A Computing and Content Delivery Network in the Smart City: Scenario, Framework, and Analysis

Abstract

Mass services and applications have been reviewed as prominent characteristics of the smart city. However, a traditional mobile communication network cannot provide a considerable communication environment in this complicated network. Moreover, the requirement for different types of services and applications is quite discrepant, and QoE or users' satisfaction cannot be calculated by a unified standard. Meanwhile, the cache and computing resources have been treated with great importance by researchers and the industrial community for this complex network. In this article, we first deal with this issue and propose a novel network framework based on content delivery and computing deployment in order to make the network smart and clever. Resource intelligence based on various network services aims at a global optimal goal of computing, caching, and communication resources in the smart city to achieve high user QoE and low waiting time. Then we introduce an optimal resource allocation strategy including multiple cache and computational capability for user devices, MEC cloud, and macrocell cloud. Experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the strategy we propose and reveal the relationship between waiting time and some key parameters in the network.