both in terms of academic results (new methodological tools and algorithmic innovations) and market products (deliver specific products / services that will enhance the portfolio of industrial partners). To this end, OPTIMIST will leverage state-of-the-art (SotA) technologies in MEC-empowered service provisioning, data-driven service control and automation, QoE-driven dynamic adaptive video streaming over HTTP (DASH), GPS-free localization and machine learning (ML) for wireless communications.

The OPTIMIST service platform will address in a holistic fashion the challenging problem of MEC/RAN integration in 5G networks under the meaningful concept of delivering large volumes of fully personalized 5G mobile video content, accelerating and optimizing MEC-empowered service provisioning with prediction-driven service automation (data analytics, model-based decision support) in line with the recently-released ETSI MEC reference architecture and the 3GPP NR standard. To this end, the OPTIMIST software platform will integrate SotA service modules that will be specialized to the optimization of different parts of the e2e video content delivery chain, domains that in current literature are handled independently and are in general loosely integrated