An Offloading Strategy in Mobile Cloud Computing Considering Energy and Delay Constraints

Mobile cloud computing (MCC) is the availability of cloud computing services in a mobile environment. By providing optimal services for mobile users, MCC incorporates the elements of mobile networks and cloud computing. In mobile cloud computing, all the data and complicated computing modules can be processed in clouds, and mobile devices do not need a powerful configuration like CPU speed, memory capacity, etc. However, the mobile devices are facing up with many struggles in their resources (e.g., battery life, storage, and bandwidth) and communications (e.g., privacy, mobility, and security). These challenges have a significant effect on the improvement of service qualities. In this paper, a literature survey on the MCC and security issues in MCC has presented.

Mobile edge computing (MEC) can effectively overcome the shortcomings of high-latency in mobile cloud computing (MCC) by deploying the cloud resources, e.g., storage and computational capability, to the edge. However, the limited computation capability of the MEC restricts the scalability of offloading. Therefore, the basic requirements of the MEC system are to explore effective offloading decisions and resource allocation methods. To address it, we develop a collaborative computing system composed of local computing (mobile device), MEC (edge cloud) and MCC (central cloud). Based on the proposed collaborative computing system, we design a novel Q-learning based computation offloading (QLCOF) policy to achieve the optimal resource allocation and offloading scheme by prescheduling the computation side for each task from a global perspective. Specifically, we first model the offloading decision process as a Markov decision process (MDP) and design a state loss function (STLF) to measure the quality of experience (QoE). After that, we define the cumulation of STLFs as the system loss function (SYLF) and formulate an SYLF minimization problem. Due to the difficulty to directly solve the formulated problem, we decompose it into multiple subproblems and preferentially optimize the transmission power and computation frequency of the edge cloud by the quasi-convex bisection and polynomial analysis method, respectively. Based on the precalculated offline transmission power and edge cloud computation frequency, we develop a Q-learning based offloading (QLOF) scheme to minimize the SYLF by optimizing offloading decisions. Finally, the numeral results show that the proposed QLOF scheme effectively reduces the SYLF under different parameters.

Since the concept of merging the capabilities of mobile devices and cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular, an important question is how to optimally schedule services/tasks between the device and the cloud. The main objective of this article is to investigate the possibilities for using machine learning on mobile devices in order to manage the execution of services within the framework of Mobile Cloud Computing. In this study, an agent-based architecture with learning possibilities is proposed to solve this problem. Two learning strategies are considered: supervised and reinforcement learning. The solution proposed leverages, among other things, knowledge about mobile device resources, network connection possibilities and device power consumption, as a result of which a decision is made with regard to the place where the task in question is to be executed. By employing machine learning techniques, the agent working on a mobile device gains experience in determining the optimal place for the execution of a given type of task. The research conducted allowed for the verification of the solution proposed in the domain of multimedia file conversion and demonstrated its usefulness in reducing the time required for task execution. Using the experience gathered as a result of subsequent series of tests, the agent became more efficient in assigning the task of multimedia file conversion to either the mobile device or cloud computing resources.

Despite their progress and improvements, mobile devices are still regarded as restricted computer devices. Users are growing more discerning, expecting to be able to run computationally intensive applications on their smartphones or tablets. As a result, Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) integrates mobile computing and Cloud Computing in order to use offloading techniques to increase the capabilities of mobile devices. Although offloading programmes to the cloud might improve mobile device performance, it can also increase processing delay. Inevitably, the quality of user service (QoS) suffers as a result, particularly for specific applications (especially workflow applications). To address the problem of network latency, a new paradigm known as mobile edge computing (MEC) has been developed, which may be thought of as a subset of MCC. We also see deployment of Cloudlets, which are a form of edge server, to minimize latency and energy usage by offloading applications to the cloud, resulting in an efficient and cost-effective architecture as well as various decision-making techniques for offloading. And so, a literature survey regarding this will be presented which focuses on various methods of offloading and its decision-making techniques.

Mobile cloud computing (MCC) is a technique or model, in which mobile applications are built, powered and hosted using cloud computing technology. It refers to the availability of Cloud Computing services in a mobile environment and it is the combination of the heterogeneous fields like mobile phone device, cloud computing and wireless networks. Of all that has been written about cloud computing, precious little attention has been paid to authentication in the cloud. In this paper we have designed a new effective security model for mobile cloud Database as a Service (DBaaS). A user can change his/her password, whenever demanded. Furthermore, security analysis realizes the feasibility of the proposed model for DBaaS and achieves efficiency. We also proposed an efficient authentication scheme to solve the authentication problem in MCC. The proposed solution which we have provided is based mainly on improved Needham-Schroeder’s protocol to prove the users’ identity to determine if this user is authorized or not. The results showed that this scheme is very strong and difficult to break it.

Recent trends in Cloud Computing have further stimulated the popularization of mobile device industry, creating a novel computing paradigm called Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). MCC takes advantage of the powerful computation and storage capability of cloud servers by offloading heavy computing or storing tasks from mobile devices to cloud servers to keep a thin frontend on the mobile devices. Such benefit is important to MCC leveraging various sensors equipped in modern mobile devices. We explore the sensing capability of MCC and design an application framework that enables a class of exciting mobile applications to be developed in the sensing-oriented MCC environment. A critical issue in such an environment is accountability. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the accountability issues in this new computing context and show how the accountability function is integrated into the application framework.

Mobile cloud is the infrastructure that facilitates the offloading of storage and computing resources of mobile devices pertaining mobile applications to cloud computing. Mobile devices can run expensive applications using mobile cloud as they can outsource services to cloud while providing interface for mobile users. Emerging mobile applications that are expensive can overcome the inherent problems of hand held devices through the concept of mobile cloud computing. The offloading process provide mobiles a rich platform for pervasive computing with on-demand services linked to cloud computing through mobile cloud infrastructure. Thus the mobile cloud computing is an inevitable phenomenon which bring about plethora of pros besides the mobility. The mobile cloud users can perform their resource intensive operations on the fly without time and geographical restrictions. In spite of the advantages it bestows mobile cloud computing has its own security issues. This paper throws light into the security issues and solutions in terms of secure channels transmission in mobile cloud computing. In this paper, we present state-of-the-art of mobile cloud computing besides its security aspects that are to be taken care of for successful mobile cloud computing.

In recent years, mobile cloud computing (MCC) is treated as one of the important enablers of Internet of Things. MCC has evolved from a mix of mobile computing and cloud computing. Most of the researcher works on MCC focus on the reduction of cost of applications in mobile devices by leveraging cloud technology. The limitations of mobile environment such as computation capacity, battery power and limited memory lead to the integration of cloud technology. The performance of the mobile environment improves by the implementation of task offloading using cloud technology. In this paper, a model for task offloading using learning automata based decision making algorithm (LADMA) is proposed. The algorithm considers the completion time and energy consumption of the tasks during the allocation of the tasks to the suitable VMs in the cloud. The proposed model is tested on Amazon EC2 and Android X 86 Platforms.

Providing mobile cloud services requires seamless integration between various platforms to offer mobile users optimum performance. To achieve this, many fundamental problems such as bandwidth availability and reliability, resource scarceness, and finite energy must be addressed before rolling out such services. This chapter aims to explore technological challenges for mobile cloud computing in the area of resource management focusing on both parts of the infrastructure: mobile devices and cloud networks. Starting with introducing mobile cloud computing, it then stresses the importance of resource management in the operation of mobile cloud services presenting various types of resources available for cloud computing. Furthermore, it examines the various types of resource management techniques available for mobile clouds. Finally, future directions in the field of resource management for mobile cloud computing environment are presented.

Scalable Cloudlet-based Mobile Computing Model

The cloud computing has attracted growing attentions for its benefits to providing on-demand services, mobile cloud computing (MCC) enables an increasing number of applications and computational services available on mobile devices. In MCC, computation offloading is one of the most important challenges to provide remote execution of applications to the mobile devices. Here we mainly introduce the ant colony optimization (ACO) to address this challeng and propose an ACO-based solution to the computation offloading problem. The proposed method can be well implemented in practice and presents with low computing complexity.

The increasing usage of cloud computing, along with the proliferation of mobile devices and the demand for multimedia services, are changing the life style of users and creating new opportunities to providers and clients. Multimedia data will account for up to 90% of all Internet traffic in a few years, where most of the content will be created, shared, and accessed by mobile smartphones/tablets (carried by humans or placed in vehicles). However, this novel mobile multimedia era imposes new challenges for the networks, content, terminals, and humans, and must overcome problems associated, for instance, with high congestion, low scalability, fast battery consumption, and poor user experience. This paper discusses recent advances and challenges in human-centric mobile multimedia cloud computing approaches. On the one hand, Internet cloud will ubiquitously enrich multimedia mobile environments with more advanced and powerful features, including high processing and memory, scalability, availability, and adaptability. On the other hand, mobile devices will efficiently cooperate with each other to form mobile clouds that offload the Internet clouds from tasks that the latter cannot perform in a timely or efficient manner, including video and resource sharing. Both Internet and mobile clouds will be efficiently used to adapt/optimize multimedia flows to a single user or a group of users according to the current network conditions, context-awareness, content characteristics, device capabilities, and human experience.

The vision of augmenting computing capabilities of mobile devices, especially smartphones with least cost is likely transforming to reality leveraging cloud computing. Cloud exploitation by mobile devices breeds a new research domain called Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). However, issues like portability and interoperability should be addressed for mobile augmentation which is a non-trivial task using component-based approaches. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a promising design philosophy embraced by mobile computing and cloud computing communities to stimulate portable, complex application using prefabricated building blocks called Services. Utilizing distant cloud resources to host and run Services is hampered by long WAN latency. Exploiting mobile devices in vicinity alleviates long WAN latency, while creates new set of issues like Service publishing and discovery as well as client-server security, reliability, and Service availability. In this paper, we propose a market-oriented architecture based on SOA to stimulate publishing, discovering, and hosting Services on nearby mobiles, which reduces long WAN latency and creates a business opportunity that encourages mobile owners to embrace Service hosting. Group of mobile phones simulate a nearby cloud computing platform. We create new role of \textit{Service host} by enabling unskilled mobile owners/users to host Services developed by skilled developers. Evidently, Service availability, reliability, and Service-oriented mobile application portability will increase towards green ubiquitous computing in our mobile cloud infrastructure.

Improvement of our technology on mobile devices and the significant of cloud computing (CC) services has led to the integration of mobile devices with a CC service called as Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). It provides many benefits for users. However, the increasing numbers of users utilising the MCC service leads to the latency on the network. Besides, there are several constraints on mobile devices including battery capacity, storage and bandwidth. Hence, this work proposes intelligent mobile web pre-fetching for the cloud environment in order to handle this critical problem. In order to increase understanding of MCC, we conducted an extensive study, previous work on the pre-fetching technique and Machine Learning, which were used to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their performance. Our study corroborates that existing systems for the pre-fetching technique focuses on regular websites but it still narrows the study of cloud computing especially for mobile devices and still has limitations.

Mobile cloud computing (MCC) combines cloud computing and mobile internet to improve the computational capabilities of resource-constrained mobile devices (MDs). In MCC, mobile users could not only improve the computational capability of MDs but also save operation consumption by offloading the mobile applications to the cloud. However, MCC faces the problem of energy efficiency because of time-varying channels when the offloading is being executed. In this paper, we address the issue of energy-efficient scheduling for wireless uplink in MCC. By introducing Lyapunov optimization, we first propose a scheduling algorithm that can dynamically choose channel to transmit data based on queue backlog and channel statistics. Then, we show that the proposed scheduling algorithm can make a tradeoff between queue backlog and energy consumption in a channel-aware MCC system. Simulation results show that the proposed scheduling algorithm can reduce the time average energy consumption for offloading compared to the existing algorithm.