Edge-Caching Wireless Networks: Performance Analysis and Optimization

Edge-caching has received much attention as an efficient technique to reduce delivery latency and network congestion during peak-traffic times by bringing data closer to end users. Existing works usually design caching algorithms separately from physical layer design. In this paper, we analyse edge-caching wireless networks by taking into account the caching capability when designing the signal transmission. Particularly, we investigate multi-layer caching where both base station (BS) and users are capable of storing content data in their local cache and analyse the performance of edge-caching wireless networks under two notable uncoded and coded caching strategies. Firstly, we propose a coded caching strategy that is applied to arbitrary values of cache size. The required backhaul and access rates are derived as a function of the BS and user cache size. Secondly, closed-form expressions for the system energy efficiency (EE) corresponding to the two caching methods are derived. Based on the derived formulas, the system EE is maximized via precoding vectors design and optimization while satisfying a predefined user request rate. Thirdly, two optimization problems are proposed to minimize the content delivery time for the two caching strategies. Finally, numerical results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the two caching methods.Comment: to appear in IEEE Trans. Wireless Commu

Achlys : Towards a framework for distributed storage and generic computing applications for wireless IoT edge networks with Lasp on GRiSP

Internet of Things (IoT) has gained substantial attention over the past years. And the main discussion has been how to process the amount of data that it generates which has lead to the edge computing paradigm. Wether it is called fog1, edge or mist, the principle remains that cloud services must become available closer to clients. This documents presents ongoing work on future edge systems that are built to provide steadfast IoT services to users by bringing storage and processing power closer to peripheral parts of networks. Designing such infrastructures is becoming much more challenging as the number of IoT devices keeps growing. Production grade deployments have to meet very high performance requirements, and end-to-end solutions involve significant investments. In this paper, we aim at providing a solution to extend the range of the edge model to the very farthest nodes in the network. Specifically, we focus on providing reliable storage and computation capabilities immediately on wireless IoT sensor nodes. This extended edge model will allow end users to manage their IoT ecosystem without forcibly relying on gateways or Internet provider solutions. In this document, we introduce Achlys, a prototype implementation of an edge node that is a concrete port of the Lasp programming library on the GRiSP Erlang embedded system. This way, we aim at addressing the need for a general purpose edge that is both resilient and consistent in terms of storage and network. Finally, we study example use cases that could take advantage of integrating the Achlys framework and discuss future work for the latter.Comment: 7 page

EdgeAISim: A Toolkit for Simulation and Modelling of AI Models in Edge Computing Environments

To meet next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) application demands, edge computing moves processing power and storage closer to the network edge to minimize latency and bandwidth utilization. Edge computing is becoming increasingly popular as a result of these benefits, but it comes with challenges such as managing resources efficiently. Researchers are utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) models to solve the challenge of resource management in edge computing systems. However, existing simulation tools are only concerned with typical resource management policies, not the adoption and implementation of AI models for resource management, especially. Consequently, researchers continue to face significant challenges, making it hard and time-consuming to use AI models when designing novel resource management policies for edge computing with existing simulation tools. To overcome these issues, we propose a lightweight Python-based toolkit called EdgeAISim for the simulation and modelling of AI models for designing resource management policies in edge computing environments. In EdgeAISim, we extended the basic components of the EdgeSimPy framework and developed new AI-based simulation models for task scheduling, energy management, service migration, network flow scheduling, and mobility support for edge computing environments. In EdgeAISim, we have utilized advanced AI models such as Multi-Armed Bandit with Upper Confidence Bound, Deep Q-Networks, Deep Q-Networks with Graphical Neural Network, and Actor-Critic Network to optimize power usage while efficiently managing task migration within the edge computing environment. The performance of these proposed models of EdgeAISim is compared with the baseline, which uses a worst-fit algorithm-based resource management policy in different settings. Experimental results indicate that EdgeAISim exhibits a substantial reduction in power consumption, highlighting the compelling success of power optimization strategies in EdgeAISim. The development of EdgeAISim represents a promising step towards sustainable edge computing, providing eco-friendly and energy-efficient solutions that facilitate efficient task management in edge environments for different large-scale scenarios

Shortest Path versus Multi-Hub Routing in Networks with Uncertain Demand

We study a class of robust network design problems motivated by the need to scale core networks to meet increasingly dynamic capacity demands. Past work has focused on designing the network to support all hose matrices (all matrices not exceeding marginal bounds at the nodes). This model may be too conservative if additional information on traffic patterns is available. Another extreme is the fixed demand model, where one designs the network to support peak point-to-point demands. We introduce a capped hose model to explore a broader range of traffic matrices which includes the above two as special cases. It is known that optimal designs for the hose model are always determined by single-hub routing, and for the fixed- demand model are based on shortest-path routing. We shed light on the wider space of capped hose matrices in order to see which traffic models are more shortest path-like as opposed to hub-like. To address the space in between, we use hierarchical multi-hub routing templates, a generalization of hub and tree routing. In particular, we show that by adding peak capacities into the hose model, the single-hub tree-routing template is no longer cost-effective. This initiates the study of a class of robust network design (RND) problems restricted to these templates. Our empirical analysis is based on a heuristic for this new hierarchical RND problem. We also propose that it is possible to define a routing indicator that accounts for the strengths of the marginals and peak demands and use this information to choose the appropriate routing template. We benchmark our approach against other well-known routing templates, using representative carrier networks and a variety of different capped hose traffic demands, parameterized by the relative importance of their marginals as opposed to their point-to-point peak demands