Liang, Ben (University of Toronto)

Purpose

With an explosion of available data and the consequent need for enormous data-processing capabilities in the emerging big data movement and the IoT environment, both communication and computation are paramount to future wireless applications and services. Therefore, future wireless systems are expected to transition away from the model of passive information conduits, into active providers and creators of info-computation resources in an integrated communication-computation paradigm. Toward this end, software-driven components will play a central role in future wireless networks. In particular, the nascent Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology may be viewed as a natural outcome of the evolution of mobile base stations from passively serving purely communication functions to becoming an integral part of the new communication-computation paradigm. MEC is characterized by the sharing of communication and computation resources at the mobile edge through Virtual Machines and Network Function Virtulization in a Software-Defined Networking architecture. In this project, we aim to develop novel technologies that leverage the transformative synergy between communication and computation in emerging MEC systems to offer services and applications that meet the requirements of IoT, Big Data, cloud computing, and mobility. We will create novel theories and methods to promote computing at the network edge and its integration with mobile communication services in MEC systems. We will also develop novel architectures and joint communication-computation technologies to sustain and motivate evolving mobile applications and services. This project will create substantial opportunity for HQP training, and it will generate technology insights to help our industrial partners maintain their competitive advantage in the global information and communication market.