Edge-Computing-Enabled Smart Cities: A Comprehensive Survey

TL;DR

This survey explores how edge computing supports smart city applications by analyzing its evolution, reviewing current literature, categorizing research, and discussing challenges and future directions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive taxonomy and critical analysis of edge computing applications in smart cities, highlighting key requirements and open challenges.

Findings

Edge computing enhances latency-sensitive smart city applications.

A detailed taxonomy categorizes current research in the field.

Identification of key challenges and future research directions.

Abstract

Recent years have disclosed a remarkable proliferation of compute-intensive applications in smart cities. Such applications continuously generate enormous amounts of data which demand strict latency-aware computational processing capabilities. Although edge computing is an appealing technology to compensate for stringent latency related issues, its deployment engenders new challenges. In this survey, we highlight the role of edge computing in realizing the vision of smart cities. First, we analyze the evolution of edge computing paradigms. Subsequently, we critically review the state-of-the-art literature focusing on edge computing applications in smart cities. Later, we categorize and classify the literature by devising a comprehensive and meticulous taxonomy. Furthermore, we identify and discuss key requirements, and enumerate recently reported synergies of edge computing enabled smart cities. Finally, several indispensable open challenges along with their causes and guidelines are discussed, serving as future research directions.