Introduction to Mobile Cloud and Edge Computing

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the fundamental concepts, architectural differences, and practical applications of Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) as discussed in Chapter 1.

Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC)

A technology that integrates cloud computing with mobile devices to enhance capabilities such as computing and storage for applications that are latency insensitive but computation intensive.

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)

A paradigm that provides cloud-computing capabilities and an IT service environment at the edge of the network, within the radio access network, to support latency-critical applications.

Application Programming Interface (API)

A set of protocols that acts as the interface between mobile devices and the cloud to deliver cloud applications to the mobile devices.

MCC Physical Servers

Servers with high computing and storage capabilities located in large-scale data centers, which are specific buildings equipped with adequate power supply and cooling.

MEC Physical Servers

Servers equipped with a limited amount of computing and storage resources that are colocated with small-scale data centers, such as wireless routers, base stations, and gateways.

Transmission Distance (MCC)

The distance between servers and users that usually varies from several $kilometers$ to $thousands of kilometers$, often encompassing different countries or continents.

Transmission Distance (MEC)

The distance between servers and end users which is typically short, ranging from $tens to hundreds of meters$, and generally no longer than a $kilometer$.

Communication Latency

The part of mobile application latency caused by data transmission; it is much shorter in MEC systems due to simpler transmission schemes and shorter propagation distances.

Computation Latency

The part of mobile application latency related to processing; in MEC, this is mitigated by allocating server capabilities to limited numbers of end users within their coverage.

Multi-access Edge Computing

The name adopted by ETSI in $2016$ (keeping the acronym MEC) to extend the technology's scope to heterogeneous access technologies like LTE, $5G$, Wi-Fi, and fixed access.

Context-aware Computing

A feature of MEC where servers interact with end devices in real time by tracking running states and location to provide services like real-time traffic updates.

On premises

A characteristic of MEC platforms where they can run isolated from the rest of the network while maintaining access to local resources, ensuring high resilience for safety systems.

Proximity

A feature indicating MEC servers are deployed close to mobile users to capture key information for analytics and support compute-hungry devices like AR.

Location awareness

The ability of MEC to leverage signaling information from edge devices to determine the location of each connected device for business-oriented use cases.

Network context information

Real-time data and signaling that MEC applications use to estimate radio cell and network bandwidth congestion to improve customer service delivery.

Internet of Vehicles (IoV)

A framework employing V2V, V2R, or V2I communication to enhance safety and provide services like smart navigation and real-time driving route planning.

Smart Grids

Electrical grids consisting of smart appliances and renewable resources that use MEC for nearby data management and analysis of energy consumption via smart meters.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Devices that can act as flying base stations or mobile computation servers to provide users better wireless connections and support latency-critical applications.

AR/VR Services

Applications requiring intensive data processing and ultra-low round-trip latencies of approximately $1\,ms$ to increase tracking accuracy and user experience.

Video Stream Analytics

Tasks with high computation complexity, such as object detection and classification, that benefit from the ultra-low latency provided by performing analysis close to edge devices.