Formal definition of edge computing: An emphasis on mobile cloud and IoT composition

Abstract

Under the Edge computing umbrella, mobile cloud computing is an emerging area where two trends come together to compose its major pillars. On one hand, the virtualization affecting the data centers hypervisors. On the other hand, device's mobility, especially Smart Phones, which proved to be the most effective and convenient tools in human life. This emerging area is then changing the game in terms of mobility of workspaces and the interaction with the connected devices and sensors. This paper provides a formal specification of the Mobile cloud component using the n-calculus. The proposed model defines the mobile cloud component, the virtual device representation, and interaction that leads to application offloading and device composition. This paper describe our contribution that enables the composition of virtual devices from physical devices, sensors, and actuators available on the network. Moreover, we present a model of application offloading and virtual devices networking on mobile clouds. Our architectural model is inspired from the Cloudlet based system. In addition to the formal specifications and architecture this paper presents a case studies showing the structural congruence between a locally executed application and an offloaded version of that same application.