Edge Computing: The Computing Infrastructure for the Smart Megacities of the Future

Abstract

This article contributes a research vision for using edge computing to deliver the computing infrastructure for emerging smart megacities, with use cases, key requirements, and reflections on the state of the art. We also address edge server placements, a key challenge for edge computing adoption. Urbanization is continuing at unprecedented rates, with estimates suggesting that, by 2030, the global population of major cities with 10 million or more inhabitants will grow from 3.2 billion to almost 5 billion. 1 Parallel to this growth, there is an increasing trend to make cities smart by integrating sensors, networks, and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize city functions and offer services that support inhabitants' lives. For example, environmental sensors are increasingly being deployed within cities to monitor various pollutants at fine spatial and temporal resolutions,

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“…Similarly, offloading data from the sensor network or onboard sensors to an edge node for future analysis may reduce power consumption on the drone itself [163]. While opportunities to harness edge infrastructure are currently limited, they are expected to increase in the near future as edge computing infrastructure is best suited for scaling up computing support for cities and other large-scale domains [72].…”