Slice-Aware Handover Management for MEC Services Using 3GPP APIs Towards 6G

Next-generation 6G networks must support diverse and demanding services such as ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) while ensuring seamless end-to-end service continuity, especially during mobility events. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) and network slicing are key enablers to meet these stringent requirements. However, traditional traffic steering mechanisms often overlook slice-specific needs, leading to increased latency and service disruptions during handover. This paper proposes a 3GPP-compliant Slice-Aware Traffic Steering framework that combines MEC, network slicing, User Equipment Route Selection Policies (URSP), Service and Session Continuity (SSC), and Network Exposure Function (NEF) APIs. Using network analytics and orchestrating cross-domain interactions at the 3GPP system and services architecture (SA) level, the framework dynamically optimizes traffic routing to maintain service quality. We implemented a slice-aware handover simulation environment using NS-3 to point slice-aware latency affects. The simulation results show that the proposed slice-awareness approach significantly reduces handover latency and ensures robust continuity for latency-sensitive applications compared to conventional methods. This work lays the groundwork for standards-aligned, intelligent traffic management towards resilient 6G networks.