Fog Computing: Focusing on Mobile Users at the Edge

TL;DR

Fog computing enhances mobile network performance by providing localized, virtualized resources at the network edge, addressing the growing demand for high-quality mobile services and traffic management.

Contribution

This paper introduces the concept, architecture, and design goals of Fog computing, emphasizing its role in supporting mobile users at the network edge.

Findings

Fog computing extends cloud capabilities to the network edge.

It improves mobile service quality and traffic handling.

Future research issues in Fog networking are discussed.

Abstract

With smart devices, particular smartphones, becoming our everyday companions, the ubiquitous mobile Internet and computing applications pervade people daily lives. With the surge demand on high-quality mobile services at anywhere, how to address the ubiquitous user demand and accommodate the explosive growth of mobile traffics is the key issue of the next generation mobile networks. The Fog computing is a promising solution towards this goal. Fog computing extends cloud computing by providing virtualized resources and engaged location-based services to the edge of the mobile networks so as to better serve mobile traffics. Therefore, Fog computing is a lubricant of the combination of cloud computing and mobile applications. In this article, we outline the main features of Fog computing and describe its concept, architecture and design goals. Lastly, we discuss some of the future research issues from the networking perspective.