Mobile-Edge

Computing and the

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Internet of Things
By Peter Corcoran and
Soumya Kanti Datta for Consumers
Extending cloud computing and services
to the edge of the network.

c
urrent activities in the Internet of
Things (IoT) are focused on architectures,
protocols, and networking for the efficient inter-
connection of heterogeneous things, infrastruc-
ture deployment, and creation of value-added
services. The majority of the IoT products, services,
and platforms are supported by cloud-computing
platforms. With the IoT being a multidisciplinary
ecosystem, it is now being utilized in connection
with scenarios demanding real-time data pro-
cessing and feedback, for example, connected
and autonomous vehicles scenarios. Cloud
platforms are not suitable for scenarios
involving real-time operation, low latency
requirements, and high quality of service
(QoS). Recently, mobile-edge computing (MEC)
has gained momentum from the industry to address
the mentioned requirements. MEC is a novel para-
digm that extends cloud-computing capabilities and ser-
vices to the edge of the network. Due to dense
geographical distribution, proximity to consumers,
support for high mobility, and open platform, MEC
can support applications and services with reduced
latency and improved QoS. Thus, MEC is becom-
ing an important enabler of consumer-centric IoT

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Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCE.2016.2590099

Date of publication: 22 September 2016

2162-2248/16©2016IEEE OCTOBER 2016 ^ IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine 73

 Potential applications for
MEC-enabled IoT include smart
mobility, connected vehicles,
emergency response, smart cities,
content distribution, and
location-based services.

applications and services that demand real-time operations. The

OpenFog Consortium and standards development organizations like
ETSI have also recognized the benefits the IoT and MEC can bring to
consumers. Potential applications for MEC-enabled IoT include
smart mobility, connected vehicles, emergency response, smart cities,
content distribution, and location-based services.
Prospective authors were invited to publish their original and
extended works in topics ranging from current trends, resource allo-
cation and management, test bed, performance evaluation of MEC
platforms to consumer applications, security concerns, and standards.
The authors of special sessions on MEC and the IoT at the 2015
IEEE World Forum on Internet of Things and the 2016 IEEE Wireless
Communications and Networking Conference Workshop on MEC-
IoT were also invited to submit their substantially extended papers.
These two sessions were organized by the IEEE Consumer Electron-
ics Society Future Directions on IoT team.
We received more than 15 articles for this special issue. Based on
reviewer comments and suggestions, three high-quality articles were
selected to be published and follow this introductory article. Many other
articles were also recommended for publication by the reviewers and are
under further revision by the associate editors and reviewers. The accepted
articles will appear in the January 2017 issue of the magazine. The three
articles accepted discuss a broad range of ideas from an MEC architecture
all-free-download.com
and its interplay with 5G networks to the application of MEC philosophy
in smart homes with long-term evolution device-to-device communica-
tion and the power consumption analysis of IoT devices using built-in
Wi-Fi. The associate editors are extremely thankful to the team of review-
ers for their timely contribution and suggestions. We also thank the authors
for submitting their valuable articles to this IEEE Consumer Electronics
Magazine special issue on MEC. Big thanks go to the magazine’s editor-
in-chief, Prof. Saraju P. Mohanty, for his assistance in every stage of the
preparation and execution of the special issue.

74 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine ^ OCTOBER 2016