CNS Core: Small: DeepEdge: QoE-based Resource Allocation for Future Heterogeneous and Dynamic Edge-IoT Applications

新兴的物联网（IoT）正在连接越来越多的智能设备，并通过云和边缘计算技术实现各种异构物联网应用。特别是，边缘或雾计算技术将大大有利于延迟敏感、带宽/数据密集型或需要更紧密智能的物联网应用。然而，对于有效的边缘物联网资源分配，由于以下要求和约束而存在重大挑战：1）需求侧，大量物联网设备可以运行具有各种服务质量（QoS）要求和不同优先级的异构应用;以及2）边缘云需要动态和优化地分配有限和多维资源的供应方（CPU、存储和带宽）。该项目的目标是通过设计和开发一个名为DeepEdge的新边缘物联网框架来应对这些挑战，该框架使用深度在线学习，将资源分配给异构物联网应用和动态物联网设备，以最大限度地提高用户的体验质量（QoE）。拟议的研究将推进知识，并从根本上改变未来边缘计算系统在支持异构和动态物联网应用方面的工作方式。变革性的研究成果将通过廉价有效的物联网应用交付使用户和社会受益，并有助于应对支持新兴物联网设备和应用的重要社会挑战。该项目还将广泛涉及并影响K-12代表性不足的群体和计算机科学领域的女学生，并为各级学生开发强大的研究和教育整合。拟议研究的目标是开发框架、模型和算法，以有效地在边缘云上交付异构物联网应用，并为用户提供高质量的QoE。更具体地说，该项目将产生：i）一个新的QoE模型，以量化用户满意度及其相关因素，包括多个应用QoS要求和应用优先级; ii）一种新的基于深度机器学习的两阶段资源分配方案，该方案将根据边缘云处的可用资源来适应应用QoS要求，并保持应用的优先级，并且将以用户QoE的最大化为目标智能地并且联合地分配通信和计算资源; iii）新颖的深度Q学习方案，其将以优化任务执行延迟为目标动态地选择最适当的边缘节点来处理多个应用任务; iv）硬件和软件测试平台的实施，以验证和评估拟议研究的有效性、效率和实用性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) is connecting increasing numbers of smart devices and enabling varieties of heterogeneous IoT applications, empowered by cloud and edge computing technologies. In particular, edge or fog computing technologies will significantly benefit IoT applications that are delay-sensitive, bandwidth/data intensive, or that require closer intelligence. However, for effective Edge-IoT resource allocation, significant challenges exist due to the following requirements and constraints: 1) the demand side that a massive number of IoT devices can run heterogeneous applications with various Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and different priorities; and 2) the supply side that the edge clouds need to dynamically and optimally allocate limited and multidimensional resources (CPU, storage, and bandwidth) at geospatially distributed points. The objective of this project is to respond to these challenges by designing and developing a new Edge-IoT framework named DeepEdge using deep online learning that allocates resources to heterogeneous IoT applications and dynamic IoT devices to maximize users' Quality of Experience (QoE). The proposed research will advance knowledge and fundamentally change the way future edge computing systems work in supporting heterogeneous and dynamic IoT applications. The transformative research outcomes will benefit users and society with inexpensive and effective IoT application delivery, and contribute to important societal challenges in supporting emerging IoT devices and applications. The project will also broadly involve and impact K-12 underrepresented groups and female students in computer science, and develop strong research and education integration for various levels of students. The goal of the proposed research is to develop the framework, model, and algorithms in effectively delivering heterogeneous IoT applications on edge clouds and provisioning high-quality QoE for users. More specifically, the project will result in: i) a new QoE model to quantify the users satisfaction and its related factors including multiple applications QoS requirements and applications priority; ii) a new deep machine learning based two-stage resource allocation scheme that will adapt application QoS requirements according to available resources at the edge cloud and maintain application's priority, and will intelligently and jointly allocate communication and computation resources with the objective of maximization of users QoE; iii) a novel deep Q-learning scheme that will dynamically select the most appropriate edge nodes to handle the multiple application tasks with the goal to optimize the task execution delay; iv) a hardware and software test-bed implementation to validate and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and the practicality of the proposed research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.