Edge Computing in the Extreme for Sustainability

摘要

The notion of edge computing introduces new computing functions away from centralized locations and closer to the network edge, thus facilitating new applications and services. This enhanced computing paradigm provides new opportunities to applications developers, not available otherwise. In this paper, we will discuss why placing computation functions at the extreme edge of a network infrastructure, i.e., in wireless Access Points and home set-top boxes, is particularly beneficial for a large class of emerging applications. We will discuss a specific approach, called ParaDrop, to implement such edge computing functionalities. Based on the ParaDrop platform, we have implemented two smart home applications for sustainability: environment control and water quality management, to demonstrate the advantages of edge computing. The implementations of the two applications on the ParaDrop platform have advantages including high privacy, reliability, and efficiency. The process to build them demonstrates the flexibility of ParaDrop to implement edge applications and cloud-edge hybrid applications. In addition, the API and tools provided by the ParaDrop platform make the application deployment process transparent to end users.