No Arabic abstract
Mobile-edge computing (MEC) and wireless power transfer are technologies that can assist in the implementation of next generation wireless networks, which will deploy a large number of computational and energy limited devices. In this letter, we consider a point-to-point MEC system, where the device harvests energy from the access points (APs) transmitted signal to power the offloading and/or the local computation of a task. By taking into account the non-linearities of energy harvesting, we provide analytical expressions for the probability of successful computation and for the average number of successfully computed bits. Our results show that a hybrid scheme of partial offloading and local computation is not always efficient. In particular, the decision to offload and/or compute locally, depends on the systems parameters such as the distance to the AP and the number of bits that need to be computed.
In this article, we consider the problem of relay assisted computation offloading (RACO), in which user A aims to share the results of computational tasks with another user B through wireless exchange over a relay platform equipped with mobile edge computing capabilities, referred to as a mobile edge relay server (MERS). To support the computation offloading, we propose a hybrid relaying (HR) approach employing two orthogonal frequency bands, where the amplify-and-forward scheme is used in one band to exchange computational results, while the decode-and-forward scheme is used in the other band to transfer the unprocessed tasks. The motivation behind the proposed HR scheme for RACO is to adapt the allocation of computing and communication resources both to dynamic user requirements and to diverse computational tasks. Within this framework, we seek to minimize the weighted sum of the execution delay and the energy consumption in the RACO system by jointly optimizing the computation offloading ratio, the bandwidth allocation, the processor speeds, as well as the transmit power levels of both user $A$ and the MERS, under practical constraints on the available computing and communication resources. The resultant problem is formulated as a non-differentiable and nonconvex optimization program with highly coupled constraints. By adopting a series of transformations and introducing auxiliary variables, we first convert this problem into a more tractable yet equivalent form. We then develop an efficient iterative algorithm for its solution based on the concave-convex procedure. By exploiting the special structure of this problem, we also propose a simplified algorithm based on the inexact block coordinate descent method, with reduced computational complexity. Finally, we present numerical results that illustrate the advantages of the proposed algorithms over state-of-the-art benchmark schemes.
An intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-aided wireless powered mobile edge computing (WP-MEC) system is conceived, where each devices computational task can be divided into two parts for local computing and offloading to mobile edge computing (MEC) servers, respectively. Both time division multiple access (TDMA) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes are considered for uplink (UL) offloading. Given the capability of IRSs in intelligently reconfiguring wireless channels over time, it is fundamentally unknown which multiple access scheme is superior for MEC UL offloading. To answer this question, we first investigate the impact of three different dynamic IRS beamforming (DIBF) schemes on the computation rate of both offloading schemes, based on the flexibility for the IRS in adjusting its beamforming (BF) vector in each transmission frame. Under the DIBF framework, computation rate maximization problems are formulated for both the NOMA and TDMA schemes, respectively, by jointly optimizing the IRS passive BF and the resource allocation. We rigorously prove that offloading adopting TDMA can achieve the same computation rate as that of NOMA, when all the devices share the same IRS BF vector during the UL offloading. By contrast, offloading exploiting TDMA outperforms NOMA, when the IRS BF vector can be flexibly adapted for UL offloading. Despite the non-convexity of the computation rate maximization problems for each DIBF scheme associated with highly coupled optimization variables, we conceive computationally efficient algorithms by invoking alternating optimization. Our numerical results demonstrate the significant performance gains achieved by the proposed designs over various benchmark schemes.
To mitigate computational power gap between the network core and edges, mobile edge computing (MEC) is poised to play a fundamental role in future generations of wireless networks. In this letter, we consider a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) transmission model to maximize the worst task to be offloaded among all users to the network edge server. A provably convergent and efficient algorithm is developed to solve the considered non-convex optimization problem for maximizing the minimum number of offloaded bits in a multi-user NOMAMEC system. Compared to the approach of optimized orthogonal multiple access (OMA), for given MEC delay, power and energy limits, the NOMA-based system considerably outperforms its OMA-based counterpart in MEC settings. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm for NOMA-based MEC is particularly useful for delay sensitive applications.
This paper considers an energy harvesting (EH) based multiuser mobile edge computing (MEC) system, where each user utilizes the harvested energy from renewable energy sources to execute its computation tasks via computation offloading and local computing. Towards maximizing the systems weighted computation rate (i.e., the number of weighted users computing bits within a finite time horizon) subject to the users energy causality constraints due to dynamic energy arrivals, the decision for joint computation offloading and local computing over time is optimized {em over time}. Assuming that the profile of channel state information and dynamic task arrivals at the users is known in advance, the weighted computation rate maximization problem becomes a convex optimization problem. Building on the Lagrange duality method, the well-structured optimal solution is analytically obtained. Both the users local computing and offloading rates are shown to have a monotonically increasing structure. Numerical results show that the proposed design scheme can achieve a significant performance gain over the alternative benchmark schemes.
Mobile edge computing (MEC) has recently emerged as a promising technology to release the tension between computation-intensive applications and resource-limited mobile terminals (MTs). In this paper, we study the delay-optimal computation offloading in computation-constrained MEC systems. We consider the computation task queue at the MEC server due to its constrained computation capability. In this case, the task queue at the MT and that at the MEC server are strongly coupled in a cascade manner, which creates complex interdependencies and brings new technical challenges. We model the computation offloading problem as an infinite horizon average cost Markov decision process (MDP), and approximate it to a virtual continuous time system (VCTS) with reflections. Different to most of the existing works, we develop the dynamic instantaneous rate estimation for deriving the closed-form approximate priority functions in different scenarios. Based on the approximate priority functions, we propose a closed-form multi-level water-filling computation offloading solution to characterize the influence of not only the local queue state information (LQSI) but also the remote queue state information (RQSI). A extension is provided from single MT single MEC server scenarios to multiple MTs multiple MEC servers scenarios and several insights are derived. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional schemes.