Resource Optimization Strategies and Optimal Architectural Design for Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Applications in Multi-Access Edge Computing

The evolution and deployment of fifth-generation (5G) and beyond (B5G) infrastructure will require a tremendous effort to specify the design, standards, and manufacturing. 5G is vital to modern technological evolution, including industry 4.0, automotive, entertainment, and health care. The ambitious and challenging 5G project is classified into three categories, which provide an essential supporting platform for applications associated with: Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) Ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) Massive machine-type communication (mMTC) The demand for URLLC grows, particularly for applications like autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and factory automation, and has a strict requirement of low latency of 1 ms and high reliability of 99.999%. To meet the needs of communication-sensitive and computation-intensive applications with different quality-of-service (QoS) requirements, this evolution focuses on ultra-dense edge networks with multi-access edge computing (MEC) facilities. MEC emerges as a solution, placing resourceful servers closer to users. However, the dynamic nature of processing and interaction patterns necessitates effective network control, which is challenging due to stringent requirements on both communication and computation. In this context, we introduce a novel approach to optimally manage task offloading, considering the intricacies of heterogeneous computing and communication services. Unlike existing methods, our methodology incorporates the number of admitted service migrations and QoS upper and lower bounds as binding constraints. The comprehensive model encompasses agent positions, MEC servers, QoS requirements, edge network communication, and server computing capabilities. Formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP), it provides an optimal schedule for service migrations and bandwidth allocation, addressing the challenges posed by computation-intensive and communication-sensitive applications. Moreover, tailoring to an indoor robotics environment, we explore optimization-based approaches seeking an optimal system-level architecture while considering QoS guarantees. Optimization tools, e.g., ARCHEX, prove their ability to capture cyber-physical systems (CPS) requirements and generate correct-by-construction architectural solutions. We propose an extension in ARCHEX by incorporating dynamic properties, i.e., robot trajectories, time dimension, application-specific QoS constraints, and finally, integrating the optimization tool with a discrete-event network simulator (OMNeT++). This extension automates the generation of configuration files and facilitates result analysis, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation. This part of the work focuses on the dynamism of robots, server-to-service mapping, and the integration of automated simulation. The proposed extension is validated by optimizing and analyzing various indoor robotics scenarios, emphasizing critical performance parameters such as overall throughput and end-to-end delay (E2E). This integrated approach addresses the complex interplay of computation and communication resources, providing a solution for dynamic mobility, traffic, and application patterns in edge server environments.