Energy-Optimal and Delay-Bounded Computation Offloading in Mobile Edge Computing with Heterogeneous Clouds

By Mobile Edge Computing(MEC), computation-intensive tasks are offloaded from mobile devices to cloud servers, and thus the energy consumption of mobile devices can be notably reduced. In this paper, we study task offloading in multi-user MEC systems with heterogeneous clouds, including edge clouds and remote clouds. Tasks are forwarded from mobile devices to edge clouds via wireless channels, and they can be further forwarded to remote clouds via the Internet. Our objective is to minimize the total energy consumption of multiple mobile devices, subject to bounded-delay requirements of tasks. Based on dynamic programming, we propose an algorithm that minimizes the energy consumption, by jointly allocating bandwidth and computational resources to mobile devices. The algorithm is of pseudo-polynomial complexity. To further reduce the complexity, we propose an approximation algorithm with energy discretization, and its total energy consumption is proved to be within a bounded gap from the optimum. Simulation results show that, nearly 82.7% energy of mobile devices can be saved by task offloading compared with mobile device execution.

Stochastic bounded consensus tracking of leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises based on sampled data with general sampling delay

In this paper we provide a unified framework for consensus tracking of leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises based on sampled data with a general sampling delay. First, a stochastic bounded consensus tracking protocol based on sampled data with a general sampling delay is presented by employing the delay decomposition technique. Then, necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for guaranteeing leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises and a time-varying reference state to achieve mean square bounded consensus tracking. The obtained results cover no sampling delay, a small sampling delay and a large sampling delay as three special cases. Last, simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Delay-dependent stability and stabilization criteria of networked control systems with multiple time-delays

This paper deals with the problem of delay-dependent stability and stabilization for networked control systems（NCSs）with multiple time-delays. In view of multi-input and multi-output（MIMO） NCSs with many independent sensors and actuators, a continuous time model with distributed time-delays is proposed. Utilizing the Lyapunov stability theory combined with linear matrix inequalities（LMIs） techniques, some new delay-dependent stability criteria for NCSs in terms of generalized Lyapunov matrix equation and LMIs are derived. Stabilizing controller via state feedback is formulated by solving a set of LMIs. Compared with the reported methods, the proposed methods give a less conservative delay bound and more general results. Numerical example and simulation show that the methods are less conservative and more effective.

Delay-dependent robust stability of uncertain networked control systems with multiple state time-delays

In this paper, delay-dependent robust stability for a class of uncertain networked control systems （NCSs） with multiple state time-delays is investigated. Modeling of multi-input and multi-output （MIMO） NCSs with networkinduced delays and uncertainties through new methods are proposed. Some new stability criteria in terms of LMIs are derived by using Lyapunov stability theory combined with linear matrix inequalities （LMIs） techniques. We analyze the delay-dependent asymptotic stability and obtain maximum allowable delay bound （MADB） for the NCSs with the proposed methods. Compared with the reported results, the proposed results obtain a much less conservative MADB which are more general. Numerical example and simulation is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Virtualized Wireless SDNs:Modelling Delay Through the Use of Stochastic Network Calculus

Software-defined networks （SDN） have attracted much attention recently because of their flexibility in terms of network management. Increasingly, SDN is being introduced into wireless networks to form wireless SDN. One enabling technology for wireless SDN is network virtualization, which logically divides one wireless network element, such as a base station, into multiple slices, and each slice serving as a standalone virtual BS. In this way, one physical mobile wireless network can be partitioned into multiple virtual networks in a software-defined manner. Wireless virtual networks comprising virtual base stations also need to provide QoS to mobile end-user services in the same context as their physical hosting networks. One key QoS parameter is delay. This paper presents a delay model for software-defined wireless virtual networks. Network calculus is used in the modelling. In particular, stochastic network calculus, which describes more realistic models than deterministic network calculus, is used. The model enables theoretical investigation of wireless SDN, which is largely dominated by either algorithms or prototype implementations.

Stability of singular networked control systems with control constraint

Based on bounded network-induced time-delay, the networked control system is modeled as a linear time-variant singular system. Using the Lyapunov theory and the linear matrix inequality approach, the criteria for delay-independent stability and delay-dependent stability of singular networked control systems are derived and transformed to a feasibility problem of linear matrix inequality formulation, which can be solved by the Matlab LMI toolbox, and the feasible solutions provide the maximum allowable delay bound that makes the system stable. A numerical example is provided, which shows that the analysis method is valid and the stability criteria are feasible.

A Distributed Routing and Wavelength Assignment Algorithm for Online Multicast in All-Optical WDM Networks

Routing and wavelength assignment for online real-time multicast connection setup is a difficult task due to the dynamic change of availabilities of wavelengths on links and the consideration of wavelength conversion delay in WDM networks. This paper presents a distributed routing and wavelength assignment scheme for the setup of real-time multicast connections. It integrates routing and wavelength assignment as a single process, which greatly reduces the connection setup time. The proposed routing method is based on the Prim’s MST (Minimum Spanning Tree) algorithm and the K-restricted breadth-first search method, which can produce a sub-minimal cost tree under a given delay bound. The wave-length assignment uses the least-conversion and load balancing strategies. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is suitable for online multicast connection establishment in WDM networks.

A statistical end-to-end performance model for networks with complex topologies

Network calculus provides new tools for performance analysis of networks, but analyzing networks with complex topologies is a challenging research issue using statistical network calculus. A service model is proposed to characterize a service process of network with complex topologies. To obtain closed-form expression of statistical end-to-end performance bounds for a wide range of traffic source models, the traffic model and service model are expanded according to error function. Based on the proposed models, the explicit end-to-end delay bound of Fractional Brownian Motion（FBM） traffic is derived, the factors that affect the delay bound are analyzed, and a comparison between theoretical and simulation results is performed. The results illustrate that the proposed models not only fit the network behaviors well, but also facilitate the network performance analysis.

Reducing the Upper Bound Delay by Optimizing Bank-to-Core Mapping

Nowadays, inter-task interferences are the main difficulty in analyzing the timing behavior of multicores. The timing predictable embedded multicore architecture MERASA, which allows safe worst-case execution time （WCET） estimations, has emerged as an attractive solution. In the architecture, WCET can be estimated by the upper bound delay （UBD） which can be bounded by the interference-aware bus arbiter （IABA） and the dynamic cache partitioning such as columnization or bankization. However, this architecture faces a dilemma between decreasing UBD and efficient shared cache utilization. To obtain tighter WCET estimation, we propose a novel approach that reduces UBD by optimizing bank-to-core mapping on the multicore system with IABA and the two-level partitioned cache. For this, we first present a new UBD computation model based on the analysis of inter-task interference delay, and then put forward the core-sequence optimization method of bank-to-core mapping and the optimizing algorithms with the minimum UBD. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can reduce WCET from 4% to 37%.

UMR: A utility-maximizing routing algorithm for delay-sensitive service in LEO satellite networks

This paper develops a routing algorithm for delay-sensitive packet transmission in a low earth orbit multi-hop satellite network consists of micro-satellites. The micro-satellite low earth orbit （MS-LEO） network endures unstable link connection and frequent link congestion due to the uneven user distribution and the link capacity variations. The proposed routing algorithm, referred to as the utility maximizing routing （UMR） algorithm, improve the network utility of the MS-LEO network for carrying flows with strict end-to-end delay bound requirement. In UMR, first, a link state parameter is defined to capture the link reliability on continuing to keep the end-to-end delay into constraint; then, on the basis of this parameter, a routing metric is for- mulated and a routing scheme is designed for balancing the reliability in delay bound guarantee among paths and building a path maximizing the network utility expectation. While the UMR algo- rithm has many advantages, it may result in a higher blocking rate of new calls. This phenomenon is discussed and a weight factor is introduced into UMR to provide a flexible performance option for network operator. A set of simulations are conducted to verify the good performance of UMR, in terms of balancing the traffic distribution on inter-satellite links, reducing the flow interruption rate, and improving the network utility.