Computing at the Edge of the Internet

Cloud computing (or computing within distant data centres) has contributed much to the development of the Internet over the past twenty years or so. However, new applications in the area of IoT, but not only, are pushing the limits of cloud computing to the point where computing at far-away data-centres cannot cope with application requirements. Emerging trends in computing, communications and networking move towards mobile edge- or fog-computing. According to these trends computation moves to the edges of the network (hence from cloud to fog) to serve newly emerging applications with strict response deadlines. The challenges pertaining to this move defy some of the most fundamental operations taking place in the Internet infrastructure today.
We will investigate the changes that the Internet needs to undergo from the ground up. Starting from network layer protocols, we will explore issues related to routing and resolution of services to micro-data centres, or computation spots. Resource allocation in terms of which services run where through learning algorithms or market-driven approaches will need to be integrated into routing and transport layer protocols. Last, but not least, privacy and security issues and business models to accommodate such a move will be studied as an overarching framework. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) will be investigated to deal with transactions through trust-less IoT and edge-computing nodes.
Relevance to EPSRC Thematic Areas: ICT, sub-themes: ICT Networks and Distributed Systems, Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, Architectures and Operating Systems