All one needs to know about fog computing and related edge computing paradigms: A complete survey

VR is expected to be one of the killer applications in 5G networks. However, many technical bottlenecks and challenges need to be overcome to facilitate its wide adoption. In particular, VR requirements in terms of high throughput, low latency, and reliable communication call for innovative solutions and fundamental research cutting across several disciplines. In view of the above, this article discusses the challenges and enablers for ultra-reliable and low-latency VR. Furthermore, in an interactive VR gaming arcade case study, we show that a smart network design that leverages the use of mmWave communication, edge computing, and proactive caching can achieve the future vision of VR over wireless.

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Toward Low-Latency and Ultra-Reliable Virtual Reality

With the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming part of our daily life and our environment, we expect rapid growth in the number of connected devices. IoT is expected to connect billions of devices and humans to bring promising advantages for us. With this growth, fog computing, along with its related edge computing paradigms, such as multi-access edge computing (MEC) and cloudlet, are seen as promising solutions for handling the large volume of security-critical and time-sensitive data that is being produced by the IoT. In this paper, we first provide a tutorial on fog computing and its related computing paradigms, including their similarities and differences. Next, we provide a taxonomy of research topics in fog computing, and through a comprehensive survey, we summarize and categorize the efforts on fog computing and its related computing paradigms. Finally, we provide challenges and future directions for research in fog computing.

All One Needs to Know about Fog Computing and Related Edge Computing Paradigms: A Complete Survey

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a crucial research field spawned by the Internet of Things (IoT). IIoT links all types of industrial equipment through the network; establishes data acquisition, exchange, and analysis systems; and optimizes processes and services, so as to reduce cost and enhance productivity. The introduction of edge computing in IIoT can significantly reduce the decision-making latency, save bandwidth resources, and to some extent, protect privacy. This paper outlines the research progress concerning edge computing in IIoT. First, the concepts of IIoT and edge computing are discussed, and subsequently, the research progress of edge computing is discussed and summarized in detail. Next, the future architecture from the perspective of edge computing in IIoT is proposed, and its technical progress in routing, task scheduling, data storage and analytics, security, and standardization is analyzed. Furthermore, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of edge computing in IIoT in terms of 5G-based edge communication, load balancing and data offloading, edge intelligence, as well as data sharing security. Finally, we introduce some typical application scenarios of edge computing in IIoT, such as prognostics and health management (PHM), smart grids, manufacturing coordination, intelligent connected vehicles (ICV), and smart logistics.

Edge Computing in Industrial Internet of Things: Architecture, Advances and Challenges

The sixth generation (6G) wireless communication networks are envisioned to revolutionize customer services and applications via the Internet of Things (IoT) towards a future of fully intelligent and autonomous systems. In this article, we explore the emerging opportunities brought by 6G technologies in IoT networks and applications, by conducting a holistic survey on the convergence of 6G and IoT. We first shed light on some of the most fundamental 6G technologies that are expected to empower future IoT networks, including edge intelligence, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, space-air-ground-underwater communications, Terahertz communications, massive ultra-reliable and low-latency communications, and blockchain. Particularly, compared to the other related survey papers, we provide an in-depth discussion of the roles of 6G in a wide range of prospective IoT applications via five key domains, namely Healthcare Internet of Things, Vehicular Internet of Things and Autonomous Driving, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Satellite Internet of Things, and Industrial Internet of Things. Finally, we highlight interesting research challenges and point out potential directions to spur further research in this promising area.

6G Internet of Things: A Comprehensive Survey

VR/AR is rapidly progressing towards enterprise and end customers with the promise of bringing immersive experience to numerous applications. Soon it will target smartphones from the cloud and 360° video delivery will need unprecedented requirements for ultra-low latency and ultra-high throughput to mobile networks. Latest developments in NFV and Mobile Edge Computing reveal already the potential to enable VR streaming in cellular networks and to pave the way towards 5G and next stages in VR technology. In this paper we present a Field Of View (FOV) rendering solution at the edge of a mobile network, designed to optimize the bandwidth and latency required by VR 360° video streaming. Preliminary test results show the immediate benefits in bandwidth saving this approach can provide and generate new directions for VR/AR network research.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3097895.3097901

VR is on the Edge: How to Deliver 360° Videos in Mobile Networks

The automotive and telco industries have taken an investment bet on the connected car market, pushing for the digital transformation of the sector by exploiting recent information and communications technology (ICT) progress. As ICT developments continue, it is expected that the technology advancements will be able to fulfill the sophisticated requirements for vehicular use cases, such as: low latency and reliable communications for safety; increased computing power to process large amounts of sensed data; and increased bandwidth for onboard infotainment. The aforementioned requirements have received significant focus during the ongoing definition of the 3GPP 5G mobile standards, where there has been a drive to facilitate vertical segments such as automotive, in addition to providing the core aspects of the communication infrastructure. Among the technology enablers for 5G, multi-access edge computing (MEC) can be considered essential. That is, a cloud environment located at the edge of the network, in proximity of the end users and coupled with the service provider's network infrastructure. Even before 5G is rolled out, current mobile networks can already target support for these challenging use cases using MEC technology. This is because MEC is able to fulfill low latency and high bandwidth requirements, and, in addition, lends itself to be deployed at vertical industrial sector premises such as road infrastructure, air/seaports, and smart factories, thus bringing computing power where it is needed most. This work showcases the automotive use cases that are relevant for MEC, providing insights into the technologies specified and investigated by the ETSI Industry Specification Group MEC, who were the pioneers in creating a standardized computing platform for advanced mobile networks with regard to network edge related use cases.

Multi-Access Edge Computing: The Driver Behind the Wheel of 5G-Connected Cars

The automotive and telco industries have taken an investment bet on the connected car market, pushing for the digital transformation of the sector by exploiting recent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) progress. As ICT developments continue, it is expected that the technology advancements will be able to fulfill the sophisticated requirements for vehicular use cases, such as low latency and reliable communications for safety, high computing power to process large amount of sensed data, and increased bandwidth for on-board infotainment. 
The aforementioned requirements have received significant focus during the ongoing definition of the 3GPP 5G mobile standards, where there has been a drive to facilitate vertical industries such as automotive, in addition to providing the core aspects of the communication infrastructure. Of the technology enablers for 5G, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) can be considered essential. That is, a cloud environment located at the edge of the network, in proximity of the end-users and coupled with the service provider's network infrastructure. Even before 5G is rolled out, current mobile networks can already target support for these challenging use cases using MEC technology. This is because MEC is able to fulfill low latency and high bandwidth requirements, and, in addition, it lends itself to be deployed at the vertical industrial sector premises such as road infrastructure, air/sea ports, smart factories, etc., thus, bringing computing power where it is needed most. 
This work showcases the automotive use cases that are relevant for MEC, providing insights into the technologies specified and investigated by the ETSI MEC Industry Specification Group (ISG), who were the pioneer in creating a standardized computing platform for advanced mobile networks with regards to network edge related use cases.

Multi-access Edge Computing: The driver behind the wheel of 5G-connected cars

It is widely recognized that the Internet transport layer has become ossified, where further evolution has become hard or even impossible. This is a direct consequence of the ubiquitous deployment of middleboxes that hamper the deployment of new transports, aggravated further by the limited flexibility of the application programming interface (API) typically presented to applications. To tackle this problem, a wide range of solutions have been proposed in the literature, each aiming to address a particular aspect. Yet, no single proposal has emerged that is able to enable evolution of the transport layer. In this paper, after an overview of the main issues and reasons for transport-layer ossification, we survey proposed solutions and discuss their potential and limitations. The survey is divided into five parts, each covering a set of point solutions for a different facet of the problem space: 1) designing middlebox-proof transports; 2) signaling for facilitating middlebox traversal; 3) enhancing the API between the applications and the transport layer; 4) discovering and exploiting end-to-end capabilities; and 5) enabling user-space protocol stacks. Based on this analysis, we then identify further development needs toward an overall solution. We argue that the development of a comprehensive transport layer framework, able to facilitate the integration and cooperation of specialized solutions in an application-independent and flexible way, is a necessary step toward making the Internet transport architecture truly evolvable. To this end, we identify the requirements for such a framework and provide insights for its development.

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De-Ossifying the Internet Transport Layer: A Survey and Future Perspectives

We introduce the concept of "edge-native applications" that fully exploit the potential of edge computing and have a deeply symbiotic relationship with it. Such an application is custom-designed to take advantage of one or more of the unique attributes of edge computing such as (a) bandwidth scalability, (b) low-latency offload, (c) privacy-preserving denaturing, and (d) WAN-failure resiliency. The application may also contribute to scalability through adaptation to reduce offered load. We contrast edge-native applications with shallower uses of edge computing in a taxonomy that spans "edge-enhanced, device-native applications", "edge-accelerated, cloud-native applications", and "device-only applications". We close with a case study that illustrates these concepts in the context of cognitive assistance for automotive safety.

Simone Mangiante

Papers

VR is on the Edge: How to Deliver 360° Videos in Mobile Networks

Multi-Access Edge Computing: The Driver Behind the Wheel of 5G-Connected Cars

Multi-access Edge Computing: The driver behind the wheel of 5G-connected cars

De-Ossifying the Internet Transport Layer: A Survey and Future Perspectives

The Seminal Role of Edge-Native Applications