V-Edge: Virtual Edge Computing as an Enabler for Novel Microservices and Cooperative Computing

TL;DR

V-Edge proposes virtualizing edge and user resources to enhance 6G edge computing, enabling new microservices and cooperative solutions by bridging cloud, edge, and fog infrastructures.

Contribution

It introduces a novel V-Edge architecture that virtualizes all resources and discusses key challenges for widespread, powerful edge services in 6G networks.

Findings

V-Edge virtualizes end-user devices and edge resources.

It enables new microservices and cooperative computing.

Identifies key research challenges for implementation.

Abstract

As we move from 5G to 6G, edge computing is one of the concepts that needs revisiting. Its core idea is still intriguing: instead of sending all data and tasks from an end user's device to the cloud, possibly covering thousands of kilometers and introducing delays that are just owed to limited propagation speed, edge servers deployed in close proximity to the user, e.g., at some 5G gNB, serve as proxy for the cloud. Yet this promising idea is hampered by the limited availability of such edge servers. In this paper, we discuss a way forward, namely the virtual edge computing (V-Edge) concept. V-Edge bridges the gap between cloud, edge, and fog by virtualizing all available resources including the end users' devices and making these resources widely available using well-defined interfaces. V-Edge also acts as an enabler for novel microservices as well as cooperative computing solutions. We introduce the general V-Edge architecture and we characterize some of the key research challenges to overcome, in order to enable wide-spread and even more powerful edge services.