A Taxonomy for Management and Optimization of Multiple Resources in Edge Computing

Edge computing is promoted to meet increasing performance needs of data-driven services using computational and storage resources close to the end devices, at the edge of the current network. To achieve higher performance in this new paradigm one has to consider how to combine the efficiency of resource usage at all three layers of architecture: end devices, edge devices, and the cloud. While cloud capacity is elastically extendable, end devices and edge devices are to various degrees resource-constrained. Hence, an efficient resource management is essential to make edge computing a reality. In this work, we first present terminology and architectures to characterize current works within the field of edge computing. Then, we review a wide range of recent articles and categorize relevant aspects in terms of 4 perspectives: resource type, resource management objective, resource location, and resource use. This taxonomy and the ensuing analysis is used to identify some gaps in the existing research. Among several research gaps, we found that research is less prevalent on data, storage, and energy as a resource, and less extensive towards the estimation, discovery and sharing objectives. As for resource types, the most well-studied resources are computation and communication resources. Our analysis shows that resource management at the edge requires a deeper understanding of how methods applied at different levels and geared towards different resource types interact. Specifically, the impact of mobility and collaboration schemes requiring incentives are expected to be different in edge architectures compared to the classic cloud solutions. Finally, we find that fewer works are dedicated to the study of non-functional properties or to quantifying the footprint of resource management techniques, including edge-specific means of migrating data and services.Comment: Accepted in the Special Issue Mobile Edge Computing of the Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing journa

Task number maximization offloading strategy seamlessly adapted to UAV scenario

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has been proposed in recent years to process resource-intensive and delay-sensitive applications at the edge of mobile networks, which can break the hardware limitations and resource constraints at user equipment (UE). In order to fully use the MEC server resource, how to maximize the number of offloaded tasks is meaningful especially for crowded place or disaster area. In this paper, an optimal partial offloading scheme POSMU (Partial Offloading Strategy Maximizing the User task number) is proposed to obtain the optimal offloading ratio, local computing frequency, transmission power and MEC server computing frequency for each UE. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem (MINLP), which is NP-hard and challenging to solve. As such, we convert the problem into multiple nonlinear programming problems (NLPs) and propose an efficient algorithm to solve them by applying the block coordinate descent (BCD) as well as convex optimization techniques. Besides, we can seamlessly apply POSMU to UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) enabled MEC system by analyzing the 3D communication model. The optimality of POSMU is illustrated in numerical results, and POSMU can approximately maximize the number of offloaded tasks compared to other schemes

Edge Video Analytics: A Survey on Applications, Systems and Enabling Techniques

Video, as a key driver in the global explosion of digital information, can create tremendous benefits for human society. Governments and enterprises are deploying innumerable cameras for a variety of applications, e.g., law enforcement, emergency management, traffic control, and security surveillance, all facilitated by video analytics (VA). This trend is spurred by the rapid advancement of deep learning (DL), which enables more precise models for object classification, detection, and tracking. Meanwhile, with the proliferation of Internet-connected devices, massive amounts of data are generated daily, overwhelming the cloud. Edge computing, an emerging paradigm that moves workloads and services from the network core to the network edge, has been widely recognized as a promising solution. The resulting new intersection, edge video analytics (EVA), begins to attract widespread attention. Nevertheless, only a few loosely-related surveys exist on this topic. The basic concepts of EVA (e.g., definition, architectures) were not fully elucidated due to the rapid development of this domain. To fill these gaps, we provide a comprehensive survey of the recent efforts on EVA. In this paper, we first review the fundamentals of edge computing, followed by an overview of VA. The EVA system and its enabling techniques are discussed next. In addition, we introduce prevalent frameworks and datasets to aid future researchers in the development of EVA systems. Finally, we discuss existing challenges and foresee future research directions. We believe this survey will help readers comprehend the relationship between VA and edge computing, and spark new ideas on EVA.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figure

Resource Management in Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC)

This PhD thesis investigates the effective ways of managing the resources of a Multi-Access Edge Computing Platform (MEC) in 5th Generation Mobile Communication (5G) networks. The main characteristics of MEC include distributed nature, proximity to users, and high availability. Based on these key features, solutions have been proposed for effective resource management. In this research, two aspects of resource management in MEC have been addressed. They are the computational resource and the caching resource which corresponds to the services provided by the MEC. MEC is a new 5G enabling technology proposed to reduce latency by bringing cloud computing capability closer to end-user Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices. MEC would support latency-critical user applications such as driverless cars and e-health. These applications will depend on resources and services provided by the MEC. However, MEC has limited computational and storage resources compared to the cloud. Therefore, it is important to ensure a reliable MEC network communication during resource provisioning by eradicating the chances of deadlock. Deadlock may occur due to a huge number of devices contending for a limited amount of resources if adequate measures are not put in place. It is crucial to eradicate deadlock while scheduling and provisioning resources on MEC to achieve a highly reliable and readily available system to support latency-critical applications. In this research, a deadlock avoidance resource provisioning algorithm has been proposed for industrial IoT devices using MEC platforms to ensure higher reliability of network interactions. The proposed scheme incorporates Banker’s resource-request algorithm using Software Defined Networking (SDN) to reduce communication overhead. Simulation and experimental results have shown that system deadlock can be prevented by applying the proposed algorithm which ultimately leads to a more reliable network interaction between mobile stations and MEC platforms. Additionally, this research explores the use of MEC as a caching platform as it is proclaimed as a key technology for reducing service processing delays in 5G networks. Caching on MEC decreases service latency and improve data content access by allowing direct content delivery through the edge without fetching data from the remote server. Caching on MEC is also deemed as an effective approach that guarantees more reachability due to proximity to endusers. In this regard, a novel hybrid content caching algorithm has been proposed for MEC platforms to increase their caching efficiency. The proposed algorithm is a unification of a modified Belady’s algorithm and a distributed cooperative caching algorithm to improve data access while reducing latency. A polynomial fit algorithm with Lagrange interpolation is employed to predict future request references for Belady’s algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm obtains 4% more cache hits due to its selective caching approach when compared with case study algorithms. Results also show that the use of a cooperative algorithm can improve the total cache hits up to 80%. Furthermore, this thesis has also explored another predictive caching scheme to further improve caching efficiency. The motivation was to investigate another predictive caching approach as an improvement to the formal. A Predictive Collaborative Replacement (PCR) caching framework has been proposed as a result which consists of three schemes. Each of the schemes addresses a particular problem. The proactive predictive scheme has been proposed to address the problem of continuous change in cache popularity trends. The collaborative scheme addresses the problem of cache redundancy in the collaborative space. Finally, the replacement scheme is a solution to evict cold cache blocks and increase hit ratio. Simulation experiment has shown that the replacement scheme achieves 3% more cache hits than existing replacement algorithms such as Least Recently Used, Multi Queue and Frequency-based replacement. PCR algorithm has been tested using a real dataset (MovieLens20M dataset) and compared with an existing contemporary predictive algorithm. Results show that PCR performs better with a 25% increase in hit ratio and a 10% CPU utilization overhead

Gestion conjointe de ressources de communication et de calcul pour les réseaux sans fils à base de cloud

Mobile Edge Cloud brings the cloud closer to mobile users by moving the cloud computational efforts from the internet to the mobile edge. We adopt a local mobile edge cloud computing architecture, where small cells are empowered with computational and storage capacities. Mobile users’ offloaded computational tasks are executed at the cloud-enabled small cells. We propose the concept of small cells clustering for mobile edge computing, where small cells cooperate in order to execute offloaded computational tasks. A first contribution of this thesis is the design of a multi-parameter computation offloading decision algorithm, SM-POD. The proposed algorithm consists of a series of low complexity successive and nested classifications of computational tasks at the mobile side, leading to local computation, or offloading to the cloud. To reach the offloading decision, SM-POD jointly considers computational tasks, handsets, and communication channel parameters. In the second part of this thesis, we tackle the problem of small cell clusters set up for mobile edge cloud computing for both single-user and multi-user cases. The clustering problem is formulated as an optimization that jointly optimizes the computational and communication resource allocation, and the computational load distribution on the small cells participating in the computation cluster. We propose a cluster sparsification strategy, where we trade cluster latency for higher system energy efficiency. In the multi-user case, the optimization problem is not convex. In order to compute a clustering solution, we propose a convex reformulation of the problem, and we prove that both problems are equivalent. With the goal of finding a lower complexity clustering solution, we propose two heuristic small cells clustering algorithms. The first algorithm is based on resource allocation on the serving small cells where tasks are received, as a first step. Then, in a second step, unserved tasks are sent to a small cell managing unit (SCM) that sets up computational clusters for the execution of these tasks. The main idea of this algorithm is task scheduling at both serving small cells, and SCM sides for higher resource allocation efficiency. The second proposed heuristic is an iterative approach in which serving small cells compute their desired clusters, without considering the presence of other users, and send their cluster parameters to the SCM. SCM then checks for excess of resource allocation at any of the network small cells. SCM reports any load excess to serving small cells that re-distribute this load on less loaded small cells. In the final part of this thesis, we propose the concept of computation caching for edge cloud computing. With the aim of reducing the edge cloud computing latency and energy consumption, we propose caching popular computational tasks for preventing their re-execution. Our contribution here is two-fold: first, we propose a caching algorithm that is based on requests popularity, computation size, required computational capacity, and small cells connectivity. This algorithm identifies requests that, if cached and downloaded instead of being re-computed, will increase the computation caching energy and latency savings. Second, we propose a method for setting up a search small cells cluster for finding a cached copy of the requests computation. The clustering policy exploits the relationship between tasks popularity and their probability of being cached, in order to identify possible locations of the cached copy. The proposed method reduces the search cluster size while guaranteeing a minimum cache hit probability.Cette thèse porte sur le paradigme « Mobile Edge cloud» qui rapproche le cloud des utilisateurs mobiles et qui déploie une architecture de clouds locaux dans les terminaisons du réseau. Les utilisateurs mobiles peuvent désormais décharger leurs tâches de calcul pour qu’elles soient exécutées par les femto-cellules (FCs) dotées de capacités de calcul et de stockage. Nous proposons ainsi un concept de regroupement de FCs dans des clusters de calculs qui participeront aux calculs des tâches déchargées. A cet effet, nous proposons, dans un premier temps, un algorithme de décision de déportation de tâches vers le cloud, nommé SM-POD. Cet algorithme prend en compte les caractéristiques des tâches de calculs, des ressources de l’équipement mobile, et de la qualité des liens de transmission. SM-POD consiste en une série de classifications successives aboutissant à une décision de calcul local, ou de déportation de l’exécution dans le cloud.Dans un deuxième temps, nous abordons le problème de formation de clusters de calcul à mono-utilisateur et à utilisateurs multiples. Nous formulons le problème d’optimisation relatif qui considère l’allocation conjointe des ressources de calculs et de communication, et la distribution de la charge de calcul sur les FCs participant au cluster. Nous proposons également une stratégie d’éparpillement, dans laquelle l’efficacité énergétique du système est améliorée au prix de la latence de calcul. Dans le cas d’utilisateurs multiples, le problème d’optimisation d’allocation conjointe de ressources n’est pas convexe. Afin de le résoudre, nous proposons une reformulation convexe du problème équivalente à la première puis nous proposons deux algorithmes heuristiques dans le but d’avoir un algorithme de formation de cluster à complexité réduite. L’idée principale du premier est l’ordonnancement des tâches de calculs sur les FCs qui les reçoivent. Les ressources de calculs sont ainsi allouées localement au niveau de la FC. Les tâches ne pouvant pas être exécutées sont, quant à elles, envoyées à une unité de contrôle (SCM) responsable de la formation des clusters de calculs et de leur exécution. Le second algorithme proposé est itératif et consiste en une formation de cluster au niveau des FCs ne tenant pas compte de la présence d’autres demandes de calculs dans le réseau. Les propositions de cluster sont envoyées au SCM qui évalue la distribution des charges sur les différentes FCs. Le SCM signale tout abus de charges pour que les FCs redistribuent leur excès dans des cellules moins chargées.Dans la dernière partie de la thèse, nous proposons un nouveau concept de mise en cache des calculs dans l’Edge cloud. Afin de réduire la latence et la consommation énergétique des clusters de calculs, nous proposons la mise en cache de calculs populaires pour empêcher leur réexécution. Ici, notre contribution est double : d’abord, nous proposons un algorithme de mise en cache basé, non seulement sur la popularité des tâches de calculs, mais aussi sur les tailles et les capacités de calculs demandés, et la connectivité des FCs dans le réseau. L’algorithme proposé identifie les tâches aboutissant à des économies d’énergie et de temps plus importantes lorsqu’elles sont téléchargées d’un cache au lieu d’être recalculées. Nous proposons ensuite d’exploiter la relation entre la popularité des tâches et la probabilité de leur mise en cache, pour localiser les emplacements potentiels de leurs copies. La méthode proposée est basée sur ces emplacements, et permet de former des clusters de recherche de taille réduite tout en garantissant de retrouver une copie en cache

Mobile Edge Computing

This is an open access book. It offers comprehensive, self-contained knowledge on Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), which is a very promising technology for achieving intelligence in the next-generation wireless communications and computing networks. The book starts with the basic concepts, key techniques and network architectures of MEC. Then, we present the wide applications of MEC, including edge caching, 6G networks, Internet of Vehicles, and UAVs. In the last part, we present new opportunities when MEC meets blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and distributed machine learning (e.g., federated learning). We also identify the emerging applications of MEC in pandemic, industrial Internet of Things and disaster management. The book allows an easy cross-reference owing to the broad coverage on both the principle and applications of MEC. The book is written for people interested in communications and computer networks at all levels. The primary audience includes senior undergraduates, postgraduates, educators, scientists, researchers, developers, engineers, innovators and research strategists

Power Consumption Analysis, Measurement, Management, and Issues:A State-of-the-Art Review of Smartphone Battery and Energy Usage

The advancement and popularity of smartphones have made it an essential and all-purpose device. But lack of advancement in battery technology has held back its optimum potential. Therefore, considering its scarcity, optimal use and efficient management of energy are crucial in a smartphone. For that, a fair understanding of a smartphone's energy consumption factors is necessary for both users and device manufacturers, along with other stakeholders in the smartphone ecosystem. It is important to assess how much of the device's energy is consumed by which components and under what circumstances. This paper provides a generalized, but detailed analysis of the power consumption causes (internal and external) of a smartphone and also offers suggestive measures to minimize the consumption for each factor. The main contribution of this paper is four comprehensive literature reviews on: 1) smartphone's power consumption assessment and estimation (including power consumption analysis and modelling); 2) power consumption management for smartphones (including energy-saving methods and techniques); 3) state-of-the-art of the research and commercial developments of smartphone batteries (including alternative power sources); and 4) mitigating the hazardous issues of smartphones' batteries (with a details explanation of the issues). The research works are further subcategorized based on different research and solution approaches. A good number of recent empirical research works are considered for this comprehensive review, and each of them is succinctly analysed and discussed

Robust Mobile Visual Recognition System: From Bag of Visual Words to Deep Learning

With billions of images captured by mobile users everyday, automatically recognizing contents in such images has become a particularly important feature for various mobile apps, including augmented reality, product search, visual-based authentication etc. Traditionally, a client-server architecture is adopted such that the mobile client sends captured images/video frames to a cloud server, which runs a set of task-specific computer vision algorithms and sends back the recognition results. However, such scheme may cause problems related to user privacy, network stability/availability and device energy.In this dissertation, we investigate the problem of building a robust mobile visual recognition system that achieves high accuracy, low latency, low energy cost and privacy protection. Generally, we study two broad types of recognition methods: the bag of visual words (BOVW) based retrieval methods, which search the nearest neighbor image to a query image, and the state-of-the-art deep learning based methods, which recognize a given image using a trained deep neural network. The challenges of deploying BOVW based retrieval methods include: size of indexed image database, query latency, feature extraction efficiency and re-ranking performance. To address such challenges, we first proposed EMOD which enables efficient on-device image retrieval on a downloaded context-dependent partial image database. The efficiency is achieved by analyzing the BOVW processing pipeline and optimizing each module with algorithmic improvement.Recent deep learning based recognition approaches have been shown to greatly exceed the performance of traditional approaches. We identify several challenges of applying deep learning based recognition methods on mobile scenarios, namely energy efficiency and privacy protection for real-time visual processing, and mobile visual domain biases. Thus, we proposed two techniques to address them, (i) efficiently splitting the workload across heterogeneous computing resources, i.e., mobile devices and the cloud using our Moca framework, and (ii) using mobile visual domain adaptation as proposed in our collaborative edge-mediated platform DeepCham. Our extensive experiments on large-scale benchmark datasets and off-the-shelf mobile devices show our solutions provide better results than the state-of-the-art solutions