從雲端到邊緣運算：評估前瞻運算之解決方法

Abstract

雲端運算近十年來發展快速，在計算機領域受到許多學者的關注，如何將其運用在日常生活中成為熱門議題，然而，由於雲端運算十分仰賴網際網路，加上飛速成長的網路用量，這項技術在未來的應用受到很大的限制。為了解決雲端運算的困境，邊緣運算的概念被提出，學者們紛紛利用此概念提出各種解決方法，現今有三大主要的方法，分別為Cloudlets、Mobile Edge Computing以及Fog Computing。在此研究報告中，我們回溯雲端運算的歷史，並介紹受到日益嚴苛的條件所限制而產生的邊緣運算，以及Cloudlets、Mobile Edge Computing以及Fog Computing三種方式的介紹與比較。最後研究多種邊緣運算的應用，例如connected car、augmented reality、smart traffic light 及 smart grid，根據其特色、結構及功能性，評估最適當的解決方法，分別將其分為以上三大類。

Cloud Computing has been around for almost a decade now. It has gathered many users throughout the world and more and more people are beginning to use Cloud Computing services and rely on it on a daily basis. However, the market is changing and especially, the needs of users are constantly growing, with applications becoming more and more demanding in terms of speed, latency and bandwidth. Even though the research in the Cloud Computing field is still ongoing, this technology is facing some limits emanating from the definition and essence of Cloud Computing itself. Thus, to tackle those issues and cope with the rise of the requirements for more advanced applications, some solutions have recently emerged and are being developed by different organisms. The main idea is to move or enable some of the Cloud functions (like computing power, storage, network capabilities etc.) down at or near the end of the network. This concept emerged from the need to lower latency and ease the use of bandwidth in the network from devices to the Cloud, and can be called Edge Computing or Fog Computing. Just like Cloud Computing did when it arrived on the market, those new technologies are facing some challenges to define themselves and position themselves accurately in this new context. Therefore, in this thesis, a particular accent has been made to accurately assess and evaluate those emerging technologies in an attempt of understanding them as much as possible considering their young age and the confusion it comes with it. After a review on the Cloud Computing technology, the rising needs coming from the market and industry, we go on to expose Cloud Computing limits and the emergence of new solutions to cope with it. A complete review of those technologies is provided as well as a discussion on their similarities and singularities. Finally, an effort is made to take a look at the future promising applications enabled by this new set of technologies. and identify in which technology range they can fall.