Orchestrating Service Migration for Low Power MEC-Enabled IoT Devices

Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) is a key enabling technology for Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks. MEC facilitates distributed cloud computing capabilities and information technology service environment for applications and services at the edges of mobile networks. This architectural modification serves to reduce congestion, latency, and improve the performance of such edge colocated applications and devices. In this paper, we demonstrate how reactive service migration can be orchestrated for low-power MEC-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Here, we use open-source Kubernetes as container orchestration system. Our demo is based on traditional client-server system from user equipment (UE) over Long Term Evolution (LTE) to the MEC server. As the use case scenario, we post-process live video received over web real-time communication (WebRTC). Next, we integrate orchestration by Kubernetes with S1 handovers, demonstrating MEC-based software defined network (SDN). Now, edge applications may reactively follow the UE within the radio access network (RAN), expediting low-latency. The collected data is used to analyze the benefits of the low-power MEC-enabled IoT device scheme, in which end-to-end (E2E) latency and power requirements of the UE are improved. We further discuss the challenges of implementing such schemes and future research directions therein

Do Free Mobile Apps Harm Consumers?

Google distributes proprietary applications for its open-source Android mobile operating system (OS) free of charge. Some of those applications (apps) are offered together as a suite of apps known as Google Mobile Services (GMS). Manufacturers of mobile devices can agree, pursuant to Google\u27s Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA), to install the suite of apps on their devices at a price of zero. Some theorize that Google\u27s policy of offering some applications together as a suite of apps harms competitors or menaces consumer welfare. In April 2015, the European Commission expressed such concerns when it initiated a formal antitrust investigation that will scrutinize Google\u27s licensing practice with respect to Android, mobile apps, and mobile services. In April 2014, an antitrust class-action complaint filed against Google by individual mobile device owners in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California presented similar allegations. However, the theory that the MADA\u27s requirements have anticompetitive effects is wrong. As a matter of economics, Google\u27s practice of distributing free mobile apps in the GMS suite benefits consumers -- as well as manufacturers, mobile carriers, app developers, and advertisers -- by stimulating demand, by reducing the risk of fragmentation of the Android OS, and by preventing Google\u27s competitors from free riding on its investment to make the Android OS and mobile apps a viable open-source competitor to closed and proprietary -- walled garden -- platforms for mobile devices. As a matter of antitrust law, Google\u27s distribution of apps as part of a larger whole -- GMS -- is lawful under the Supreme Court\u27s four-part test for such arrangements. Google does not force consumers to pay for apps they do not want, and the MADA\u27s requirements enhance competition overall. The same conclusion holds with even greater certainty under the rule-of-reason analysis for software integration that the D.C. Circuit adopted in its historic Microsoft decision. Although European competition law differs in some respects from American antitrust law, the pertinent economic analysis does not vary by jurisdiction. Google\u27s licensing practice has invigorated competition among mobile platforms and mobile devices. Google\u27s distribution of free mobile apps in GMS has produced a market success, not a market failure, and should not be considered anticompetitive

Strengthening health-related rehabilitation services at national levels.

OBJECTIVE: One of the aims of the World Health Organization\u27s Global Disability Action Plan is to strengthen rehabilitation services. Some countries have requested support to develop (scale-up) rehabilitation services. This paper describes the measures required and how (advisory) missions can support this purpose, with the aim of developing National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plans. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is important to clarify the involvement of governments in the mission, to define clear terms of reference, and to use a systematic pathway for situation assessment. Information must be collected regarding policies, health, disability, rehabilitation, social security systems, the need for rehabilitation, and the existing rehabilitation services and workforce. Site visits and stakeholder dialogues must be done. In order to develop a Rehabilitation Service Implementation Framework, existing rehabilitation services, workforce, and models for service implementation and development of rehabilitation professions are described. Governance, political will and a common understanding of disability and rehabilitation are crucial for implementation of the process. The recommendations of the World Report on Disability are used for reporting purposes. CONCLUSION: This concept is feasible, and leads to concrete recommendations and proposals for projects and a high level of consensus stakeholders

Open Source, Modular Platforms, and the Challenge of Fragmentation

Open source and modular platforms represent two powerful conceptual paradigms that have fundamentally transformed the software industry. While generally regarded complementary, the freedom inherent in open source rests in uneasy tension with the strict structural requirements required by modularity theory. In particular, third party providers can produce noncompliant components, and excessive experimentation can fragment the platform in ways that reduce its economic benefits for end users and app providers and force app providers to spend resources customizing their code for each variant. The classic solutions to these problems are to rely on some form of testing to ensure that the components provided by third parties comply with a compatibility standard and to subject the overall system to some form of governance. The history of the three leading open source operating systems (Unix, Symbian, and Linux) confirms this insight. The question is thus not whether some constraints will apply, but rather how restrictive those constraints will be. Finally, the governance regimes range from very restrictive to relatively open and permissive. Competition policy authorities should take into account where certain practices fall along that spectrum when enforcing competition law. Exposing the more permissive practices to demanding scrutiny runs the risk of causing operating systems to turn to more restrictive approaches

Addressing the Challenges in Federating Edge Resources

This book chapter considers how Edge deployments can be brought to bear in a global context by federating them across multiple geographic regions to create a global Edge-based fabric that decentralizes data center computation. This is currently impractical, not only because of technical challenges, but is also shrouded by social, legal and geopolitical issues. In this chapter, we discuss two key challenges - networking and management in federating Edge deployments. Additionally, we consider resource and modeling challenges that will need to be addressed for a federated Edge.Comment: Book Chapter accepted to the Fog and Edge Computing: Principles and Paradigms; Editors Buyya, Sriram

Virtual Reality-based Platformer Games Development for Elevating Architectural Heritage Awareness

As a country with abundant traditional culture, Indonesia is facing serious challenge in conserving them. There is a need to promote the traditional culture to a wider area of people, particularly to the younger generation. Virtual world offers a new way of promoting a nation’s culture via Virtual Reality (VR). This research aims to develop a VR-based platformer mobile game to promote cultural awareness in a new and creative way for younger generation. In the game, a player can observe one famous architectural heritage in Yogyakarta—Mesjid Gedhe Kauman—in fun way of game. A survey is conducted to measure its success in reaching the predetermined goals and to measure its user experience (UX). The survey confirm that the VR-based platformer game helps them in learning cultural value of the architecture (62.5/100) and it is relatively easy to navigate (72.5/100). Moreover, it has a good user experience (UX) score—all are above 0.8, meaning that its users are generally comfortable in playing the game

Mobile object location discovery in unpredictable environments

Emerging mobile and ubiquitous computing environments present hard challenges to software engineering. The use of mobile code has been suggested as a natural fit for simplifing software development for these environments. However, the task of discovering mobile code location becomes a problem in unpredictable environments when using existing strategies, designed with fixed and relatively stable networks in mind. This paper introduces AMOS, a mobile code platform augmented with a structured overlay network. We demonstrate how the location discovery strategy of AMOS has better reliability and scalability properties than existing approaches, with minimal communication overhead. Finally, we demonstrate how AMOS can provide autonomous distribution of effort fairly throughout a network using probabilistic methods that requires no global knowledge of host capabilities

Modernization of Agriculture and Use of Information and Communication Technologies by Farmers in Coastal Yogyakarta

In the development process, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which also commonly referred to as electronic media or cyber media have been acknowledged as a new instrument that could facilitate the need of new information and innovation for rural people or farmers. However, several studies reported that extension and communication based-electronic media in developing countries encounter more problems rather than in developed countries. This research aims to investigate the ownership, access, utilization or functions of ICTs for obtaining information supporting the daily life of farmers and for promoting various farming activities in the coastal area of Kulon Progo Regency Yogyakarta. The research method of the study was a descriptive method that has been conducted by a mixed method. The study found that in line with modernization in agriculture, farmers have been using conventional and new electronic media including television, radio and mobile phone with function for getting new information. Conventional electronic media are still dominant while the use of new electronic media has been gradually increasing. Information gathered from ICTs includes social, cultural, economic, health and environmental issues. The use of new electronic media particularly the internet via smartphone has newly started to be utilized among farmers in the coastal farming area who intensively engaged in horticulture crops cultivation mainly for getting and exchange the market information. Information on technological innovation is still dominant among farmers. Better infrastructure and mobility access, improvement of telecommunication network and development of content and format of information provided by new media will be prospective in the futur