Description of research

0726-EX-PL-2015 Text Documents

Carnegie Mellon University

2015-11-12ELS_169297

http://elijah.cs.cmu.edu/

Gabriel         Wearable Cognitive Assistance using cloudlets


 Publications     People    Development
A cloudlet is a new architectural element that arises from the convergence of mobile
computing and cloud computing. It represents the middle tier of a 3-tier hierarchy:
mobile device --- cloudlet --- cloud. A cloudlet can be viewed as a "data center in a
box" whose goal is to "bring the cloud closer". A cloudlet has four key attributes:
  •   only soft state: It is does not have any hard state, but may contain cached
      state from the cloud. It may also buffer data originating from a mobile device
      (such as video or photographs) en route to safety in the cloud. The avoidance of
      hard state means that each cloudlet adds close to zero management burden
      after installation: it is entirely self-managing.

  •    powerful, well-connected and safe: It possesses sufficient compute power
       (i.e., CPU, RAM, etc.) to offload resource-intensive computations from one or
       more mobile devices. It has excellent connectivity to the cloud (typically a wired
       Internet connection) and is not limited by finite battery life (i.e., it is plugged into a
       power outlet). Its integrity as a computing platform is assumed; in a production-
       quality implementation this will have to be enforced through some combination of
       tamper-resistance, surveillance, and run-time attestation.

  •    close at hand: It is logically proximate to the associated mobile devices.
       "Logical proximity" is defined as low end-to-end latency and high bandwidth
       (e.g., one-hop Wi-Fi). Often, logical proximity implies physical proximity.
       However, because of "last mile" effects, the inverse may not be true: physical
       proximity may not imply logical proximity.

  •    builds on standard cloud technology: It encapsulates offload code from
       mobile devices in virtual machines (VMs), and thus resembles classic cloud
       infrastructure such as Amazon EC2 and OpenStack. In addition, each cloudlet
       has functionality that is specific to its cloudlet role.

For background information and rationale for cloudlets, see "The Case for VM-based
Cloudlets in Mobile Computing" As the paper explains, cloudlets are the enabling
technology for a new genre of resource-intensive but latency-sensitive mobile
applications that will emerge in the future. These include new cognitive assistance
applications that will seamlessly enhance a user's ability to interact with the real world
around him or her. Here is an early thought piece on augmenting cognition and here is
a cool YouTube video of the very first wearable cognitive assistance application that we
have built.

"Bringing the cloud closer" also improves the survivability of mobile computing in hostile
environments such as military applications and disaster recovery. Easily-disrupted


critical dependence on a distant cloud is replaced by dependence on a nearby cloudlet
and best-effort synchronization with the distant cloud. The paper "The Role of
Cloudlets in Hostile Environments" explores these issues.

The impact of high offload latency on mobile user experience can be seen in these
YouTube videos.

The name "Elijah" was inspired by the earliest mention of cloudlets in the literature.
Gabriel is an angel who looks out for you.
                                                   Contact: Professor Mahadev Satyanarayanan



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Document Created: 1170-05-18 00:00:00
Document Modified: 1170-05-18 00:00:00

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